Old Woolworths sign in Ashton-under-Lyne

Finding an old mosaic tile logo at the former Woolworths on Stamford Street Central in Ashton-under-Lyne.

This branch of Woolies opened in 1927. It closed in the 1960s.

The building is now a charity shop for the Wooden Canal Boat Society.

I found out about this old logo on the excellent Woolies Buildings blog.

It's great to look up, down and all around while out exploring as you can see so many interesting things.

You can see still other remnants of Woolworths on the UK high street if you know where to look.

We visited the old Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent earlier this month. It's one of the few former Woolworths shops that has not been occupied since the brand's demise in January 2009.

We also spotted an old Woolworths store in Brunstane, Edinburgh on a minigolfing trip back in August 2011. That was the Big W Woolworths store at The Jewel retail park.

Week 6 of 7 in the Putt18 World Pro League

Results from week 6 of the Putt18 World Pro League.

I've been competing in the inaugural Putt18 World Pro League during the pandemic and six of the seven events in the first season have now been completed.

Players from the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand have been pitting their Putt18 putting skills against each other in the fortnightly challenges. The final week gets underway next Wednesday, 30th September with the champion crowned on Sunday 4th October.

After six weeks a total of 480 rounds of Putt18 have been recorded.

At the top of the leader-board is Matt Ansley of New Zealand with 742 points scored in the six events.

GB's Dave Gomm in second spot with 602 points. Dave has also set a new world record for an individual round with a score of 57 recorded last week.

John Ansley of New Zealand is in third place with 548 points.

I'm currently in 18th place of the 20 players left competing in the marathon of putting with 91 points.

It'll be an interesting final week of games to see if there is any movement at the top and bottom of the leader-board!

Many thanks to my fellow players for keeping track of all the action.

Putt18 World Pro League

Each player has a 20-minute time limit to play four 18-hole rounds for a 72-hole total score in each of the seven events. There are a variety of points on offer for low scores and total rounds.

Check out the Putt18 World Pro League Facebook Group for more info.

Putt18

We first played the Putt18 game format in the Putt18 Home Putting Challenge 4 Nations Cup international event against Australia, New Zealand and the USA back in May.

The Putt18 game mat consists of six tee-off boxes and three target score zones. Players must hit their balls from each of the tee boxes in turn aiming at the Par-4, Par-5 and Par-3 targets while avoiding fairways, bunkers and water hazards that carry penalty points. After the 18 shots have been played you tot up your score to see what you've shot for your round.

Further details of the Putt18 golf game mat can be found on the Putt18 website.

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Read my blog post about keeping social and competitive in the new world of physical and social distancing

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Princess Parade Crazy Golf in Blackpool, September 2020

A visit to the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course in Blackpool.

We visited Blackpool for the first time this year on the 3rd September. It was really nice to get back to the seaside.

You can see the top of the Blackpool Tower from the sunken gardens crazy golf course

While there we had a catch-up with Ian and Paul from the Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels - the two groups that have joined forces to refresh and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course on Blackpool's North Shore.

It was brilliant to talk to people in real life for a change!

It's a pleasure to be a part of the Princess Parade Crazy Golf project and I've enjoyed working with the teams at Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool & the Fylde Street Angels, Blackpool Council and the Blackpool Civic Trust to get the course reopened.

The area has been given a massive clean up by the project team and a number of the holes have required repairs. You can see how the course looked in May 2019 and October 2019 in my blog post.

How the course looked in May 2019

The Princess Parade Crazy Golf course will be opening next year once the refurbishment work is complete and it is safe to do so.

One of the holes under repair

More information on the project can be found on the Blackpool Princess Parade Crazy Golf Facebook Group.

Photos of the 18-hole Princess Parade Crazy Golf course, September 2020.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 11

Hole 12

Hole 13

Hole 14

Hole 15

Hole 16

Hole 17

Hole 18

Seaside heritage and Blackpool minigolf history

We've recently found out that the course has been there since the late 1950s. We've got quite quite a few old postcards showing the course. It's lovely to see the photos of it in its heyday and it'll be brilliant to be down there on a hot, sunny day in the future.

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Putt In The Park Mini Golf

We played Putt In The Park Mini Golf at Battersea Park in London five years ago today.

The course was the 650th we visited in the UK and 671st overall.

A visit to the Putt in the Park minigolf course at Battersea Park in London on Miniature Golf Day five years ago

We've now been to 956 courses since 2006.

The first Putt In The Park course we played was in Wandsworth Park, London in 2013.

We're yet to play Putt In The Park in Acton Park, London and Colchester, Essex.

Visit the Putt In The Park website for more information.

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Viking-themed Adventure Golf planned for Southport Pleasureland

A new Adventure Golf course is planned to open at Southport Pleasureland.

There are plans for a new Adventure Golf course to open at Southport Pleasureland.

The idea of a new course were first proposed last year and that layout was planned to have a dinosaur theme.

The new proposals will see a Viking-themed Adventure Golf course created alongside a Viking pub.

Southport is one of our local seasides and we've played minigolf there a number of times over the years.

