Visiting Boom: Battle Bar in Norwich

Playing the Crazier Golf course at Boom: Battle Bar in the Castle Quarter shopping and entertainment centre in Norwich, Norfolk.

We stayed in Norwich for part of our East Anglian road-trip last month and the second miniature golf course we played was the Crazier Golf layout at the first Boom: Battle Bar location in the Castle Quarter shopping and entertainment venue in the city centre.

The 9-hole course differs from 'standard' crazy golf courses as not all of the holes require the use of your putter and ball! Some of the obstacles require you to pump the ball, or launch it, via another mechanism. There's also a timed hole which is fun to play.

Our match-up was close and I picked up the win by one-shot with a 23-24 scoreline. Working out the scores was interesting as the holes don't necessarily have a stroke score - on the 4th I took 37:42 to play out the hole, while Emily took 46:08. On the 7th and 9th we had to race each other to figure out our points score!

Photos of the 9-hole Crazier Golf course at Boom: Battle Bar

Hole 1

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 2

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 4

Hole 4

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 5

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 7

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 9

Check out the Boom: Battle Bar website for more information.

The Crazier Golf course at Boom: Battle Bar in Norwich was the 970th course Emily and I visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Combining the courses we've visited with those that my brother Christopher - a founding member of the tour - has too it was the 1,000th course we've been to overall!

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Bar Billiards at Sudbury Snooker Club

We spotted a sign for Bar Billiards while in Sudbury, Suffolk last month.

We really enjoy playing the game, unfortunately Sudbury Snooker Club was closed at the time we were there. We've noted it for a future visit though.

The New Albert Pub in Blackpool

I've seen a few homages to Only Fools and Horses over the years - the latest being The New Albert Pub in Blackpool.

The former Toys R Us in Oldbury

A look at the former Toys R Us in Oldbury, West Midlands.

We passed by the old Toys R Us store in Oldbury, Sandwell, West Midlands on our way back from Bristol and Gloucester in July.

The retail unit was in the process of being demolished so there wasn't any signage or ghost signs in sight.

However, you could tell by the exterior and frame it used to be a Toys R Us store.

Empty inside

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. It's been very interesting to find that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK and we've visited a number of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels in the last couple of years: 

• Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Enfield Retail Park in Enfield
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• Riverside Retail Park in Nottingham
• St James Retail Park in Northampton
• Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees
• Western Esplanade in Southampton
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

The former Toys R Us site at Oldbury is planned to become a B&M and Tim Hortons.

A sign of the times

A sign from the 2021 fuel shortage crisis.

What a sign!

They didn't have any petrol there.

A bench on Blackpool promenade

A seat with a view in Blackpool.

New Crazy Golf course heading to Sheffield

Sheffield will soon be home to a new Crazy Golf venue.

A new themed, adults-only Crazy Golf course called Gloryholes is opening in Sheffield

The 18-hole course, bar and diner will be located in a yet to be confirmed location in Sheffield city centre.

Gloryholes Golf is part of the Curious Venues group of bars and pubs. The first Gloryholes crazy golf course opened in Nottingham earlier this year.

Find out more on the Gloryholes indoor crazy golf course website and the Gloryholes Sheffield Instagram Account.

Social distancing at Freeman, Hardy & Willis

A look at some new decals on an old shop doorway mosaic.

We saw these modern day social distancing floor markings at the entrance of a charity shop while having a walk along Magdalen Street in Norwich last month.

The shop was once a branch of the national footwear chain Freeman, Hardy & Willis. All that remains of that brand is the lovely old advertising mosaic in the doorway.

New Crazy Golf course at Electric Thrill in East Kilbride

A new crazy golf course is opening at Electric Thrill in East Kilbride.

The minigolf layout is part of the new Electric Thrill arcade and crazy golf centre in East Kilbride, Scotland.

The venue is opening in October 2021.

Check out the Electric Thrill website for more information.

The course is a new one for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Swingers Open Crazy Golf tournament

The Swingers Open Crazy Golf competition is taking place next month.

The Swingers Open Crazy Golf tournament is returning on Tuesday 5th October with teams of four players invited to take on the challenge at the Swingers City location.

Part of the prize is a party at the Swingers West End venue

The minigolf event is a partnership between Swingers Crazy Golf and Tanqueray  and will take place as part of London Cocktail Week.

More information can be found on the Swingers Crazy Golf website.

New Boom: Battle Bar planned for Ipswich

A new Boom: Battle Bar is planned to open in Ipswich, Suffolk.

The new competitive socialising venue in the Buttermarket shopping centre would be home to minigolf, shuffleboard, beer pong, axe throwing and more.

Check out the Boom: Battle Bar website for more information.

We played the 'Crazier Golf' course at the original Boom: Battle Bar in Norwich while on our recent Crazy World of Minigolf Tour trip to East Anglia.

