Blackbeard's Adventure Golf in Hunstanton

My little brother Christopher and his family were recently in Hunstanton, Norfolk for a day trip and sent this photos from Blackbeard's Adventure Golf.

Emily and I visited Blackbeard's Adventure Golf in Hunstanton back in 2011! The two courses there were the 246th and 247th courses played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Together we've now visited 1,019 courses since September 2006.

Check out the Blackbeard's Adventure Golf Facebook Page for more information.

Blockbuster Video Express in Failsworth, Manchester

Spotting a retail remnant on an old Blockbuster Video store in Manchester.

My retail archaeologist senses started twitching while on the Oldham Road in Failsworth recently as I looked at a building and thought to myself, "I bet that used to be a Blockbuster."

And sure enough, it was once a Blockbuster Video Express store.

The shop unit now home to AMC Furniture was once a Blockbuster Video Express store

I've only driven along this particular part of the road once before, but luckily this time the view of the shop front was clear and I could see the QuikDrop box still in place!

Blockbuster Video

We're big fans of video, videos stores, retail history and retro stuff and have been visiting and documenting the last remaining traces of the Blockbuster brand in the UK over the last few years. We've seen a number of the brand's shopfronts, signs and QuikDrop boxes. As well as some other video shops.

The first of the old Blockbuster locations we found was also in Manchester, just up the road from us at Fallowfield Retail Park.

Blockbuster Video Stores

The first Blockbuster Video store opened in Dallas, Texas, USA in 1985.

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 stores around the world. 500+ of which were in the UK.

Blockbuster ceased operations in the UK in December 2013. At the start of that year there were 528 Blockbuster locations in the UK. The number dwindled until October when only 264 shops remained. The remaining stores closed on the 16th December.

There is now just one Blockbuster Video store left open. It's in Bend, Oregon, USA.

However, the UK's high streets, shopping precincts, malls and retail parks still hold traces of the brand. And we've been to most of them!

The QuikDrop box at the former Blockbuster Video Express store in Failsworth, Manchester

We've now visited 28 former Blockbuster Video stores since we found the remains of the Fallowfield shop.

• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Ashton, Bristol
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Billingham, Teesside
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Chester, Cheshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
• Colne, Lancashire
• Failsworth, Manchester
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Filton, Bristol
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Shanklin, Isle of Wight
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

Crazy Golf at Babbacombe Model Village

There's a new Crazy Golf course at Babbacombe Model Village in Babbacombe, Torquay, Devon.

The 9-hole outdoor layout is a Swedish Felt-style course.

Check out the Babbacombe Model Village website for more information.

It's another new place to play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A Happy Shopper in Sittingbourne, Kent

Finding a Happy Shopper shop in Sittingbourne, Kent.

The Happy Shopper shop on Chaucer Road in Sittingbourne 

The latest Happy Shopper shop we visited was in Sittingbourne, Kent.

A sign for the Happy Shopper opposite the shop

It was marvellous to see the shopfront with the happy faced mascot on it shining out on the parade of shops on Chaucer Road.

The Happy Shopper shop sign

It was nice having a chat to the shopkeeper who seemed just as happy as us to talk about the Happy Shopper brand! He also pointed out the celebration clock they still have working in the shop.

Visiting a fully branded Happy Shopper shop is like stepping back in time

Happy Shopper nostalgia

We've felt very nostalgic during the pandemic and one of the old brands from our childhood we thought about was 'Happy Shopper' - the name alone conjures up images of the 1980's.

We didn't think there would be many - or any - of the original orange and yellow branded shops still around, but we were proven wrong when we saw one in Preston in September 2020.

Since then we've been lucky enough to spot and snap a few more on our somewhat limited travels. Take a look at my posts about other Happy Shopper shops in:

• Preston
• Sheffield (Sharrow Lane)
• Sheffield (Page Hall Road)
• Ilkeston
• Hitchin
• Ashwellthorpe
• Lowestoft (2011)
• Lowestoft (2021)
• Wisbech
• Sittingbourne

A very Happy Shopper

Mini Golf at Wingham Wildlife Park in Canterbury

A new 18-hole mini golf course has opened at Wingham Wildlife Park in Canterbury, Kent.

