Swing by Golfbaren minigolf in Stockholm, Sweden

Looking back at our visit to Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden.

We visited Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden back in February 2018 to celebrate the first birthday of the course. It doesn't seem like that long ago! It's a superb venue and still going strong. If you're in Stockport it's well worth a visit.

The indoor minigolf course and speakeasy was the landmark 800th course visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and our 31st overseas.

The course has a 1920's theme and is a truly unique layout.

Emily getting into the Art Deco swing of things

There's an 'upstairs' 12-holes open for all to play, while hidden 'downstairs' are a further 6-holes which can be booked for private events.

The upstairs course

The downstairs course

Check out the Swing by Golfbaren website for more information.

New Adventure Golf course opening in Ware

A new Adventure Golf course is opening at the Van Hage Great Amwell garden centre in Ware, Hertfordshire.

The outdoor Adventure Golf course is currently under construction at the Blue Diamond Van Hage Great Amwell garden centre and is planned to open in May 2025.

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

The Blue Diamond Van Hage Great Amwell garden centre is also home to the East Herts Miniature Railway. Minigolf courses and Miniature Railways at venues are a brilliant combination!

Crazy Golf at Whistlestop Valley in Huddersfield

There's a 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Whistlestop Valley in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Whistlestop Valley in Clayton West, Huddersfield is home to the Kirklees Light Railway.

Check out the Whistlestop Valley website for more information.

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

F C of S T O C K P O R T C O U N T Y in Edgeley

Spotting the final parts of the Stockport County street art in Edgeley.

We recently noticed some newly placed street art in the form of mosaic tiles spelling out "STOCKPORT" along Castle Street in Edgeley. It was a nice surprise to see it, and after a bit of research we found that the group behind the street art were Grit Studios, Mosaics in Manchester, Stockport County Community Trust, and The Writing Squad.

During another wander around our local area we spotted another "O", which led us to find other tile art letters that spelled out "COUNTY".

We then found out that there were 17 mosaics in total - and we'd found 15 of them. So we set out to find the final two to spell out the final words in the Edgeley Mosaic Trail.

The final two pieces of the puzzle

A map for the Edgeley Mosaic Trail can be found on the Stockport County FC website.

Adventure Golf at The Den in Teignmouth

Looking back at our visit to the Adventure Golf course on Teignmouth Sea Front.

The 616th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the dinosaur Adventure Golf course at The Den park in Teignmouth, Devon back in 2015.

A BIG minigolf dinosaur

The 12-hole Adventure Golf layout was the fifth played on our tour of the South West of England and the 368th played overall on our tour.

Visiting the 616th course on our tour

On the Adventure Golf course in Teignmouth

   

Tapping in a putt

Some of the holes on the course are really long

A minigolf crocodile, or alligator

Emily Putting on the island

  

An additional seagull 'obstacle' on the course

Coeliac UK Awareness Month 2025

May is Coeliac UK Awareness Month.

Coeliac UK's Awareness Month takes place throughout May, with the charity for people affected by Coeliac Disease sharing stories to help recognise the symptoms and take the first steps on the road to recovery.

Coeliac disease is a serious autoimmune condition that affects 1 in 100 people in the UK (I'm one of those '1's') and according to Coeliac UK only 36% are medically diagnosed, meaning there are an estimated 500,000 people living in the UK who are experiencing symptoms - and these symptoms are having a big impact on their lives.

Find out more about Coeliac UK Awareness Month 2025 on the Coeliac UK website.

About 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, and uncomfortable symptoms.

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, lifelong gluten free diet.

Blossom in Stockport

What a superb start to spring. Looking forward to lots more sunny weather here in Stockport, and beyond...

Blossom in Cheadle Village

Pubs of Stockport during the coronavirus pandemic

A look at Stopfordian Pubs during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Five years ago today we photographed The Kings Tap on Station Road in Cheadle Hulme. It became the first of 265 pubs, bars and clubs we visited in the borough between April and the 4th of July 2020 when the first coronavirus pandemic lockdown ended.

Pub number 1 - The Kings Tap on Station Road in Cheadle Hulme. A lovely Art Deco building. We'd never seen it shuttered before the lockdown. It's since undergone a change of ownership and is now called The Watchmakers Bar & Grill

We visited each of the pubs while on our daily outdoor exercise between Wednesday 1st April and before pubs were allowed to reopen with social distancing measures on Saturday 4th July.