Ipswich is Emily's home town and we regularly visit. It'll be interesting to see a Boom: Battle Bar in the town centre.

Swingers Crazy Golf in London

Swingers Crazy Golf teed-off in London seven years ago today.

We played the first Swingers Crazy Golf course back on the 24th September 2014. The indoor minigolf venue was initially a pop-up concept set-up in Shoreditch, London.

We attended the pre-launch event on the 24th, with the course opening to the public for the first time on the 25th September.

The original Swingers Crazy Golf was the 581st miniature golf course we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now been to 973 courses since September 2006. When our travels began there were 'only' around 600 courses in the UK - and only two of those were indoor courses!

Swingers now

Since the first pop-up The Institute of Competitive Socialising have opened two more Swingers Crazy Golf venues in London and one in the USA.

Swingers West End Crazy Golf in London, October 2019

The first Swingers Crazy Golf location in the USA is opened at Dupont Circle in Washington D.C. in June.

There are plans for a second Swingers Crazy Golf in the US with a venue being built at the new Virgin Hotel on Broadway in the Flatiron District of New York City.

Visit the Swingers Crazy Golf website for more information.

New Crazy Golf course in Towyn, Wales

There are plans for a new Crazy Golf course to open in Towyn, Wales.

The minigolf layout is part of activity to also add an escape room to the youth centre on Towyn Road in Towyn.

Playing minigolf in Towyn

We've played minigolf in Towyn on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour before.

There used to be a Crazy Golf course at Knightly's on Sandbank Road. We found the course in 2009, but when we returned in 2017 it had been removed and the area turned into a car park.

Lost and abandoned in Blackpool

A lost football and an abandoned flip flop on Blackpool promenade.

Another Steals in Blackpool

Finding an old Steals in Blackpool.

The former Steals Factory Shop in Blackpool

There's still a Steals retail shop in Blackpool town centre.

Steals is a bargain clothes shop with branches in Blackpool, Preston, Accrington, Poulton-le-Fylde and Chorley.

Check out the Steals Facebook Page for more information.

Crazy Golfing at Princess Parade in Blackpool

Playing the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course in Blackpool.

Princess Parade Crazy Golf is on the North Shore in Blackpool

I was recently back in Blackpool and swung by the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course. Luckily I was just in time for a round on the 18-hole course.

A view of the 18th hole

It was the first time I've had a game on the fully refurbished layout and it was a delight.

The course was created in the 1950's but had been in a state of disrepair for the last twenty years.

It now plays like a dream. I can't wait to get back for a few more goes on it.

Take a look at the photos of the front and back nine holes below.

Holes 1-9

Holes 10-18

I shot a round of 36 - with one hole-in-one and a dropped shot (on the 18th). The course record stands at 34, which is a very good score indeed.

Check out the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course Facebook Group for more information.

Reopening the abandoned North Shore course

Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels and Blackpool Fulfilling Lives joined forces to refresh and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course on Blackpool's North Shore in 2019 and a number of other people and groups have been a part of the project. Including me.

The base of the course itself has changed very little since it was first created in the late 1950's and it's wonderful that the area is easily recognisable from old postcards from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

There have still been some very noticeable improvements to the course and the whole area it sits in. Most notable are the repairs to the obstacles as well as the addition of professional putting carpet to the holes. It makes the course very nice to play.

More information can be found in my blog post from the launch event in May, in one of my previous posts charting the progress on the refurbishment and this blog post from September 2020.

Woolworths ghost signs in Blackpool

A look at some ghost signs on a former Woolworths store on Blackpool promenade.

I was recently in Blackpool and while walking along the seafront saw the ghost signs of an old Woolworths.

The shop was most recently a Poundland. Before that it had been a TJ Hughes.

Two ghost signs for the price of one

Note the Covid-19 sign on the left. This itself is a bit of a ghost sign these days as little notice is taken of the warning anymore

I'm a big fan of ghost signs

Other former Woolworths shops

It's fun seeing old & lost brands, ghost signs and retail relics. We saw a Woolworths ghost sign in Nuneaton in May this year. That was a nice surprise!

Like the Blackpool store, the Nuneaton shop site had also most recently been a Poundland and a TJ Hughes.

The last Woolworths shop in the UK closed in January 2009. Every so often remnants of the brand become visible again.

We visited the Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent in September 2020. That store still had the signage in place and we'd originally spotted it while driving through the town the previous November.

We took a look at an old Woolworths store in Brunstane, Edinburgh in August 2011. That was a Big W Woolworths store at The Jewel retail park. It's long gone now.

You can however still see an old mosaic tile logo at the former Woolworths on Stamford Street Central in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

Interestingly, there's a playable Woolworths Pick n' Mix Crazy Golf hole at the Teezers Retro Golf course in Coventry!