Visit the Wingham Wildlife Park website for more information.

We were down in Canterbury last month so just missed out on visiting the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Dinosaur Adventure Golf at Grimsby Golf Centre

There are plans for a new Jurassic-themed Adventure Golf course to open at Grimsby Golf Centre in Lincolnshire.

It'll be another new place for us to play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Check out the Grimsby Golf Centre website for more information.

Crazy Golf at Old Joe's Golf Club in Cornard Tye, Suffolk

There are plans for a new Crazy Golf course to be created at Old Joe's Golf Club in Cornard Tye, near Sudbury in Suffolk.

The 18-hole layout would have a Suffolk-theme.

We visited Old Joe's Driving Range and Golf Course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2010 and played the grass putting course there.

Emily playing the long first hole

Lining up a putt in April 2010

Visit Old Joe's Golf & Leisure website for more information.

It'll be nice to revisit next time we're back in East Anglia.

Crazy Golf at Tonbridge Sportsground

A look at the Crazy Golf course at Tonbridge Sports Ground in Kent.

My brother Christopher and his family recently swung by the Crazy Golf course at Tonbridge Sports Ground in Kent.

We visited the layout on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in September 2010.

Mini-Golf in Tunbridge Wells

There are plans for a new indoor mini-golf course to open as part of an entertainment centre in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

The venue is proposed to open in the former BHS store in the town centre.

It'd be another new course for us to play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Adventure Golf at Millets Farm

A new Adventure Golf course is being created at Millets Farm in Oxfordshire.

A new 18-hole Adventure Golf course is opening at Millets Farm Centre in Frilford, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire this summer.

Check out the Millets Farm website for more information.

I grew up in Abingdon and visited Millets Farm a lot in the 80s and 90s. It'll be fun to return and have a game on the new farm-themed course.

It'll be another new layout for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Millets Farm has previously been home to a Crazy Golf course as part of the Maize Maze attraction.

Herne Bay Mini Golf

A look at the Mini Golf course on the seafront in Herne Bay, Kent.

Herne Bay Mini Golf

We revisited the 78th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour last month.

Mini Golf Rules

It doesn't seem like we first swung by it in 2008! Time certainly flies.

We've now been to 983 courses on our travels since 2006.

Visit the iFun Family Entertainment Centre website for more info on the Herne Bay Mini Golf course.

I've been documenting coronavirus signs during the pandemic and it was interesting to see some social distancing signs at the Herne Bay course.

A Covid-19 sign at Herne Bay Mini Golf

A social distancing sign on the Herne Bay Mini Golf course

A Coronavirus social distancing sign at Herne Bay Mini Golf

Adventure Golf at Treasure Island in Center Parcs Elveden Forest, Norfolk

A revisit to the Adventure Golf course at Center Parcs Elveden Forest in Thetford, Norfolk.

My brother Christopher and his family recently returned to Center Parcs Elveden Forest in Thetford, Norfolk and played the Adventure Golf at Treasure Island course there.

They'd previously visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2020.

Golf Fang Crazy Golf opening in Sheffield

A new 18-hole indoor Crazy Golf course is opening in Sheffield.

Golf Fang will be located in John Street. It'll be the second Golf Fang venue from the team behind Ghetto Golf. There are Ghetto Golf courses in Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle.

Check out the Golf Fang website for more information.

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

Two months until the Big Mini Golf Tour tees-off

The Big Mini Golf Tour teeing-off in Great Yarmouth, Hemsby and Gorleston-on-Sea this summer.

The Big Mini Golf Tour 2022 begins on National Miniature Golf Day - Saturday 14th May.

