Summer Greens at Churchill Square in Brighton

There's a Crazy Golf course on the rooftop car park at Churchill Square shopping centre in Brighton.

The pop-up miniature golf course is part of a summer of fun and players can pick up a putter for a FREE round on Level 7 of the Churchill Square car park in Brighton.

Sounds great to me.

I hope some of my friends down in Brighton get along for a game - and nab me a scorecard and some snaps.

The course is open now and is on the roof until the 15th July. Check out the Churchill Square website for more information and opening times.

This is obviously not the rooftop Crazy Golf course. But I wonder if you can see this course and the pier from Churchill Square's rooftop course?

Minigolf News - A Gottfried visits a closed Crazy Golf course!

In a theme that Emily and I have come to be very familiar with on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, my brother and minigolf rival Christopher Gottfried recently made a spontaneous visit to Brighton one evening, only to find the Sea Front Crazy Golf course to be closed.

Other Brighton Blog Posts:
- From the Archives - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Course Visit #12 - Brighton - East of Palace Pier
- Crazy Golf, Mini Golf and Adventure Golf course visits in Brighton

PLONK Golf at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton

There's a new PLONK Golf minigolf course at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton.

The team at PLONK Golf have created a new minigolf course at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton.

The course is the only pub beer garden Crazy Golf course in Brighton and features 9-holes. It's open until 10pm daily.

Check out the PLONK Golf and Sidewinder websites for more info.

PLONK Golf also have minigolf courses in London at venues in Battersea, Brixton, Hackney, Dalston and London Fields. They also recently launched PLONK PUZZLE PUTT - a Crazy Golf Escape Room!

The team are also taking a course on tour around the UK in 2018.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour we've played the Plonk Golf courses at Efes Snooker Club in Dalston and at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton.

From the Archives - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Course Visit #13 - Brighton - Peter Pan's

Course Visit #13 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was to Brighton's 12-hole Peter Pan Adventure Golf course on Madeira Drive.

I first visited the course in March 2007 and then re-visited while we were in town for the Brighton Open minigolf tournament in July 2007.



The course was also visited when we were in town for the 2008 Brighton Open competition.

New Globalls Crazy Golf course in Brighton

Brighton minigolf venue Globalls has opened a new indoor crazy golf layout.

The new course - Zootopia - joins the Jurassic and Aquatica courses at its location at Brighton Marina.

Visit the Globalls website for more information.

We're yet to reach Globalls on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and look forward to one day playing their UV glow-in-the-dark crazy golf courses.

One Under Mini Golf in Brighton

A new minigolf course is opening in Brighton, East Sussex.

Brighton will soon be home to a new 18-hole indoor minigolf course.

One Under Mini Golf will be the brand's second site after Glasgow.

There are also plans for a One Under venue in Liverpool.

Visit the One Under website for more information.

The One Under courses will be new additions to our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

New Globalls crazy golf venue opening in Brighton

Globalls at Brighton Marina is planning a move with a new and larger venue opening nearby later this year.

The existing Globalls indoor minigolf location will remain open until the new unit is ready.

The new Globalls UV glow-in-the-dark location will be home to two indoor crazy golf courses as well as other games and a UV cocktail bar.

Visit the Globalls website for more information.

It's been quite a few years since we've been to Brighton so we haven't managed to play at Globalls yet.

Our friend Stephen Skinner did swing by Globalls in 2019 and sent over some snaps of the colourful courses.

New Adventure Golf course in Leeds

New Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf course in Leeds.

The team at Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf are looking to open a new indoor course at The Cube on Albion Street in Leeds city centre.

Playing the Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf course in Liverpool

There are currently Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf courses in Bristol, Liverpool and Brighton. We've played at the Bristol and Liverpool layouts on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, while the Brighton venue is on our 'to visit' list.



Interestingly the two Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf courses on Madeira Drive in Brighton are built on the location of an old Adventure Golf course we have played.

We're looking forward to visiting and playing the new Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf course when it opens in Leeds.

Link:
- Jungle Rumble

Related blog posts:
- Leeds
- Adventure Golf

Minigolf Clubs in the UK

Details of miniature golf clubs in the UK.

I'm a member of the reigning and two-time BMGA British Club Champions, the Midlands Minigolf Club, and Emily is a member of the Cambridgeshire & Essex Mini Golf Club.

The 2015 BMGA British Club Champions - the Midlands Minigolf Club. From l-r Seth Thomas, Michael Smith, Brenda Smith, Paul Johnson, Owen Johnson, Richard Gottfried, John Moore, Chris Smith

We compete as individuals on the British Minigolf Association Tour, with occasional forays into doubles and team competitions.

