Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden

Visiting our 800th minigolf course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Swing by Golfbaren

In September 2006 we began what would become our epic quest to visit every miniature golf course in the UK. Back then there were approximately 600 courses. We're now up to 806 course visits, 37 of which have been overseas.

The upstairs main course

The game is booming in the UK and our friends in Sweden are also experiencing a rise in popularity. Our 800th course visit was to the Swing by Golfbaren indoor minigolf course and speakeasy in Stockholm.

Emily in the Art Deco swing of things

Swing by Golfbaren recently celebrated its first anniversary and our friend, minigolf rival and legend of the sport Hans Olofsson invited us to be guests at the party. We had a marvellous time and must say Swing by Golfbaren is one of the best minigolf venues we've visited.

Acing hole 12

The green of the 12th and final hole can be a round wrecker

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

Playing minigolf in the 'Living Room'

Throughout the venue you can find out about the history of miniature golf, with displays, ephemera, stories and memorabilia from the 1800's to the modern day.

A fine display of minigolf history

 

A close up look at some of the merch and ephemera

The early years

The 50's

The modern era

More memorabilia in the Living Room

Swing's balls

A nice set of scorecards - and branded pencils

If you like minigolf you will love Swing by Golfbaren.

Holing out for a two

There's a wonderful Wall of Fame at Swing by Golfbaren

Hole 9 in the spotlight

Check out the Swing by Golfbaren website for more information. It really is a must visit course.

Swing by Golfbaren can be found at Surbrunnsgatan

The Swing by Golfbaren branded - and turfed - vans!

While we were in Sweden we managed to visit nine minigolf courses - including another two of Hans' Golfbaren courses in Kristineberg and Aspudden. You can see more in our blog post 'From Stockport to Stockholm on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour'.

Related blog posts:
- Swing by Golfbaren
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- From Stockport to Stockholm on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- Swing by Golfbaren website
- Golfbaren website

Lupine Travel's most EXTREME tour to date

How would you fancy a holiday to The People's Republic of Wigan?

My friend Dylan Harris runs Lupine Travel, a Wigan-based business that operates holidays and tours to the far flung reaches and hidden corners of our world.

To celebrate their 10th anniversary Lupine Travel are running a very special one-off tour to their most extreme destination to date - The People's Republic of Wigan!

The four-day tour in June will feature trips to Rivington Terraced Gardens, Winter Hill, Wigan Pier, a walking tour of the town and more! You'll also be able to sample local delicacies including the (in)famous Pie Barm!

Last September we revisited Wigan to see the North Korea, An Exploration exhibition at The Old Courts, a showcase of a selection of rare propaganda posters and artifacts collected by Dylan from his travels to the country.

Poster from North Korea's participation in the 2010 World Cup

During our visit to Wigan we enjoyed having a wander and seeing the sights.

The Grand Hotel in Wigan

Emily at Uncle Joe's Mint Balls factory

At Wigan North Weston - one of the towns two railway stations

There are lots of entertainment options in Wigan

On Dylan's 2015 trip to North Korea he and his party competed in the first-ever Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament! Check out the blog post Mini Golf in Pyongyang, North Korea for more information and photos of the course, said to have been in Kim Jong Un's personal residence before he gifted it to the North Korean people and had it moved to its current location.

The Pyongyang Minigolf course and red velvet covered bench in the centre where it is claimed Kim Jong Un sat while he directed the workers on where to place each hole

You may be unlikely to ever play the Mini Golf course in Pyongyang, but if you ever do head to Wigan be sure to visit Haigh Woodland Park where you can find two miniature golf courses - a new Adventure Golf and an old Crazy Golf.

Emily playing the Crazy Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park

It's not just North Korea (and Wigan) you can visit with Lupine Travel either, as they operate tours to other far-flung places including Chernobyl, Transnistria, Eritrea, Chad, Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan, Antarctica and more!

Visit the Lupine Travel website for more information on the tours they organise.

Related blog posts:
- Wigan

The best discount shop ever?

Who else would be 'involved' but Quagmire!

The 'How Much? I can't believe my eyes DISCOUNT STORE' in Southsea, Hampshire. What a place

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the shopfront!

Giggidy

Related blog posts:
- Bootleg
- Southsea

Krunchy Fried Chicken in Liverpool

On our recent visit to Stalybridge we spotted a KFC - Krunchy Fried Chicken. But it wasn't actually the first 'branch' we'd seen! Back in 2011 we were in Liverpool and spotted this chicken shop.

A KFC

Related blog posts:

- Krunchy Fried Chicken in Stalybridge

- Bootleg

- KFC

- Liverpool

Visiting two more 'small' pubs

Over the years we've visited quite a few small pubs, each with their own particular claims.

We've had a drink at the Smallest Pub on the Planet (it's in Cleethorpes) and Britain's Smallest Pub (in Southport). While in Blackpool we called in at The Mitre, which is that town's smallest boozer.

Bar Bach - Little Bar - in Caernarfon is the smallest bar in Wales

Recently we popped into Bar Bach in Caernarfon and The Q Inn in Stalybridge.

Bar Bach is the smallest bar in Wales. We've encountered the word 'bach' on our minigolf travels too as we've played a few Golff Bach Cwrs. Bach means 'little'.

Proof

When you get inside you find out that bar is actually split and sits across two addresses!

The second address is for the cafe there.

The Q Inn is the public house with the shortest name in the United Kingdom. As certified by the Guinness Book of Records in 1995. It was a nice pub and worth a look.
 

The Q Inn is quite large

Related blog posts:
- A visit to the Smallest Pub on the Planet
- The Lakeside Inn at Southport, Britain's Smallest Pub
- Blackpool's Smallest Pub - The Mitre
- The Corner Bar in Stockport Market
- Pubs
- Pub

Smugglers Bay Adventure Golf at Stonham Barns in Suffolk

We've heard that Stonham Barns in Suffolk is opening a new Adventure Golf course!