We first visited Southport back in 2009. At that time the old Pleasure Land theme park had recently closed down and had been home to a Moroccan-themed Adventure Golf course.

Check out the Southport Pleasureland website for more information.

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New indoor Adventure Golf at Charnwood Golf Complex in Loughborough

A new indoor Adventure Golf course is being built at Charnwood Golf Complex in Loughborough, Leicestershire.

The indoor Adventure Golf layout is being created by Adventure Golf Solutions and is due to open in November this year.

We visited the Charnwood Golf Complex to play the 9-hole outdoor minigolf course there in August 2015. It was the 670th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Charnwood Golf Complex website for more information.

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666

A look back at the 666th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

For the 666th blog post of the year here's a look at the 666th course we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Bridlington.

The Treasure Island Adventure Golf course was the 384th played on our travels when we swung by on the 31st July 2015.

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Happy Miniature Golf Day!

Did you know: The Original Crazy Golf course opened in Skegness in 1926.

It was the first Crazy Golf course to open in England

We visited the South Parade course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2011 and 2015.

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Happy Miniature Golf Day 2020

Today is Miniature Golf Day!

Miniature Golf Day is always on the 21st September.

It'll certainly be a crazy Miniature Golf Day this year!

We played the Crazy Golf course at Southport's Botanic Gardens to celebrate the day last year.

How times change!

One of the holes at Southport's Botanic Gardens Crazy Golf course

We also visited The Masters Putting Green at King's Gardens while we were in Southport. The excellent 18-hole course was really really really busy so we didn't have time for a game. Here's a video of me scoring a hole-in-one there on a previous visit.

Dates for your minigolf diary 2021

Each year there are two minigolf days.

• The first of the year is National Miniature Golf Day which is on the second Saturday in May. In 2021 that is Saturday 8th May.
• The second, Miniature Golf Day, is always on the 21st September. In 2021 that will be a Tuesday.

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Putt18 World Pro League - Week 6 Results

Scores for Week 6 of the Putt18 World Pro League.

I shot rounds of 79, 76, 83 and 78 for a total of 316 in Week 6 of 7 in the inaugural Putt18 World Pro League.

Video of my four rounds in Week 6.

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More information on the Putt18 golf game mat can be found on the Putt18 website.

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Alton Water Mini Golf in Ipswich

A visit to the Alton Water Mini Golf course in Ipswich, Suffolk.

My brother and Charter Member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour has sent over some photos of the miniature golf course at Alton Water in Suffolk.

The Alton Water Mini Golf course is the 982nd course visited overall on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

The course was created by the team at UrbanCrazy and opened earlier this year.

Check out the Alton Water website for more information, opening times and prices.

Visit the UrbanCrazy website for more information about the courses they build and minigolf supplies they offer.

We're looking forward to having a game there in the future. We'd normally have been to see family and friends in Ipswich a number of times already this year but haven't been able to get back once yet.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Christopher and his family have visited 36 courses on their branch of the tour, 26 of those have been unique to them. Emily and I have visited 956 courses on the main tour.

Christopher has been to four courses in 2020.

We've been to a total of 46 courses in 2020, with 15 of those being new courses visited. We've swung by eight new courses in the time of coronavirus.

We've got 40 of the original 600 we set out to visit left and a lot of new courses to play at too!

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It's Miniature Golf Day on Monday

Miniature Golf Day is on a Monday this year.

Miniature Golf Day is always on the 21st September. This year it falls on a Monday - a double-whammy of being Miniature Golf Day AND Minigolf Monday!

It'll certainly be a crazy Miniature Golf Day this year!

We played the Crazy Golf course at the Botanic Gardens in Southport to celebrate the day in 2019.

How times change!

We'll likely be Putting at Home this year.

One of the holes at Southport's Botanic Gardens Crazy Golf course

Dates for your minigolf diary 2021

The first of the year is National Miniature Golf Day which is on the second Saturday in May. In 2021 that is Saturday 8th May.

The second, Miniature Golf Day, is always on the 21st September. In 2021 that will be a Tuesday.

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A-Team Cleaning Services in Manchester

Spotting an 'A-Team van' in Stockport.

I always keep an eye out for fun and interesting stuff and managed to get a snap of this 'A-Team van' out on a mission somewhere in the Greater Manchester underground earlier today!

Check out the A-Team Cleaning Services Facebook Page for more information.

It's not the first A-Team van I've seen on my travels. Check out the Multi Kitchens Ltd van, The Waste Team and The Natural Tile Company in Belfast.

Crazy Golf at Greens of Padstow

A look back at the old Crazy Golf course at Greens of Padstow.

It was the 650th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2015. One of 62 we visited on that summer road-trip.

We've now been to 956 courses since September 2006.

There's a new minigolf course Greens of Padstow now. We look forward to playing it in the future.

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Putt18 World Pro League - Week 6

I'll be teeing-off in week 6 of the Putt18 World Pro League at 4.45pm this Friday, 18th September.

You can watch my four rounds in the penultimate event in the inaugural league live on Facebook.

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More information on the Putt18 golf game mat can be found on the Putt18 website.

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