Caddy Shack Crazy Golf in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight

A look at the Caddy Shack Crazy Golf course in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

A big thank you as always goes to my friend and minigolf rival Matt Dodd for sending me some photos from a course visit. These are from Matt's trip to the Isle of Wight last summer when he swung by the new indoor Caddy Shack Crazy Golf course in Shanklin.

Check out the Shanklin Seafront website for more information about the course.

It'll be nice to get back over to the Isle of Wight as I've really enjoyed my previous trips there.

Matt and his family have visited hundreds of courses on their crazy golf adventures and it's always brilliant to meet up with them for a game. Matt has managed to track down and play quite a lot of courses that we've yet to get to on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour! It's marvellous to find out about even more places to play.

Crazy Golf at York Golf Range

A look at the Crazy Golf course at York Golf Range.

We played the Crazy Golf course at York Golf Range in Towthorpe near Strensall back in September 2017.

The 11-hole layout was the 452nd played and 764th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the York Golf Range website for more information, opening times and prices.

The Inbetweeners in Cheadle

Spotted in Cheadle.

Cheadle Car Sales has got an Inbetweeners car parked up in Cheadle.

We spotted the Cheadle Car Sales Only Fools & Horses van last month.

British Minigolf Association events for 2021

The British Minigolf Association has announced its list of tournaments for the year ahead.

The British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Tour season tees-off with the Midlands Open on Saturday 29th May on the Adventure Golf course at the Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, Solihull.

The season comes to a close with the Cornwall Open on Sunday 21st November at the new Woodland Adventure Golf at China Fleet Country Club in Saltash.

A total of twelve events have been scheduled. The BMGA has stated that all dates should currently be considered as provisional due to Covid-19. A further five events are currently postponed with updates to follow.

For more information visit the BMGA website.

Gutt Busters in Rugby

If you're in Rugby, and you feel hungry, who you gonna call...

Gutt Busters!

We spotted Gutt Busters on a visit to Rugby in Warwickshire seven years ago

Crazy Golf at the Sun Parlour Cafe in Ripon's Spa Gardens

There's a new Crazy Golf course at the Sun Parlour Cafe in Ripon's Spa Gardens.

We played the original layout at the Spa Gardens on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2009! The new course looks very interesting, with some interesting obstacles and tricky holes.

The course has been updated for the 2021 season. Here's what it looked like earlier this year.

The new layout itself is very different to the large old concrete course we played.

It'll be nice to revisit Ripon and have a game on the Spa Gardens Crazy Golf course.

Visit the Sun Parlour Cafe's Facebook Page for more information.

Bognor Regis Mini Golf

The Bognor Regis Mini Golf course has had a refresh and some new obstacles added ahead of its reopening for the 2021 season.

We played the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in October 2011! It was the 275th course we visited.

It'll be superb to get back down to Bognor Regis to see what's changed, what's new and to have a few rounds on the mini golf course.

The new helter skelter obstacle looks wonderful.

The Bognor Regis Mini Golf course was built in 1993 and was the last new Arnold Palmer Putting Course layout to be created. It's a fine example of its kind and we found it to be fun and nicely tricky to play - in our match-up Emily beat me 39-42 with a start of two Aces in a row. However this was followed by two 3's, but she still scored an 'out' of 18.

Bognor Regis Mini Golf course can be found at Waterloo Gardens, on the esplanade in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

Visit the Bognor Regis Mini Golf Facebook Page for more information.

Hole in Wand mini golf opening in York

The new Hole in Wand mini golf course in York city centre is opening in May.

The venue has a 9-hole indoor crazy golf course and bookings are available from the 17th May.

Hole in Wand in the Coppergate Centre is operated by the team behind Potions Cauldron shop in the Shambles.

Visit the Hole in Wand website for more information.

Boom: Battle Bar at Regent Circus in Swindon

There are plans for a new Boom: Battle Bar at Regent Circus in Swindon, Wiltshire.

Boom: Battle Bars are home to a range of competitive socialising games including crazy golf (crazier golf), axe throwing, curling, skeeball, darts, boules and more.

There are Boom: Battle Bars in Norwich and Cardiff and plans for others in Liverpool, Glasgow, Oxford, Coventry, West Thurrock, Eastbourne, Aberdeen, Aldgate, Wandsworth and Manchester.

Visit the Boom: Battle Bar website for more info.

Playing Mini Golf at Boondocks Fun Center in Northglenn, Colorado

I played Mini Golf at Boondocks Fun Center in Northglenn, Colorado, USA twelve years ago today!

I played the two miniature golf courses at Boondocks Fun Center in the town of Northglenn on this day in 2009.

My visit came during a trip to Denver to attend a week-long sports conference in the city. During some down time I travelled outside the city limits to play miniature golf in the Boondocks.

At the two courses at Boondocks Fun Center

As it was '$12 Tuesday' I had unlimited play on the minigolf courses - the Caverns Mill and Hillbilly Hallow - that sit next to Interstate-25. I managed to fit in three rounds on the two layouts.

They were the 82nd and 83rd courses played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A token from Boondocks

Check out the Boondocks Fun Center website for more information, opening times and prices.

A closed video shop in Luton

I spotted this snap of the old Shahenshah Videos shop on Alder Crescent in Luton while looking through my photos recently.

Check out my other video shop blog posts.

