More Bar Billiards in London

A trip to six pubs and a hotel in search of somewhat elusive Bar Billiards tables.

While in London on Tuesday 20th March I had a hunt around for some more Bar Billiards tables to have a play on.

With the regular minigolf season still a month away my thirst for playing a game that requires the holing of balls and dodging obstacles on a green surface needed to be stated, so using the Bar Billiards table map and lists from the All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA) website and the British Bar Billiards Forum I set off to see what I could find.

The first two pubs visited drew a blank. The barman at The Trafalgar pub on the King’s Road in Chelsea had heard of the game (once I said it ‘was a bit like Pool’). The table was long gone, but some of his regulars still mentioned it.

The next pub visit was to The Surprise on Christchurch Terrace in Chelsea. To not much surprise from me the table there was also long gone. Both The Trafalgar and The Surprise looked nice enough, but were more gastropubs than pubby pubs!

The next location on my list was The Gallery Hotel and the fact that it was a hotel, rather than a pub, left me doubting whether there would be any hint of Bar Billiards. My concerns were unfounded as the Receptionist knew that there was a Bar Billiards table in the hotel, but had never been asked about it before, especially not from someone coming in off the street. But, having explained how I’d heard about it she called the Butler to take me to ‘The Morris Room’ to have a look.

The Bar Billiards area in 'The Morris Room' at The Gallery Hotel in Kensington

Down the stairs in the nicely decorated hotel – the lobby has a nice bar, early 20th century photographic equipment and a chess board set-up amongst the leather chairs and bookcases – I was led to the Bar Billiards table and left to have a play on it.

The felt on the table looked a different colour to that on the other tables I’ve played to date and it had a very fast running baize too. The table is neatly tucked away in an alcove under the stairs. There were two cues, a rules sheet (which marked the establishment of the rules in 1934), chalk, a scoreboard, but sadly only four white balls to use!?

The Bar Billiards table at The Gallery Hotel

The three-pin table was free to play, the timer did work, but the bar did not drop. Interestingly, the coin slot was pre-decimal, so I have no idea how much it would have cost to play ‘back in the day’!?

I had an irregular match against myself (I lost, but won 200 points to 30 points) and then had a bit of a practice. A nice old table in a lovely hotel. Definitely worth a visit if you’re into Bar Billiards.

After the high of playing the table at The Gallery Hotel, my next stop was fruitless as I found that The Gloucester Arms on Gloucester Road no longer has a table either.

After passing by the Pavilion at Hyde Park (home to a 9-hole Miniature Golf Putting Course) I caught the tube to Temple and The Cheshire Cheese pub. And I am certainly glad I did.

The Games Room sign at The Cheshire Cheese Pub

The blackboard outside the pub proudly announces the pub’s Games Room, which is home to all manner of great activities including Bar Billiards, Darts, Rings, Giant Jenga, Chess, Backgammon, Shove Halfpenny, Poker and more!

After ordering my drink I enquired about the Games Room and the barmaid opened up the basement room for me, where I was greeted by a Bar Billiards table, quality dartboard (with electronic scoreboard) and Rings game board.

While waiting for Emily to arrive I had a practice of my ‘arrers and threw a few Rings, to little effect.

Rings and Darts at The Cheshire Cheese Pub

My score of 'lucky' 7 in my practice game at Rings

Once Emily arrived we decided on the format for our mini-Publympics competition – best-of-three games, starting with Bar Billiards, followed by the Ring Toss and ending with a one-leg 301 straight-in, double-out game of Darts.

The Bar Billiards table had four Mushrooms (two white, one red and a black). However, we decided to play the game as a three-pin match instead. In game one I defeated Emily 400-250. Emily had totted up a score of 230 points and a 140-break, before wiping out by hitting the black mushroom.

The four Mushrooms in the holes

In game two I scored a 490 point break on my way to a victory 810-190. This took me to one-nil up in the mini-Publympics.

The Bar Billiards table at The Cheshire Cheese Pub

Next up was a game of Rings. Without knowing the exact rules and with no rule sheet available we played an arbitrary game of six-rings-each, highest score wins. In game one I scored a pitiful 6 points to Emily’s 25. Emily also won game two with a 13-10 points victory to take the second game in our series too. I wrapped up our game of Rings by winning the third, and unnecessary, final game 13-11. Emily’s total points haul was 49 to my 29.

