Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Playing Crazy Golf in St Erth

Crazy Golf at Penwith Pitch and Putt in St Erth, Cornwall.

This is a bit of a throwback blog post, but it seems crazy that our adventure around the south west coast of England was back in 2015! We've still got a few minigolf blog posts to do about that trip!

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

You can see the full list of 62 courses we visited on our two-week holiday in our post 'Mini Golf in the South West of England'. One of those courses was the Crazy Golf layout at the Penwith Pitch & Putt centre in St Erth, Cornwall.

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
Emily playing the very tricky 18th

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
On the Wishing Well

It was a brilliant and brightly coloured 18-hole course and great fun to play.

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
A happy character. And a fun Crazy Golf obstacle

The course was the 37th visited on our south west trip, the 375th played overall and 636th course visited since September 2006.

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall

In our game on the 8th June 2015 Emily won with a score of 42 to my 46.

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
Emily on the Wishing Well hole

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
On the 4th hole

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
Emily putting on the Helter Skelter

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
Playing the 14th

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
On the long last hole

Crazy Golf course at Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
It's always nice to see a windmill on a Crazy Golf course

For more information and opening times visit the Play Golf Penwith Pitch & Putt Facebook page.

Penwith Pitch & Putt in St Erth, Cornwall
A view of the Pitch and Putt course in St Erth

Related blog posts:
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
Mini Golf in the South West of England

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Friday, January 27, 2017

Winning at Subpar Miniature Golf

A great online minigolf contest.

I do enjoy a good minigolf contest and courses often hold online 'guess the number of ball' competitions. A recent promotion from Subpar Miniature Golf in Alameda, California was definitely one of the best I've ever seen and had a fun and novel twist.

To win you had to incorrectly guess the number of golf balls in the photo!

Incorrectly guess the number of golf balls used to create this Valentine and you may win! Photo by Subpar Miniature Golf
How many golf balls do you see?

Using my many years of minigolf experience I guessed at 732 and won!



The prize is a Subpar Miniature Golf bumper sticker - it'll be a fine addition to my collection and the Crazy Golf Museum archives - and by posting a photo of it stuck on my car I'll also receive a free round at the course. Now, to book my flights so I can collect the sticker...

Let's hope it's not my last minigolf win of the year!

You can find the Subpar Miniature Golf course at 1511 Park Stree, Alameda, California. Visit the Subpar Miniature Golf website for more info, opening times and prices.

It sounds like a great place as it's also got pool, a slot car track, an arcade and air hockey. On Fridays and Saturdays the Miniature Golf course becomes a Glow Golf layout too!

Our friends over at A Couple of Putts played the course last year, check out their review. It certainly looks like they had fun there.

Links:
- Subpar Miniature Golf website
- Subpar Miniature Golf on Facebook

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Laser Disk shopping!

I've found the perfect shop to take over to expand my business empire!

At the out-of-business Jubilee Films video, DVD and Laser Disk shop in Ashton-under-Lyne
Laser Disks!?

I'm sure there's still money to be had in the VHS tape and Laserdisc markets...

A trip to Ashton-under-Lyne railway station

Visiting Ashton-under-Lyne railway station.


While visiting Ashton-under-Lyne and the great Portland Basin Museum for the first time we swung by the railway station for a quick look for some classic Northern trains.

Train nerd Richard Gottfried at Ashton-under-Lyne railway station
Train nerd

We were in luck as we saw BOTH 16:34 services arriving at and departing from the station! One was a two-coach Class 150 Sprinter heading to Huddersfield, the other was a four-coach Pacer Railbus en route to Wigan Wallgate.



Ashton-under-Lyne railway station
Bound for Wigan Wallgate

Ashton-under-Lyne railway station
Off to Huddersfield

One of the non-stopping trains passing through Ashton-under-Lyne station
One of the non-stopping trains passing through Ashton-under-Lyne station

Videos:
- Northern Sprinter and Pacer Railbus trains at Ashton-under-Lyne station
- Northern Sprinter train on a railway bridge at Normanton Road, Cheadle
- GBRf 66737 with Drax freight trucks at Cheadle Heath

Related blog posts:
- Train nerd
- Trains

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Some new old minigolf postcards

A look at minigolf postcards from Woolacombe, Droitwich and Margate.