We have played in and organised lots of miniature golf competitions, tournaments, challenges and events over the last decade and a half and this year we are excited to be a part of the Big Mini Golf Tour in the seaside resort of Great Yarmouth.

Miniature golf courses across the Greater Yarmouth Tourism & Business Improvement Area have come together to promote the game.

The four-month event highlighting miniature golf courses across the Greater Yarmouth area tees-off on National Miniature Golf Day, Saturday 14th May 2022 and runs until Miniature Golf Day on Wednesday 21st September 2022.

Visit Great Yarmouth

Funding from Visit Great Yarmouth/GYTABIA has helped to bring you the “Big Mini Golf Tour”.

Check out the Visit Great Yarmouth website to find out about all of the activities and events taking place in the seaside resort this year!

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

We've been to almost 1,000 crazy, adventure and mini golf courses on our own Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. One of the first stops on our travels was to the East Coast seaside resort of Great Yarmouth.

The seaside town and local area is a real minigolf hot-spot with a brilliant mixture of miniature golf courses. You can find Adventure Golf courses, Crazy Golf and Indoor Adventure Golf in Great Yarmouth itself, Crazy Golf and Grass Putting in Gorleston-on-Sea and Adventure Golf courses in Hemsby.

Minigolf history

Miniature Golf has been played in the resort for almost a century and we have some superb old putting postcards showing people at play. Including one of a Putting Green on the promenade dating back to 1927! Interestingly you will find that there is still a minigolf course on the same spot as the Putting Green today.

Putting Green, Great Yarmouth Postcard. Sent on 11 November 1927

The town is also home to the several of the UK's first Adventure Golf layouts, as well as England's first indoor Crazy Golf course.

We're really looking forward to the Big Mini Golf Tour tee-off on National Miniature Golf Day, Saturday 14th May and seeing people having fun on the greens.

Find out more

Check out the Big Mini Golf Tour on social media to find out more.

Crazy Golf at Canterbury Leisure

The 983rd course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the Crazy Golf at Canterbury Leisure in Canterbury, Kent on the 26th February.

Unfortunately we didn't have time for a game this time.

Palm Swings crazy golf at Chow Down in Leeds

A pop-up crazy golf course will be part of the Chow Down food festival in Leeds this year.

The whole event tees off on the 14th of April and runs through to the 4th of September.

We're often in Leeds and hopefully we'll get to swing by on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour this summer.

Visit the Chow Down food festival website for more information.

Hole in Wand minigolf opening in Blackpool

A new magic-themed indoor minigolf course is opening in Blackpool.

The team at the Hole in Wand minigolf in York are opening a second venue, this one will be on Blackpool Promenade.

The indoor miniature golf course will be opening in part of the former Woolworths unit on the seafront!

We're often over in Blackpool as it's one of our local seasides. The last time I was there I was lucky enough to see the ghost signs of the former Woolies store!

Hole in Wand will be another new venue for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Head to the Hole in Wand website for more information.

Par 59 minigolf bar planned for Bristol

A new indoor minigolf course and bar is planned to open in Bristol.

The second of Gareth Bale's Par 59 venues is planned to open in Bristol. The indoor minigolf course in the city follows the first location in Cardiff.

Par 59 opened after our last visit to Cardiff so they are two more places to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Check out the Par 59 website for more information.

Mini-Golf at a new Boom: Battle Bar in Exeter

A new Boom: Battle Bar is opening in Exeter city centre and will include a mini-golf course.

The indoor competitive socialising venue is opening at the Exeter Guildhall Shopping Centre.

We've played Crazier Golf at the first Boom: Battle Bar in Norwich.

The Exeter course will be another new venue for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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

New Mini Golf course in Brierley Hill, Dudley

There are plans for a new Mini Golf course in Brierley Hill, Dudley.

A new indoor minigolf course is planned to open at The Waterfront in Brierley Hill, Dudley in the West Midlands.

It'll be another new venue for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.