Emily defeats me at the old parlour game of Rings

In the sudden-death leg of Darts I won the match in a 66 dart-leg(!) to win the overall three game challenge contest 2-1.

The Cheshire Cheese is a great pub. Nice and friendly and with the whole basement given over to pub games and a bar it’s well worth a visit.

Emily throwing some 'arrers at The Cheshire Cheese Pub

Our next stops on the Barmy Bar Billiards Trail led us to Soho and two pubs on Brewer Street. The first, The Glasshouse Stores, had a blackboard on the street detailing the pub games, while the other, Marks Bar at Hix, shows the Bar Billiards table in the photos on the menu outside.

The sign outside The Glasshouse Stores in Soho

The menu and photos showing the Bar Billiards table at Hix, Soho

We decided to visit The Glasshouse Stores and found the Bar Billiards table towards the back of the pub. The pub is quite large and there is a cellar bar too. We asked about playing the Bar Billiards and were told a £5 refundable deposit was required for the cues, chalk and Mushrooms. We were also told the timer was broken so we’d have to pay a pound to play at the bar too.

We set-up the three-pin table and found there were quite a lot of extra balls on the table (a total of twelve available), perhaps they can sell The Gallery Hotel four more! We removed the excess balls and decided we’d play to a 15-minute time limit before the imaginary bar would drop.

Plenty of Bar Billiards Balls to choose from on The Glasshouse table!

In game one I got off to a good start, racking up a break of 510 points, before wiping-out by hitting both white pegs. I still managed to pick up the win, with a score of 430-nil, cleaning up the last three balls on the table with my final shot scoring 10, 50 & 50. Towards the end of the first game Emily had also been unfortunate to wipe-out a break of 510 points!

The rule sheet for the game of Billiards at The Glasshouse Stores

The second of our three games saw me once again pick up a victory, this time the match went to a dreaded shoot-out on the black peg, which I managed to avoid and holed out with my first attempt to take the win 550-nil.

A tricky shot for me

After a bit of practice we decided to have one final challenge match which I won 360-10 after potting the white in the 200-hole on my first attempt again, this time after Emily had missed her first shot at it.

Emily turned a Mushroom upside down with a ferocious shot!

The pub also has a number of other games available to play including a wide selection of board games, along with a good dartboard area too.

The Darts area at The Glasshouse Stores

After playing plenty of Bar Billiards for one day we called it quits and headed home. But we will be back to play the table at Hix, and a few others in London, another day.

Blog Posts:

- Bar Billiards-related Blog Posts at The Ham & Egger Files

Links:

- All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA)
- Bar Billiards Tables Map

- Masters Traditional Games

Hyde Park's Miniature Golf Course

Minigolf Putting Course in Hyde Park, London.

London's Hyde Park is home to a 9-hole Putting Course. Emily and I played the course in August 2010 and yesterday I passed by the Games Pavilion. The course is quite hidden and not many people I've spoken to know the course is there. It's worth a play.

The site now has a website and the course is still £5 a round. Details of the Golf Putting Green at the Pavilion can be found here.

Related Blog Posts:

- Adventure Golf Grass Putting at Hyde Park, London

- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- London

Link:

- Will To Win

R. Soles

A shoe shop on the King's Road in Chelsea, London. Est. 1974.

Other funny sign blog posts & links:
- Go for 'broke' at Ladbrokes in Stevenage Old Town
- Todays Escape Route!
- My twitpic account - chock-full of odd and amusing photos of signs (and other stuff)
- R. Soles website

Writing about the Abingdon-on-Thames tradition of Bun Throwing for Smitten by Britain

Latest guest blog post for Smitten by Britain now online.

You can check out a piece I've written about the Abingdon-on-Thames tradition of Bun Throwing for the brilliant blog Smitten By Britain at "Bun Throwing in Abingdon-on-Thames".

Smitten by Britain is a blog all about the best of British and is run by American Britophile Melissa Stoey. The website covers subjects including culture, sports, travel, history, food & drink and books - it's the home of the Britophile and all things British.

Link:

- Smitten by Britain website

World of Bun Throwing - Blog Updates

Latest news on the upcoming Royal Bun Throwing events in Abingdon-on-Thames.

Over on my other blog - World of Bun Throwing - I've written a couple of new posts about the two Bun Throwing events taking place in my hometown of Abingdon-on-Thames in 2012.

