Pirate Island Adventure Golf in the Forest of Dean

A look back at our visit to the Pirate Island Adventure Golf course in the Forest of Dean.

Pirate Island Adventure Golf in the Forest of Dean

We played the Pirate Island Adventure Golf course in Newnham in the Forest of Dean back in October 2017.

Pirate Island Adventure Golf in the Forest of Dean

Pirate Island Adventure Golf in the Forest of Dean

The 12-hole course was the 467th course played and 786th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Pirate Island Adventure Golf in the Forest of Dean

For more information, opening times and prices check out the Forest of Dean Adventure Golf course website.

Pirate Island Adventure Golf in the Forest of Dean

Memories of The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze game experience

We played The Crystal Maze game at the CC2000 tenpin bowling & entertainment, near Narbeth in Wales back in 2009.

The Crystal Maze was a staple part TV diet during my childhood and teenage years, and it would've been brilliant to go on the show.

During our minigolfing road-trip around the Welsh coast in 2009 we took a break from playing Crazy Golf to visit the Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre - where we entered The Crystal Maze!

At that time it was the last remaining example of the 'Cyberdrome Crystal Maze' games in the UK. Sadly it closed for good in June 2010. It would've been brilliant to return for a few more games there.

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze was absolutely superb to play. We think more of them should have been built back in the day. There were only ever eight built - five in the UK, two in Japan, and one in Dubai.

Just like the TV show, games were played in four themed zones - Aztec, Futuristic, Medieval, and Ocean. But unlike the TV show players were guided around the maze by Merlin - a computerised Maze Master.

We managed to win six of the nine games we played, and in the Crystal Dome itself we collected 103 Gold and 28 Silver 'tokens' for a grand total of 75. So we didn't win the "super-duper" prize. However, we were first on the leaderboard for the day and got "1st of 1" printed on our souvenir certificate!

At that time the Cyberdrome Crystal Maze was the closest you could get to playing the real Crystal Maze. Now you can play The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience in London and Manchester. The Manchester venue is so close to us that we really ought to get a team together for a game there!

Photos of The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in Tenby (2009).

Being set a task by Merlin

Aztec Zone

Futuristic Zone

Medieval Zone

Ocean Zone

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

Inside the Crystal Dome ready to 'collect' some prize tokens

New Forest Adventure Golf at Lymington Golf Centre

Looking back at our visit to the New Forest Adventure Golf course at Lymington Golf Centre.

New Forest Adventure Golf at Lymington Golf Centre

We played the 18-hole course at Lymington Golf Centre in May 2019.

New Forest Adventure Golf at Lymington Golf Centre

The outdoor adventure golf course at Lymington Golf Centre was the 873rd visited and 510th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

New Forest Adventure Golf at Lymington Golf Centre

Check out the Lymington Golf Centre website for more information.

New Forest Adventure Golf at Lymington Golf Centre

New mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport

Finding some new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport.

We're big fans of street art and it's always fun spotting new pieces when wandering. Earlier this week we spotted a new piece showing a circle/letter O on the side of The Friary fish & chip shop on Castle Street in Edgeley and on a subsequent walk found the letter R on the Royal Oak pub, so guessed there were more letters that would spell out the word "STOCKPORT"!

We did a bit of further research - as well as receiving a comment from the artists on Instagram - and found that the group behind the new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley were Grit Studios, Mosaics in Manchester, Stockport County Community Trust, and The Writing Squad. It's from some of the same team that were behind the prominent 'The Scarf My Father Wore' mural project in Edgeley.

The Scarf My Father Wore Mural, snow and Christmas tree in Edgeley in January this year

A trail map for the S T O C K P O R T letter mosaic artwork is coming soon...

S

T

O

C

K

P

O

R

T

You can find some other nice mosaics in Edgeley at the Library on Edgeley Road.

There's also a lot of superb street art around the town centre and wider borough.

We're big fans of Invader's work too, and you can find Invader Was Here mosaics in Manchester city centre.

We'll be keeping an eye our for more of Mosaics in Manchester's work too - we've seen some pieces on our walks around the city before.

Check out these other posts about mosaics on the blog.

Crazy Golf at Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre

Looking back at our visit to the Crazy Golf course at the Outdoor Sports Centre in Southampton.

Crazy Golf at Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre

The Crazy Golf course at the Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre was the 872nd course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in May 2019. Sadly we didn't have time to play it as we had to get to a wedding!

Crazy Golf at Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre

The course was surprising to see as it was of the mini-Eternit Miniature Golf variety - a smaller version of a minigolf type more commonly found in continental Europe.

Crazy Golf at Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre

We'd only been to one course like it before, at Sutton Farm Cheshire at Sutton Weaver Village near Runcorn, Cheshire.

Here's a look at the 12-hole layout.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 11

Hole 12

Visit the Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre website for more information and opening times.

Crazy Golf at Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre

Free Crazy Golf in Colne, Lancashire on Saturday 19th April

There will be a free-to-play Crazy Golf course at the Easter Extravaganza event in Colne on Saturday 19th April.

The Crazy Golf layout will be one of many activities for visitors to the event to do for free.

You can find out more about the Colne Easter Extravaganza event on the Colne Town Council website.

S T O C K P O R T mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport

Spotting some new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport.

We're big fans of street art and it's always fun spotting new pieces when wandering. We noticed a new piece showing a circle/letter O on the side of The Friary fish & chip shop on Castle Street in Edgeley and on a subsequent walk found the letter R on the Royal Oak pub, so guessed there were more letters that would spell out the word "STOCKPORT"!

Mosaic tile street art on Castle Street in Edgeley, Stockport

There are no other markings on the artwork so we don't know who did it, and we're pretty sure they're very recent additions to the fabric of Edgeley as we are round that way pretty much every day and hadn't noticed them before.

They're a very nice touch, so a job well done to the artist or artists behind them. 

Minigolf course planned for Tunbridge Wells

A minigolf course could be created as part of a new Laser Quest centre in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

There are plans for a new Laser Quest centre to be created in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The venue would also be home to an indoor minigolf course and arcade.

The location for the new entertainment centre would be the former Hop House pub on Knights Park in Tunbridge Wells.

The venue would be a new place for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Updates at Victoria Park Crazy Golf in Scarborough

The Crazy Golf course at Victoria Park in Scarborough is receiving a refurbishment ahead of the new season.

It'll be interesting to see what the updates look like.

Find out more on the scarborough.co.uk Instagram, Facebook and X accounts.

Victoria Park Crazy Golf course in Scarborough in 2019

We visited the Crazy Golf course at Victoria Park in Scarborough back in June 2019. The course became the 899th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.