KFC in Handforth - Kansas Fried Chicken

Kansas Fried Chicken in Handforth, Cheshire.

One of a number of 'KFCs' seen on my travels.

There are also Kansas Fried Chicken shops in Mauldeth Road and Didsbury Village.

A sign of the times

Putt18 World Pro League 2021 - Week 6

I'll be teeing-off in week six of the Putt18 World Pro League at 6pm on Saturday 3rd April.

You can watch my rounds on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Facebook Page.

21 players from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the USA are competing in the seven event series to find the world's best putter on the Putt18 Golf Putting Game System.

Check out the Putt18 website for more information.

RadioShack is back

Electronics retailer RadioShack is back in business.

US electronics brand RadioShack is aiming to make a comeback with an online shopping mall concept alongside other brands owned by its new parent company. Check out the RadioShack website.

Funnily enough I was at a RadioShack in Denver, Colorado twelve years ago today!

Digital camera quality was something else in 2009!

RadioShack in the UK

I also found a RadioShack shop in Saint Annes on the Sea on the Fylde Coast in June 2017. Sadly it closed down in 2019.

RadioShack in Saint Annes on the Sea - it was the last RadioShack shop in the UK 

Luckily I did manage to shop in there a few times before it disappeared.

It was worth shopping there for the bag alone!

Stepping into the RadioShack store was like a time warp. It was brilliant having a chat to the man behind the counter about Tandy and RadioShack too.

Looking through my photo archive I also found this RadioShack sign from a shop in Whitstable, Kent.

Tandy

My first job was at a Tandy franchise shop in my hometown of Abingdon, Oxfordshire where I sold a number of electronic products bearing the 'RadioShack', 'Genexxa' and 'Realistic' brand names.

This Tandy signage was on display in Hitchin in 2019

Tandy said goodbye to the UK high street in 2001 as the last of the shops were converted after acquisition by Carphone Warehouse.

Round the back of the shop in March 2016

Last year I discovered that the Tandy brand is still alive and kicking. While there are no longer any Tandy shops on the high street I actually bought some Tandy brand rechargeable batteries from the Tandy online shop.

I also found a new old stock Tandy EC-500 Multilingual electronic translator in a charity shop in Stockport last November. That was a bargain buy - it cost me more to buy new CR2032 batteries to go in it!

Interestingly the name Tandy comes from one of the founders of a leather goods company called Tandy Leather - a business that later became RadioShack.

Related blog posts:

• Lost Shops - RadioShack in Saint Annes on the Sea
• Lost Shops - Tandy in Hitchin

City Golf Tour in Sweden

A new minigolf tournament circuit has been announced in Sweden.

A new minigolf competition tour has been created in Sweden with qualification events due to take place at various venues this year.

The City Golf Tour varies from many other events in Sweden, other parts of Scandinavia and continental Europe as the events will be taking place on what is technically known as Minigolf Open Standard (MOS). To most players in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand these courses would be recognisable as minigolf or adventure golf layouts.

The City Golf Tour has been created by Svenska MOS-Alliansen (Swedish MOS Alliance). The organisation is an alliance of seven Swedish minigolf clubs that are members of Svenska Bangolfförbundet (Swedish Minigolf Federation), a member of the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF).

In the cup at Guildford

Visit the City Golf Tour website for further details and entry information.

About City Golf

City Golf Europe was formed in Sweden in the 1930's and since then has gone on to build and supply more than 2,500 minigolf courses and 250 adventure golf courses around the world.

How to play minigolf - in three languages

City Golf layouts range from permanent Adventure Golf and Mini Golf courses, to more traditional Swedish Felt types of course.

The Swedish Felt Crazy Golf course on Southend Pier

Playing City Golf courses

We've played a lot of City Golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels, including an indoor course at the Mall of Scandinavia in Solna, Sweden.

Playing the Ice Hockey hole on the Sports World Mini Golf course at O'Leary's in the Mall of Scandinavia

Check out the City Golf Europe website for more information on their work.

Playing Jiggers Miniature Golf at Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel in Suffolk

Winning on City Golf layouts

We've competed in a number of independent and official BMGA tournaments on City Golf courses and back in 2009 I won the Pleasure Beach Open competition on the 12-hole course in Blackpool.

On my way to victory and with the superb trophy at the Pleasure Beach Open

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Signs of the coronavirus pandemic times

A look at signs of the Coronavirus pandemic, social distancing and lockdown.

I've been documenting the coronavirus pandemic in a number of ways, one of which is by photographing the different signs and posters I see on my walks and limited travels.

We're one year into lockdown in the UK and in that time I've collated some 922 of these (and counting) on my Instagram account.

One of the very first signs I snapped was this one during a local walk that passed by Cheadle Angling Club on Demmings Road in Cheadle.

We first saw social distancing measures in place at a miniature golf course in person on a walk to Bruntwood Park in Cheadle in May last year.

There is certainly a real variety of warnings, instructions and directional signage to do with social distancing, and I was amused by this photo Emily took of the social distancing measures in place on an escalator in M&S!

Surely the 2 metre apart distance stickers should be on the moving walkway as well, rather than the static sides of the escalator? I wonder how many people adhere to the rule and wait for the person ahead of them to reach the first marker?

Have you seen any interesting, quirky or amusing signs during these pandemic times? Do let me know.