"Latest News on the 2012 Royal Bun Throwing in Abingdon-on-Thames"

"World Bun Throwing Championships - Update"

My adopted hometown of Luton also has a link to 'Buns' as in 2009 the head baker at Don Miller's in the town created the Luton Bun to celebrate the town, mark his 22 years in business and the support of his customers in that time.

As a Coeliac (diagnosed in 2008) I can no longer eat 'normal' Hot Cross Buns, so I've never eaten a Luton Bun and when I attended the Abingdon Royal Bun Throwing last year I was unable to eat any of the three buns that I had caught. Luckily I did pick up a packet of Sainsbury's freefrom Gluten & Wheat Free Hot Cross Buns earlier this week, so I've eaten them to get in the mood for the big Bun Throwing events in April and June!

Four Sainsbury's freefrom Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns - now all eaten!

Links:

- World of Bun Throwing Blog

- All Bun Throwing-related Blog Posts at The Ham & Egger Files

- Blog Post - The Luton Bun

The Barmy Bar Billiards Trail leads us to St Albans

Two pubs visited, one Bar Billiards table found, two games played.

On Wednesday 14th March we were in St Albans, Hertfordshire so took the opportunity to look up the two Bar Billiards tables that are listed in the City.

We managed to play one of them, but found the table at The White Swan on Upper Dagnall Street is no longer there. The landlord told us it had been removed before he took over the management of the pub. Even without Bar Billiards The White Swan was a nice and friendly pub. There were some games on offer including Jenga and Bōku – an abstract strategy board game that Emily and I will no doubt play at a later date.

The Goat Inn can be found on Sopwell Lane which is just off Holywell Hill and a couple of minutes walk from the city centre and Cathedral.

The Goat Inn pub sign

As we arrived at The Goat Inn we immediately saw the Bar Billiards table in the window and no one was playing it.

The view of the table from the street

The Goat Inn is a fairly large venue with a three sided bar that splits up the different areas of the pub. There is a small seated area as you enter the pub, then a games room which houses the Bar Billiards table, a good quality dartboard, a huge selection of board games and a TV that was showing live football. There was also live music on during our visit and the chalkboards around the pub have listings for a number of different events including quizzes and details of the darts & dominoes teams.

In my first of two challenge matches I faced off against our friend Oxana Nikandrova. As she had never played the game before I ran through the rules and gave her some of the background to the game. Despite the game’s supposed Russian origins (via the French/Belgian game of Billard Russe aka Russian Billiards) Oxana had never seen anything like it in her native Russia.

I line up the opening shot in my first game

The match was closely fought with Oxana picking up the game very quickly and at one point she had built up a break of 490 points, in part due to a brilliant rebound shot off the backboard, which resulted in the red ball landing in the 200 points hole! Unfortunately this break and the rest of her score were wiped out soon after as she knocked the dreaded black mushroom over.

The final result was a win to me with a score of 470 to Oxana’s 20 points. The game didn’t need to go to a decider as I was able to clear the final two balls from the table with my final shot.

Next up was a match between me and Emily. This match would go the distance after we had a score line of 520 to 160 at the end of regulation play, with just one white ball left to pot.

Emily takes on a shot

After numerous attempts at the 200 hole I managed to get the ball in and pick-up the 200 points to see the final score 720-160.

The table is set for a Black Mushroom Shootout Decider!

£1 a go

A vital element of any game of Bar Billiards

As with the Bar Billiards table we played at The Strathmore Arms at St Pauls Walden, the table at The Goat Inn was 'approved' by the National Bar Billiards Association - the pre-WW2 governing body!

The Bar Billiards table at The Goat Inn was in good condition and was very playable. A few of the young lads who were in the pub watching the football glanced over while we were playing and we heard them saying that they’d never played the game before and didn’t know the rules. The only slightly annoying thing about the table was that some shots towards the cushion on the left hand side could not be played as the table is positioned next to a wall and the window, so most shots (and any sudden-death shoot-outs would need to be played from left-to-right).

The pub has Darts and Dominoes teams and I wonder if they've ever had a Bar Billiards Team, or would set one up?

After playing Bar Billiards we sat down beside the huge array of Board Games and picked out the game of Flags World Tour.

The Goat Inn has plenty of Board Games to choose from!