We've played the Mini-Putting course there a few times over the years, as Stonham Barns is close by when we're visiting family in Ipswich.

That course was the 33rd of the 806 we've visited so far on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The last time we were there was in 2013.

Hole 3 of the Mini-Putting Crazy Golf course at Stonham Barns

It's interesting to hear about the new Smugglers Bay Adventure Golf course. We look forward to swinging by on a future visit to East Anglia.

The Adventure Golf course will be one of eight elements making up the UK's first Golf Adventure Park located at Stonham Barns.

Looking on the Stonham Barns Golf Centre website I also noticed they have a thing called 'Street Golf'. I'm interested in seeing that too.

Related blog posts:
- Stonham Barns
- Suffolk

Miniature Golf Putting at Kapalua Golf & Tennis Resort in Hawaii

A look at a Putting Course in Hawaii.

A look at the Putting Course at the Kapalua Golf & Tennis Resort

My friend and fellow minigolf enthusiast PJ Goedhals sent me over some snaps from his recent trip to Hawaii as he managed to squeeze in a round of miniature golf on the Putting Course at the Kapalua Golf & Tennis Resort.

A tricky looking plateau on the grass putting course

A downhill shot for PJ

Check out the Kapalua Golf & Tennis Resort website for more information. You can see a flyover of the facilities and views on the homepage video.

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich

We had a brilliant time in Norwich last weekend and it was a nice surprise to find a Bar Billiards table to have a game on too.

We're big fans of the traditional pub sport and the tables can often take some hunting out.

The four-pin layout of the pegs is a tough variation on the three-pin game

The table at the Golden Star pub used the four-pin set-up, a variation on the rules that makes the game trickier to play as two of the pegs/mushrooms partially block the 'easy route' into the 50-pockets.

It's a neat set-up at the Golden Star

The table had some nice features, including the cue holders at the baulk end.

I really like the cue holders built into the end of the table

It was a very old table owned by Alfred Sams & Sons of Hoddesdon, Herts. We hadn't seen that particular badge on other tables we've played on our travels.

Some lovely old design and features

An old National Bar Billiards Association badge

In our game (played using three-pins) I won with a score of 980 to Emily's 0. Emily had knocked down the black peg with her shot at the 200-hole to wipeout her tally of 510.

Emily in action

The final score

Emily going for it on the final black mushroom shot

The Golden Star is worth a visit and the Bar Billiards table there is well worth a play. It's only 50p a game too.

The Golden Star pub - you'll find the Bar Billiards table at the back of the pub, by the blue door on the left hand side of the photo

It's great to know that the pub plays host to competitive events as part of the Norwich Bar Billiards League too. Check out the links below for more info.

League Rules

Links:
- Golden Star, Norwich
- Norwich Bar Billiards League

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
- Norwich

Barber King in Norwich

Another weekend, another city and another bootleg!

While on our visit to Norwich we spotted this great business name and typeface on a barbers.

By night

By day

Related blog posts:
- Bootleg
- Norwich

From Stockport to Stockholm on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

A Crazy World of Minigolf Tour update from our trip to Sweden.

The 800th course we've visited - Swing by Golfbaren

Last weekend we headed to Stockholm for a mini-minigolfing trip to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the opening of the excellent Swing by Golfbaren miniature golf course run by our friend and minigolf rival Hans Olofsson.

Hans and me at his minigolf course in Aspudden

While in Sweden we managed to visit nine courses in 42 hours. The visit to Swing by Golfbaren was also the 800th course visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

At Golfbaren Aspudden

The nine minigolf courses we visited on the trip were:

• 798 (29th overseas) Solna, Sweden (Solna Bangolfklubb) - Eternit Miniature Golf

The Eternit Miniature Golf course at Solna Bangolfklubb

• 799 (30th overseas) Solna, Sweden (Solna Bangolfklubb) - NIFO Steel Minigolf

This was the first NIFO Steel minigolf course we've seen

• 800 (31st overseas and 472nd played) Vasastan, Stockholm, Sweden (Swing by Golfbaren) - indoor minigolf course and speakeasy

Emily on the 'secret' downstairs course at Swing by Golfbaren 

• 801 (32nd overseas and 473rd played) Solna, Sweden (Mall of Scandinavia) - Sports World Minigolf at O'Leary's

Playing Ice Hockey on the indoor minigolf course at the Mall of Scandinavia

• 802 (33rd overseas) Vasastan, Stockholm, Sweden (Bangolf Vasaparken) - Swedish Felt Minigolf

The Bangolf course at the Vasaparken in Stockholm

• 803 (34th overseas) Kristineberg (Golfbaren Kristineberg) - Minigolf

Golfbaren Kristineberg - it's right next to Kristineberg railway station!

• 804 (35th overseas) Hägersten, Sweden (Golfbaren Aspudden) - Minigolf

A great looking obstacle on a downhill hole at Golfbaren Aspudden

• 805 (36th overseas and 474th played) Täby, Sweden (Täby Centrum) - Paradise Adventure Golf, Inca course

Playing hole 2 of the Inca course at Paradise Adventure Golf course in Täby 

• 806 (37th overseas and 475th played) Täby, Sweden (Täby Centrum) - Paradise Adventure Golf, Explorers course

We're now up to 806 minigolf course visits since we began our travels in September 2006. There are a lot of new courses opening up too, so who knows what number we'll end the year on!

World of Bun Throwing: Bun Throwing in Abingdon this November

World of Bun Throwing: Bun Throwing in Abingdon this November: There will be a Bun Throwing event in Abingdon-on-Thames on Saturday 10th November to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War.