What a year of blogging

Blimey, that was quite a year of blogging here on the Ham & Egger Files!

Thank you for reading.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed photos, info and guest posts too.

It's all much appreciated.

All the very best for 2021.

Here's to 2021 - dates for your diary

Now that 2020 is behind us, here's to 2021.

National Miniature Golf Day 2021

• National Miniature Golf Day takes place on the second Saturday in May. In 2021 that is Saturday, 8th May.

Miniature Golf Day 2021

• Miniature Golf Day is always on the 21st September. This year that will be a Tuesday.

We wish you all the very best for the year ahead.

Mini Golf Designer board game by Thematic Games

A quick look at the new Mini Golf Designer board game by Thematic Games.

We received our copy of the Mini Golf Designer board game by Thematic Games following the successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year. We're looking forward to giving it a play.

New Crazy Golf course in Aberdeen

There are plans for a new Flip Out trampoline park to open in a former BHS store in Aberdeen. The centre will also be home to an indoor crazy golf course.

The latest Flip Out trampoline and adventure centre opened in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire last month. That too opened in a former BHS.

Visit the Flip Out website for more information.

Retailtainment

A number of shopping malls, town centres and retail parks are adding minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf and other experiential entertainment and activity leisure offerings to their sites to attract and retain customers.

There's no missing Salford Shopping City

What a piece of signage.

Salford Shopping Centre opened as Salford Precinct in 1972 and was renamed Salford Shopping City in 1992

Even though the shopping precinct is now called Salford Shopping Centre the huge sign on the block of flats clearly points out where the shops are in Pendleton, Salford.

Park Square Putting Green in Cheadle Heath

A look at the snowy Park Square Putting Green in Cheadle Heath.

Unplayable

The Putting Green at the Park Square offices in Cheadle Heath was the first miniature golf course we visited this year.

Grainger Games in Salford

Grainger Games - a lost video game shop brand.

This is the Salford Shopping Centre location in Pendleton, Salford, Greater Manchester.

The company was founded in 1996 and ceased operations on the 28th March 2018.

As a brand with shops in the North of England and Scotland I only became a regular shopper there when I moved to Stockport in 2016.

This year I've found other former branches of Grainger Games at Stretford Mall and Clarendon Square Shopping Centre in Hyde.

Family Shopper in Salford

My recent hunts for Happy Shopper shops led me to find out about the Family Shopper brand. The stores are part of the same retail group. The first one I noticed was in Ashton-under-Lyne earlier this year.

Driving back from Salford Shopping Centre we spotted this Family Shopper on the corner of Cross Lane and Culverwell Drive.

The building looked like it used to be a pub and looking on the excellent Pubs of Manchester blog I found it used to be a pub called the Golden Gate. It was originally known as the Craven Heifer.

I'm still on the lookout for Happy Shopper stores with the classic signage and branding. I've been lucky to find one in Preston, a couple in Sheffield and another in Derby.

NIFO Steel Minigolf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Sweden

A look at the NIFO Steel Minigolf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Sweden.

In February 2018 we had a short break in Stockholm, Sweden and managed to visit nine miniature golf courses in 42 hours. Two of them were at the Solna Bangolfklubb in Solna.

A long hole on the NIFO Steel Minigolf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Sweden

The NIFO Steel Minigolf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Sweden was the 799th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

 

Check out the Solna Bangolfklubb website for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

We've visited 956 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006. 917 of those have been in the British Isles, while 39 have been in eleven overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

Miniature Golf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Sweden

A look at the Eternit Miniature Golf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Sweden.

Back in February 2018 we had a short holiday in Stockholm, Sweden and managed to visit nine miniature golf courses in 42 hours. Two of them were at the Solna Bangolfklubb in Solna.

The Eternit Miniature Golf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Sweden

The Eternit Miniature Golf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Sweden was the 798th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Solna Bangolfklubb website for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

We've been to 956 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006. 917 of those have been in the British Isles, while 39 have been in eleven overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Happy Christmas.

Here's to a better 2021...

Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas.

Bad Santa graffiti in Blackpool by Seca_One

Bad Santa graffiti in Blackpool by Seca_One

Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas.

A snowy day at the old Mini & Crazy Golf courses in Luton

Christmas Crazy Golf

It's Christmas-time!

Playing a Christmas Crazy Golf hole at Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry at Easter in 2019

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2020

A look back at our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2020.

Prior to 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 were also very close to hitting 1,000 course visits overall.

Before the first national lockdown hit and our out-of-home putting was paused we'd visited 948 courses since September 2006.