A very interesting and fun game to play. We may have to buy a copy of it for our games room!

The Flags World Tour Board Game and a flag that one player thought was the German flag - they'd had a few (too many) drinks by that point!

The Goat Inn is a great pub that’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area. There are some nice touches in the pub, including signs with details of the history of the pub, which was built in the 15th century. An interesting facts about The Goat Inn is that in 1756 the Inn could accommodate seventy-two horses but could only sleep ten people! It is also rumoured that the historic site was once the oldest brothel in St Albans!

View all of the Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files about our Barmy Bar Billiards Trail.

Links:
- All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA)
- Bar Billiards Tables Map
- The Goat Inn, St Albans

Putter Fingers 'Caption Competition'

Win a Minigolf Prize in the latest Putter Fingers online competition.

The team at Putter Fingers have announced their March Minigolf Competition – it’s a 'Create a Caption' contest, and I’m in the photo!

To win the contest you need to add a caption to this photo over at the Putter Fingers Facebook page!

To enter the contest all you have to do is head over to the Putter Fingers Facebook page and post a comment on their wall with your caption. The Putter Fingers team will then choose the most entertaining entry to win a minigolf prize!

The photo was taken by the Kent Minigolf Club at the 2010 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships, played on the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Hastings, East Sussex.

Links:

- Putter Fingers website

- Putter Fingers Facebook Page

Luton is still a Town

Luton fails in bid to become a City.

Luton has failed in its bid to become a City as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. A total of 25 towns in the UK put in a City Status Bid, with the winners announced today.

Chelmsford, Essex; Perth, Scotland and St Asaph, Wales were the three towns honoured with new City Status.



The Luton Town Coat of Arms – granted in 1876. The crest shows a wheatsheaf (representing agriculture and straw supplied to the town’s hat trade), a bee (the traditional emblem of industry), a beehive (representing the town’s famous straw-plaiting industry), a rose (from the arms of the Napier family from Luton Hoo) and a thistle (a symbol for Scotland and on the Luton Coat of Arms either because of the Napier’s link to Scotland via the straw-plaiting industry, or the Marquess of Bute who was a former owner of Luton Hoo). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luton

Link:

- Love Luton City Status Bid website

Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf Courses on the Lincolnshire Coast

Details of Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf, Minigolf and Putting Green courses that we've visited in Cleethorpes, Mablethorpe, Chapel St Leonards, Skegness, Ingoldmells, Woodhall Spa and Spalding.

In the summer of 2011 our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour took Emily and I to Lincolnshire where we spent a pleasent week touring the seasides, with a few stops inland along the way. As part of our tour of Lincolnshire (and a little bit of Norfolk) we went to seven seasides, visited 34 minigolf and crazy golf courses, played in countless Amusement Arcades and walked along a few Piers too.

At the Jolly Roger Adventure Golf course in Skegness

Note: The numbers below relate to the 'visit number' on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

225 Skellingthorpe (Daisy Made Ice Cream Shop & Drive-Thru) - Crazy Daisy Golf (Swedish Felt B-Run)

226 Cleethorpes (Oddballs) - Crazy Golf

227 Cleethorpes (Fairworld Amusement Arcade) - Adventure Golf

228 Mablethorpe (Queen's Park/Linda's Pavilion) - Crazy Golf

229 Mablethorpe (Sea Front) - Crazy Golf

230 Mablethorpe (Arnold Palmer/Captain Hook's) - Adventure Golf

231 Chapel St Leonards (Sea Dwellers Crazy Golf) - Crazy Golf

232 Chapel St Leonards (Golden Palm Resort Crazy Golf) - Crazy Golf

233 Skegness (North Shore Caravan Park) - Miniature Golf

234 Skegness (Arnold Palmer) - Crazy Golf

235 Skegness (Arnold Palmer) - Putting

236 Skegness (Arnold Palmer) - Crazy Golf

237 Skegness (Jolly Roger) - Adventure Golf (Skull Trail)

238 Skegness (Jolly Roger) - Adventure Golf (Treasure Trail)

239 Skegness (Bottons Pleasure Beach) - Gold Mine Adventure Golf (Adventure Putting) & Cactus Canyon River Ride

240 Ingoldmells (Fantasy Island) - Crazy Golf

241 Woodhall Spa (Bainland Country Park) - 5 Star Crazy Golf - RICHARD SCORES A 'PERFECT' ROUND, WITH 9 HOLES-IN-ONE IN A ROW!