It gave us something to do during the lockdowns and it was interesting to see the variety of architecture, different signage, parts of the town we haven't been to for a long time and other parts of the area we'd never been to. I documented the pubs on Instagram using the #StopfordianPubs tag.

At the 265th pub on our lockdown 'pub crawl'. Not a drop was drunk on our daily walks in April, May, June and July!

The CLUB GOLF pop-up minigolf course in London

Looking back at the CLUB GOLF pop-up minigolf course at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London.

The last new minigolf course I played before the coronavirus pandemic lockdown struck was the CLUB GOLF pop-up minigolf course at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London.

The 9-hole rave-inspired art installation crazy golf course was the 948th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 542nd played.

Artists Baker & Borowski created the 9-hole themed Crazy Golf layout inspired by the rave culture in the King's Cross area back in the 1980's and 1990's.

I shot a round of 23 in my game - the scorecard noted that the maximum score allowed was 63! That would be a seven on each hole!

It was a fun course to play and well spaced out around Coal Drop's Yard.

It's crazy to think we would get to have another game of minigolf in again until August 2020.

Happy National Pencil Day

Today is National Pencil Day!

Minigolf pencils from our travels

Here's a selection of minigolf pencils we've collected over years.

We enjoy visiting courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and it's marvellous when we find one that has a branded pencil to score the game with.

Pencils and promotional scratchcards from Congo River Golf in Orlando, Florida, USA

It's a superb bit of minigolf marketing too.

A minigolf pencil from Christopher Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour trip to Magic Carpet Golf in Galveston, Texas, USA

We've seen several minigolf courses switching to virtual scorecards (and scoreboards), and app-based scorecards. Others are using a mixture.

We think, and hope, there's space and a place for all methods of scoring to continue in the game.

Our friend Pat Sheridan from The Putting Penguin minigolf review website (among his many other hats in the game) has contributed quite a few pencils and scorecards to the Crazy Golf Museum that he's picked up on his own minigolf adventures.

One of the most peculiar minigolf pencils we've seen is this one Pat sent a snap of, as it's a real life pencil for a virtual minigolf game!

A pencil from the Walkabout Mini Golf VR game

If you'd like your minigolf course pencil (or other items of merch and ephemera) displayed and archived in the Crazy Golf Museum please do get in touch.

Just one of the many minigolf pencils in the Crazy Golf Museum - from the Wye Valley Miniatvre Golf course in Symonds Yat West

You can see more miniature golf course pens and pencils on the Crazy Golf Museum website.

A scorecard and pencils from Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf in Orlando, Florida, USA from our friend Shelley Barrett

Arnold Palmer Putting Courses Crazy Golf pencils from the course in Prestatyn

A pencil from Lumberjax Mini Golf in New Zealand from our friend James Astrop

A pencil from Urban Putt in San Francisco from our friend and minigolf rival (and sometimes team-mate) Kevin Moseley

A pencil from Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf

A minigolf pencil from Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden 

A pencil from Swingers Crazy Golf in London

A pencil from the CLUB GOLF crazy golf pop-up at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London. This was the last course Richard played before the UK went into coronavirus pandemic lockdown / quarantine

A pencil from the Putt 18 indoor putting game - we played a lot of this during the pandemic

Hole in Wand Wizard Golf opening in Leeds

The team at The Hole In Wand Wizard Golf are opening a new indoor minigolf course at St John's Shopping Centre in Leeds, West Yorkshire this Summer.

You can currently find The Hole In Wand miniature golf courses in Blackpool, Chester, York and Seaham.

Visit The Hole in Wand website for more information.

We visit Leeds a lot and it'll be another new course for us to check out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Roxy Ball Room opening at St Mary Axe in London

The latest Roxy Ball Room venue is opening at St Mary Axe in London on Thursday 10th April.

The new location at St Mary Axe - next to The Gherkin - in London will be home to a Crazy Pool course, as well as many of the brand's other popular games including Tech Darts, Ice-Free Curling and American Pool.

Crazy Pool is a mix of crazy golf and cue sports, with the game played on a table using a golf ball to tackle obstacles, and played with a cue rather than a putter.

We've played Crazy Pool at the Roxy Ball Room at the Manchester Arndale venue.

We've visited several of the Roxy locations on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - the first being the Leeds Boar Lane venue back in 2016.

You can find Roxy locations in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and York. The venues have a mix of games including Roxy Golf and Crazy Pool.

Check out the Roxy Ball Room website for more information on the venues, prices and opening times.