In our continued look at old, defunct and lost shops we took a walk round the old Toys R Us store in Warrington, Cheshire at the weekend.
Toys R Us ceased trading in the UK back in April 2018 and the Warrington location has been empty since then. The site will become a car dealership in the future.
While very little of the signage is still in place you can still clearly see ghost signs of the TOYS R US and BABIES R US logos on the building.
Working at Toys R Us
My first job while at university in the year 2000 was as one of Geoffrey's helpers at the Luton store. I worked on the video game and electronics section.
We never had these branded bollards at the Gipsy Lane store in Luton
A look round the Warrington location
Here are some more snaps and videos of the store as it looked in July 2020.
The approach to the store
These branded stones are very very nice
Ghost signage
The lettering from the old sign is still visible on the side of the building
Note the markings on the ground
Coronavirus social distancing warnings
The container loading bay. When I worked at Toys R Us I spent parts of my evening shifts unloading the containers
One of the few signs still on the building. While it's unbranded, the Toys R Us typeface is recognisable
Toys R Us and Babies R Us ghost signs
The overgrown trolley bay at the front of the store
An empty trolley bay
A 'tombstone' to the dead brand
Toys R Us in Ancoats, Manchester
I took a look at the old Toys R Us store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester just prior to it's demolition in March 2019.
Check out photos of that location from two visits in February 2019 - one / two.
We had a look at what's left of the old Central Retail Park last Friday.
A look at what's left of the old Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester.
We went for a walk in Manchester city centre for the first time since March on Friday.
We've spent the pandemic within the confines of Stockport borough, save for a few incursions over the border to Fallowfield, Didsbury and Parrs Wood, so it was nice to see some different sights for a change.
Last year we'd walked past the old Central Retail Park in Ancoats and saw the beginning of the work to demolish the retail units. The site looks quite different now.
There's a new Shipwreck Adventure Golf course in Swanage, Dorset.
Many thanks to our friend and fellow minigolf explorer Matt Dodd for letting us know there's a new Shipwreck Adventure Golf course at the Santa Fe Fun Park in Swanage, Dorset.
It's another good reason for us to revisit Swanage. We had a great time in the seaside resort on our South West road trip in 2015. The existing Jurassic Adventure Golf course there was the landmark 600th UK visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now been to 949 courses since 2006.
A look at the social distancing measures at Volcano Falls Adventure Golf in Castleford.
Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Henri Myers for sending over some photos from his visit to the 36-hole indoor Volcano Falls Adventure Golf centre at Xscape in Castleford.
A look at the new Caddy Shack Mini Golf course at Shanklin Seafront, Isle of Wight.
A massive thank you to our friend Philip Walsh for sending over some photos from his round at the new Caddy Shack Mini Golf course during his recent stay on the Isle of Wight.
The Caddy Shack indoor Mini Golf course can be found at Shanklin Seafront.
The rules
A sanitisation point and queuing area at the course
Shanklin Seafront is also home to two other outdoor minigolf courses - one is a Pirate-themed adventure golf layout and the other is a Jurassic course.
It'll be brilliant to make a return visit to the Isle of Wight on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've had some day trips there in the past and played a lot of courses, but need at least a long weekend there to play them all.
A look at the old Blockbuster Video Express in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend.
Many thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Mark Routh for sending me these photos of the old Blockbuster Video Express store in Westcliff on Sea, Essex.
It's amazing the signs are still up seven years since the demise of the brand.
Since I found the remains of the Blockbuster Video store in Fallowfield, Manchester last October I've been intrigued to see the brand still has a lingering presence on the high street. It's always fun to see ghost signs, remnants of old & dead brands and interesting signage while out and about on our travels.
I found out the Blockbuster signage was still in place at the Westcliff-on-Sea store via this post on Instagram.
We should've been visiting family in Southend-on-Sea this summer but that trip has been postponed. Hopefully we'll get back down there soon so I can check out the old Blockbuster store too.
Check out Mark's superb postcard blog at Mark's Postcard Chat and his Facebook Page. The blog is a wonderful insight into the world of postcard collecting and social history.
We're looking forward to a return visit to the Isle of Wight on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've had a couple of day trips there in the past and played quite a few courses, but need at least a long weekend to play them all.
Finding out about a new minigolf course in Shanklin Village on the Isle of Wight.
Many thanks to our friend Philip Walsh for letting me know about a new crazy golf course he found while on a recent trip to the Isle of Wight.
The course can be found at the ice cream/donut/slush cafe opposite the parking in the old village. The finishing touches were being put to the course when he was there so he didn't have the chance to play a round. He did however let me know that the ice cream they served was very good.
The course is a 9-hole layout and costs £3 a round.
We're looking forward to a return visit to the Isle of Wight on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future. A number of new miniature golf courses have opened since our last trip to the island.
The two-course, 36-hole indoor adventure golf centre is the sister site of Adventure Island Minigolf at Star City in Birmingham. We've played there many many times over the years, including a number of tournaments and leagues.
Before the coronavirus pandemic we were closing in on visiting the final 40 courses of the original 600 we set out to play in 2006. We're also getting very close to hitting 1,000 course visits overall.
We'd had a very strong start to the year and visited 20 courses in the first 20 days of 2020.
One of my favourite fairly obscure supermarket brands. What's yours?
Cooltrader in Edgeley, Stockport. The first branch of the chain I saw
Cooltrader was formerly a brand owned by Iceland. 54 of the 58 Cooltrader stores were bought by Heron Foods in 2012. Heron Foods is now owned by B&M. Some Heron Foods shops are located in old Woolworths sites.
The closed Cooltrader in Blackpool
Cooltrader in Shrewsbury. One of only two I've seen open on my travels