242 Woodhall Spa (Bainland Country Park) - Putting

243 Spalding (Springfields) - Secret Garden Adventure Golf

On the same roadtrip we finished up in Hunstanton where we were able to play a further five Miniature Golf courses.

244 Hunstanton (Victorian Pavilion) - Putting

245 Hunstanton (Victorian Pavilion) - Crazy Golf

246 Hunstanton (Blackbeard's Adventure Golf) - Adventure Golf (Aztec Course)

247 Hunstanton (Blackbeard's Adventure Golf) - Adventure Golf (Pirate Course)

248 Hunstanton (Vegas Amusement Arcade) - Crazy Golf

During the trip we visited the following courses, but were unable to play them for a variety of reasons (details and links below).

- Cleethorpes (Arnold Palmer) - Crazy Golf - Closed on Visit

- Cleethorpes (Terry's Traditional) - Crazy Golf - Closed on Visit

- Cleethorpes (Terry's Traditional) - Putting - Closed on Visit

- Cleethorpes (Thorpe Park Haven Caravan Park) - Putting - £10 Day Rate To Use Facilities - Not Enough Time on Roadtrip

- Cleethorpes (Thorpe Park Haven Caravan Park) - Adventure Golf - £10 Day Rate To Use Facilities - Not Enough Time on Roadtrip

- Cleethorpes (Thorpe Park Haven Caravan Park) - Crazy Golf - £10 Day Rate To Use Facilities - Not Enough Time on Roadtrip

- Mablethorpe (Queen's Park/Linda's Pavilion) - Putting - No Flags Out - Not Fully Open

- Sutton on Sea - Crazy Golf - Demolished

- Chapel St Leonards (Lakeside Boating Lake) - Crazy Golf - Derelict

- Skegness (North Shore Caravan Park) - Mini Golf - Pitch & Putt - Also home to "The Pitch And Putt Inn"

- Skegness (Pebble Adventure Golf) - Adventure Golf - Closed on Visit

- Skegness (South Parade) - Crazy Golf - Closed on Visit

- Skegness (South Parade) - Putting - Closed on Visit

- Skegness (South Parade) - Pitch & Putt - No Time Left To Play

- Long Sutton (The Butterfly and Wildlife Park) - Closed on Visit

On our trip to Lincolnshire we also visited the smallest pub on the planet - The Signal Box Inn - in Cleethorpes. Following our visit I sent them a mini-Miniature Golf course for their games area!

Discovering a New Food Group!?

Dairy, Fruit, Vegetables, Grains and now Plastic!?

While perusing the ‘Canned Meat’ aisle in my local Sainsbury’s this evening I spotted a new type of food – Plastic Pork Luncheon Meat & Plastic Bacon Grill!?

Plastic Pork Luncheon Meat & Plastic Bacon Grill - mmmm

Tasty.

Links:

- Minigolf Myth #1 - Oliver Florence Hates Packet Ham

- Exploding a Minigolf Myth – Richard Gottfried Loves Packet Ham

- Baconnaise - everything should taste like bacon!!!

- Food Groups (not including 'Plastic') on Wikipedia

The Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge

Results of the Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Competition at Namco

On Thursday 8th March the Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling team headed to Namco Fun Station in Luton’s Galaxy Centre to take part in the Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge.

The Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team with the Mayor of Luton - from l-r: Laura 'Spinsten' Wood, Emily 'Skipping Rope' Gottfried, Christopher 'Ted Spin' Gottfried, Don 'The Mayor of Luton' Worlding, Richard 'Bowling Shirt' Gottfried, James 'The Great Sparedini' Cunliffe

A call had gone out for teams to compete in the two-round competition and the Ham & Eggers signed on the dotted line to try to best the Mayor!

On the night the team were unable to win the whole event, but did finish in a creditable 3rd place in the 11 team field. The evening of bowling and the raffle raised a total of £700 for the Mayor of Luton’s three charities in 2012 - The Lister Kidney Foundation, Keech Hospice Care and Action for Kids.