We had a very strong start to the year and visited 20 courses in the first 20 days of 2020 (some of those were revisits). We had hoped to hit the BIG landmark of 1,000 course visits this year. That plan was obviously out of the window come March.

We've still been able to visit a total of 46 courses in 2020, including revisits. 15 of them were new layouts to us. We've been able to visit eight courses during the pandemic (March to December), playing two of them.

Playing minigolf in 2020

One of those played was the Gator Adventure Golf at Escape Entertainment in Chorley, Lancashire in August. It was the first new minigolf course we played in almost six months and the first course we played during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The second course we played was the Cae Glas Park Crazy Golf course in Oswestry, Shropshire in September. We first played that 18-hole layout in 2009 and had revisited it in 2012.

The last new course Emily and I played together was the Sunnybank Gardens Crazy Golf layout in Hatfield, Doncaster on the 19th January.

The last new course I played before the first Coronavirus pandemic lockdown was the CLUB GOLF pop-up minigolf in King's Cross, London on the 25th February.

The last course of any kind I played before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown was at Junkyard Golf on First Street in Manchester on the 9th March.

Other firsts and lasts of 2020

• The last course we visited before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown was The Lost Valley Adventure Golf at Amazonia in the Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton on the 14th March.
• The first course we visited where we saw social distancing measures was the Bruntwood Pitch & Putt course in Cheadle Hulme on the 23rd May.
• The first previously played course we visited during the Coronavirus pandemic was the Crazy Golf layout at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on 21st June.
• The first new course to us that we visited during the Coronavirus pandemic was the Pitch & Putt course at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester, also on the 21st June.
• The other new courses we visited this year were Puttstars Mini Golf in Rochdale, the Putting Green at Victoria Park in Swinton, the Pitch & Putt at Buile Hill Park, Salford, and the new Adventure Golf course at Fairhaven Lake in Lytham St Annes.

We've now been to a total of 956 courses since September 2006. 917 of those have been in the British Isles. 39 have been in eleven overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

New course visit numbers year by year:

• 2020 = 15 courses.
• 2019 = 82 courses.
• 2018 = 64 courses.
• 2017 = 74 courses.
• 2016 = 47 courses.
• 2015 = 84 courses.

New minigolf courses in the UK

We've continued to research, monitor and promote the game and know about at least another 50 new courses now open, being built, in development or planned to open in the UK. It'll be nice to swing by them when it's safe to get back out on the road again.

Putting at Home

2020 was also a year for Putting at Home and we've enjoyed competing in Putt18 tournaments with players from the USA, Australia and New Zealand. It's also been a pleasure to be a part of the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club in Bristol.

You can also check out our Big Mini Golf Bucket List for ideas of minigolf things to do during the pandemic.

Related blog posts:

• Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
• Minigolf in the time of Coronavirus
• The Coronavirus (Ham & Egger) Files

Scorecard and notebook from the 2016 WAGM in Kosovo

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Lavdim Zylfiu for sending me a scorecard and notebook from the 2016 World Adventure Golf Masters tournament held at the Prishtina Pro Mini Golf course in Prishtina, Kosovo. Two very nice additions to my minigolf collection.

Check out the Kosovo Minigolf Federation website for more information.

Happy Christmas Eve

Scorecard from the Adventure Golf course at Bowling Brno

A look at a minigolf scorecard from Bowling Brno in the Czech Republic.

A big thank you to my friend and minigolf rival Lavdim Zylfiu for sending me a scorecard from the Adventure Golf course at Bowling Brno in the Czech Republic. It's a very nice addition to my minigolf collection.

Visit the Bowling Brno website for more information.

Minigolf at the Vasaparken in Vasastan, Stockholm

A look at the Swedish Felt minigolf course at the Vasaparken in Vasastan, Stockholm.

We had a short break in Sweden in February 2018 and managed to visit nine miniature golf courses in 42 hours.

One of those was the Swedish Felt minigolf course at the Vasaparken in Vasastan, Stockholm.

It became the 802nd course visited overall on our tour, and the 33rd overseas. It's a nice looking Swedish Felt minigolf course, but was unplayable because of the snowy conditions at the time of our visit.

The Carphone Warehouse in Leigh

A look at a lost shop in Leigh.

The Carphone Warehouse on Bradshawgate in Leigh, Greater Manchester - one of the 531 standalone shops closed by the brand in April of this year.

The Carphone Warehouse was founded in 1989 and while the brand still exists, products and services are now offered within Currys PC World stores.

Back in 1999 The Carphone Warehouse purchased Tandy's operations in the UK. My first job was at a Tandy franchise in 1995 and I've found traces of that brand in Hitchin and Saint Annes on the Sea on my travels.