Handforth Miniature Railway at Meriton Road Park

We found a miniature railway at one of our local parks at the weekend!

We've spent a lot of lockdown visiting different parks and outdoor spaces in and around Stockport. On Easter Sunday we went for a walk in Handforth where we found a miniature railway at Meriton Road Park.

Two trains were running!

We're big fans of miniature railways and even though we've lived nearby for almost five years never knew it existed! We've never seen any signs for it even though we've walked and parked near to it many many times before.

There was a Scarecrow Trail in the town - this was The (not so) Fat Controller

Visit the Handforth Model Engineering Society website and Handforth Miniature Railway Facebook Page for more information.

End of the line

Nearby miniature railways

Handforth is in Cheshire East and borders the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The borough is home to three miniature railways - at South Park in Cheadle Hulme, Brookside Miniature Railway at the Garden Centre in Poynton and the Dragon Miniature Railway at the Garden Centre in Marple.

Related blog posts:

• Miniature Railways
• Handforth

The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing

You can buy my minigolf marketing ebook on Amazon.

Don't worry if you don't have a Kindle as you can download the Kindle App on iOS, Android, Mac & PC.

The ebook is also available on Kobo.

It's just £1.99.

Minigolf marketing

I've been so pleased to see the book bought and used by a number of competition players, course owners and managers, bloggers, course reviewers, minigolf associations and federations around the world since I published the guide in 2017.

As a minigolfer with over a decade of experience as a tournament competitor and years of experience in marketing and communications I designed the guide so that anyone interested or involved in minigolf could help promote the game. It's a niche title, but an audience and subject I know a lot about.

Writing the book was brilliant and enabled me to bring two areas of my life together. I've worked in marketing since 2003 and have played minigolf since I was a child. Stepping up to compete on the national minigolf tour circuit and in international tournaments opened my eyes to the potential of the game. I’ve also had the honour of serving on the committees of the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) and the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF).

Minigolf is a sport for all. People of all ages, sexes, backgrounds and abilities can pick up a putter and play the game.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Emily and I have visited 956 courses in the UK and overseas on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. When our travels began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the UK. We've got 40 from that original list left to visit.

The minigolf boom

The game is really booming and new courses are being announced all the time!

There are a huge amount of interesting and fun stories to tell and positive aspects to highlight to potential players, the media, sponsors and the wider sporting community. The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing should give federations, associations, courses, clubs and our fellow players ideas, inspiration and support in their marketing efforts.

Sports marketing

Much of the guidance can also be applied to a number of other sports clubs and organisations to help raise their profile and boost memberships.

Links:

• The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing on Amazon
• The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing on Kobo
• Minigolf and marketing consultancy

Coeliac UK Awareness Week 2021 - 10th-16th May

This year Coeliac Awareness Week runs from the 10th to the 16th May.

What is Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac Disease ('Celiac' in the USA and Canada) is a lifelong autoimmune condition, where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. In Coeliac Disease the immune system mistakes substances found inside gluten as a threat to the body and attacks them. This can trigger a number of painful, horrible, stressful and uncomfortable symptoms.

In the UK it's estimated that 1 in 100 people have the condition.

Visit the Coeliac UK website for more information.

Living a gluten free life

Having suffered from a range of symptoms for around ten years I finally received a positive diagnosis of Coeliac Disease following some 'interesting' and in-depth tests and procedures in 2008. It came as a relief to finally have a name for the mysterious cause of my illnesses and ailments, but at the time I was only given a brief summary and told that I'd have to "cut down on bread and beer". It was only later when I met with a Gastroenterologist and a dietitian that I found out that the only treatment for people with Coeliac Disease is a strict, life-long gluten free diet.

Putt18 World Pro League 2021 - Week 6 Scores

Update from week 6 of the Putt18 World Pro League 2021.

I played my latest rounds in the 2021 Putt18 World Pro League on Saturday evening and shot scores of 79, 81, 77 and 80 for a total of 317.

There is one week and four rounds left to play in the first Putt18 World Pro League of 2021. My next rounds will be at 6pm on Saturday 17th April.

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.

Visit the Putt18 website for more information.

Adventure Golf at Rufford Abbey Country Park

There's a new Adventure Golf course at Rufford Abbey Country Park in Nottinghamshire.

Visit the Rufford Abbey Country Park website and Facebook Page for more information.

It's another course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Crazy Golf at Daisy Made Farm in Skellingthorpe

There's a new Crazy Golf course at Daisy Made Farm in Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire.

The 13-hole Crazy Daisy Golf course at Daisy Made Farm in Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire has been replaced and upgraded with a brand new minigolf layout.

The course is planned to open later this month.

The team at UrbanCrazy have created the Crazy Golf course at the farm. Check out the photos courtesy of UrbanCrazy showing some of the new course below.

Visit the Daisy Made Farm website for more information.

We visited Daisy Made Farm on our way to a Lincolnshire seaside holiday in May 2011. Back then the Crazy Daisy Golf course was a Swedish Felt B-Run type with added farmyard obstacles.

We're looking forward to revisiting and playing the new layout on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Wardown Adventure Golf in Luton

New adventure golf course opening at Wardown Park in Luton.

A new adventure golf course is opening in Luton's Wardown Park this May.

The 18-hole layout will have a woodland theme.

Check out the Wardown Adventure Golf website for more information.

Minigolf at Wardown Park

Wardown Park was previously home to two minigolf courses. One was a crazy golf course, the other was a grass miniature golf course.

Both were turned into a Mini Golf Meadow in 2015.

We lived in Luton for 16 years and played the minigolf courses in the park a fair bit during that time. The Crazy Golf course that used to be in Wardown Park was the 18th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour way back on the 5th May 2007. The Grass Putting Miniature Golf layout was the 19th played on the 19th May. Until the meadows were planted minigolf had been played in the park since the 19th June 1934.

NO GOLF in Torkington Park, Hazel Grove, Stockport

NO GOLF allowed at Torkington Park, Hazel Grove, Stockport.

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