Ham & Eggers Team – Player Results:
1. Christopher Gottfried – 155 + 109 = 264
2. Richard Gottfried – 129 + 125 = 254
3. James Cunliffe – 106 + 138 = 244
4. X – 113 + 109 = 222
5. ? – 94 + 95 = 189
6. Emily Gottfried – 85 + 86 = 171
7. Laura Wood – 89 + 52 = 141

The team scored a total of 1,485 points over the two rounds for a team average of 212.14. The winning team had a team average of 264.20 and the runners-up scored 239.50. The Mayor's team finished the contest in 6th position with an average of 176.80.

The Ham & Eggers are looking forward to the next charity tenpin bowling event and are still looking to find the form that won them the prestigious Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge Title in 2009.

Ham & Eggers Tenpin Bowling Team Honours Board:

2012 - Mayor of Luton’s Charity Tenpin Bowling Challenge - 3rd

2010 - Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge - 3rd

2009 - Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge - 1st

2008 - Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge - 3rd

2007 - Macmillan Cancer Support Annual Bowling Challenge - 6th

Other Tenpin Bowling Honours:

2011 - Namco Business Bowling Grand Final - 3rd (as EcoStyle)

2011 - Namco Business Bowling Heat Three - 2nd (as EcoStyle)

2011 - Namco Business Bowling Heat Two - 4th (as EcoStyle-CEuk)

Other Results:

2009 - Ham & Eggers play in the F.U.N. Charity Tenpin Bowling Competition

2009 - Tenpin Bowling - the '$1million' Challenge

A London Pub & Jumble Sale Crawl

Post-Hopathon shenanigans in London

Following the Guinness World Record attempts at the Ripping Yarns Hopathon on Hampstead Heath we headed to the first stop on what would become a bit of a Pub & Jumble Sale Crawl!

The first stop after a ramble through Hampstead Heath was The Freemasons Arms pub on Downshire Hill. This pub is the home of the Hampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittle Club.

The Freemasons Arms pub in Hampstead

The club meets every Tuesday and Saturday evening, but we were too early to watch the Pros in action. Unfortunately we found out that bookings to play are only taken in advance – you can’t just turn up to play. The alley is available for hire on weekday evenings and weekends when the pub is open.

This way to the Skittle Alley

The Skittle Alley at The Freemasons Arms

The club is known as the Hampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittle Club and The Freemasons Arms was home to the only known pitch for the extinct game of Lawn Billiards! However, the pub extended its beer garden in the 1970’s and the Lawn Billiards court was covered. You can view the game in action in a film from 1933 at British Pathé.

The Beer Garden that was once home to the game of Lawn Billiards

While wandering through Hampstead on our way to Kentish Town we spotted a stall on the street with a huge banner advertising the NomNom Gluten & Egg Free Bakery! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get some Gluten Free cakes.

Walking through Gospel Oak Brad ‘Frugal’ Shepherd spotted a line of people outside the school there – it was a queue for a jumble sale. Not one to pass up a chance to look for a bargain we decided to head to the nearest pub to wait the 15 minutes until the 2pm opening time. 45 minutes later we left the Old Oak pub refreshed and ready for the next stage of the crawl.

The only notable purchase was of a pre-decimal 'A-Z Atlas of London' by Alan ‘Stormin’ Norman, who also bought a chocolate fairy cake.

The A-Z Atlas of London (circa 1900)

After arriving in Kentish Town we spent some time in a couple of pubs including the Assembly House and the George IV before heading towards Camden to show Alan and Chris ‘Stretch’ Jones the random Crazy Golf course in Clarence Way.

Alan 'Stormin' Norman refuels with the meal of champions

En route Brad pointed out his favourite off-license – Drinkers Paradise on Prince of Wales Road. He had lied and said that they stocked Gluten Free Beer and was laughing about it until we actually spotted a bottle of Glebe Farm Gluten Free Ale in the window!

Drinkers Paradise - just call for details...

Brad, me and a bottle of Gluten Free beer at Drinkers Paradise

Alan also made his second wise purchase of the day and picked up a bottle of Monty Python themed Holy Grail ale!

Alan and the Holy Grail

The day out of shenanigans that began with me riding a fake camel before the Ripping Yarns Hopathon ended at the Clarence Way Crazy Golf Course in Camden. Talks of the 2012 London Invitational Minigolf Tournament taking place there are underway...

The Clarence Way Crazy Golf course by night

The Minigolfers at the Crazy Golf course in Camden