I recently bought some excellent old postcards from one of my favourite dealers and the batch included many we'd never seen before.

One was from the Once Upon a Time theme park in Woolacombe, Devon and features the attraction's mascot Pippa Pig enjoying the activities that were on offer - including an interesting looking Crazy Golf. Checking online, the Once Upon a Time theme park is long gone, having closed at the end of the 2005 season. The park had opened in the early 1990's and was based in the old Mortehoe and Woolacombe railway station.

Pippa Pig at Once Upon a Time Children's Theme Park, Woolacombe, N. Devon. Postally unused postcard published by Dowland Press Ltd,. Frome, Somerset. No date
Pippa Pig at Once Upon a Time Children's Theme Park, Woolacombe, N. Devon. Postally unused postcard published by Dowland Press Ltd,. Frome, Somerset. No date

Another of the brilliant cards shows the Putting Greens at the Raven Hotel in Droitwich, Worcestershire. It's the first minigolf card I've seen from Droitwich. Unfortunately I can't find any information on the exact location of the hotel but I'm fairly certain it's not there now. There are a number of other hotels in the area that are, or were, called the Raven. The closest looking one is the St Andrews Town Hotel.

The Putting Greens, Raven Hotel, Droitwich, Worcs. Postally unused 'Gravure' postcard by Lucas Engraving Co. Ltd., Birmingham. No date
The Putting Greens, Raven Hotel, Droitwich, Worcs. Postally unused 'Gravure' postcard by Lucas Engraving Co. Ltd., Birmingham. No date

The card showing The Oval in Cliftonville is the first I've seen that contains a full view of all 36-holes which used to form the Little Oasis Crazy Golf course. Luckily we managed to play both of the classic Arnold Palmer Putting Courses before they were removed in 2014.

The Oval, Cliftonville, PT4419. Postally used postcard postmarked from Thanet, Kent on the 24 September 1975. By Photo Precision Limited, St. Ives, Huntingdon
The Oval, Cliftonville, PT4419. Postally used postcard postmarked from Thanet, Kent on the 24 September 1975. By Photo Precision Limited, St. Ives, Huntingdon

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Playing Junkyard Golf in Manchester

A revisit to play the Junkyard Crazy Golf course in Manchester.

The two 9-hole Junkyard Crazy Golf Club courses in Manchester's Piccadilly Place were the 718th and 719th courses visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour last November. They are now the 421st and 422nd played.

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
Hole 1 and 2 on the Pablo course

In my round on the Pablo Crazy Golf course I scored a 27 - the last hole, a Volcano, did me in with a five! It's got a very tough second putt up hill.  I shot a 29 on the Frieda course, with the third hole doing me in with a costly seven!

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
There's a blacklight section of the course. One of my favourite types of minigolf design

There are definitely some good hole-in-one opportunities on the course, with the loop-di-loop first hole and skate ramp fourth holes on Frieda my favourites.

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
The first hole on the Freida course is a good hole-in-one opportunity

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
A view from the tee

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
The skate ramp is another chance for an ace

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
From the tee to the 'green'

The whole venue has a very crazy feel and the minigolf holes and obstacles at Junkyard Golf are certainly unique.

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
Putt downhill...

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
...into a bathtub!

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
One of the more normal looking holes at Junkyard Crazy Golf

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
Truly...

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
...bizarre!

While it wasn't the easiest hole on the course I did enjoy seeing an Alan Partridge themed hole there!

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
Hole 6 on the Freida course is an Alan Partridge hole!

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
A-ha, it's a steep ramp

Junkyard Crazy Golf in Manchester
A Crazy Golf hole Jed Maxwell would be proud of

Visit the Junkyard Golf website for more details on the Manchester and London courses. We've heard good things about the FOUR London courses the team at Junkyard Golf have created.

We've visited 721 courses in the UK and overseas. One of those courses was in the exact same spot as Junkyard Golf. Back in 2012 there was a Christmas-themed Crazy Golf course set-up for six weeks. That course was the 313th played. I also won the Chrizy Golf Masters tournament there during that visit!

Links:
Junkyard Golf
Junkyard Golf Manchester

Related blog posts:
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
Manchester

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.