The 2015 bronze medalists from the Cambridgeshire and Essex Mini Golf Club. From l-r Chris Wood, Adrian Amey, Emily Gottfried, Mark Wood

There are currently eight miniature golf clubs affiliated to the BMGA - they are the Midlands Minigolf Club, Cambridgeshire and Essex Mini Golf Club, Kent Minigolf Club, Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club, Splash Point Mini Golf Club, Sussex Wasps Mini Golf Club, London Minigolf Club and the Brighton Minigolf Club.

Former / defunct / inactive minigolf clubs in the UK include (in no particular order) the Welwyn Garden City Minigolf Club, Tunbridge Wells Minigolf Club, Brighton and Hove Minigolf Club, Cwmbran Minigolf Club, Thames Valley Minigolf Club, Hampshire Minigolf Club, The Green Mini Golf Club, Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club, Sandbanks Crazy Golf Club, Basingstoke Minigolf Club, Portsmouth & Southsea Crazy Golf Club, Luton Wanderers Minigolf Club, Bangor Minigolf Club and the Kentish Town Mini Golf Club.

Around the world there are over 900 minigolf clubs and 38,000 competitive minigolf players registered with the World Minigolf Sport Federation via the 46 member nations.

Active club links:
- Midlands Minigolf Club
- Cambridgeshire and Essex Mini Golf Club
- Kent Minigolf Club
- Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club
- Splash Point Mini Golf Club
- Sussex Wasps Mini Golf Club
- London Minigolf Club - no website, but there's some great old info on the LMC at MiniatureGolfer.com
- Brighton Minigolf Club - no website

Association links:
- British Minigolf Association
- European Minigolf Sport Federation
- World Minigolf Sport Federation

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

From Brighton to Burnley on our Crazy World of Mingolf Tour

In March 2007 we visited the 12th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It was on the seafront in Brighton. On Saturday we visited our 912th course. It was a Putting Green in Burnley.

Ham & Egg Parade in New Brighton!

On the 19th March 2011 we headed to New Brighton, Wirral, to check out the seaside resort and search out some of the town's Crazy & Mini Golf courses. We also found the remnants of the Pier, and perhaps most interestingly, ended up on "Ham and Egg Parade"!



My first-ever Blog post here at The Ham and Egger Files gave an introduction to what a Ham & Egger is! New Brighton's Ham and Egg parade was 'famed' for serving Ham and Eggs to customers in its Tea Rooms, however the area gained a bad reputation for immoral goings-on in these "Tea Rooms", and the situation got so bad that in 1907 the area was demolished and replaced by Victoria Gardens.

The end of Toys R Us in the UK

The last Toys R Us stores in the UK closed on the 24th April 2018.

Toys R Us on the Western Esplanade in Southampton

My first job while at university in the year 2000 was as one of Geoffrey's helpers at the Luton store. I worked on the video game and electronics section.

A sign at Toys R Us at St James Retail Park in Northampton

A sign at Toys R Us in Reading

It's been very interesting to find that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK and we've visited a number of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels.

Toys R Us at Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich

Toys R Us at Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees

Toys R Us at The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes

A sign at Toys R Us at Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke

Former Toys R Us locations we've visited on our travels:

• Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Gateway retail park in Reading
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• St James Retail Park in Northampton
• Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees
• The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes
• Western Esplanade in Southampton
• Wolverhampton Road in Oldbury
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

Toys R Us at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

A new beginning...

Toys R Us did return to the UK shopping scene in 2022 with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops.

This was the sign at the Toys R Us shop unit at Gateway retail park in Reading, Berkshire in September 2022. It looked to be in great condition and most of the signage and branding was still on display

Lost Toys R Us Stores

My book about Lost Toys R Us Stores is available to buy from Amazon.

There were once 105 Toys R Us stores in the UK. The business ceased trading in 2018 and all of the shops closed.

It is still possible to find traces of the brand on some retail parks and shopping centres around the UK.

The book takes a look at some of those old stores between 2019 and 2021.

Buy Lost Toys R Us Stores on Amazon.

"Laser Quest" Laser Tag in New Brighton

While in New Brighton we headed to the Riverside Bowl & Lazer Quest!


We booked in for a Laser Tag battle and were expecting to be playing in a group in a usual team based battle - perhaps pitting the REDS vs. the BLUES, the BLUES vs. the GREENS, the GREENS vs. the REDS, or even a battle involving the seldom seen YELLOWS!

However, the Party that was also due to play in the next game were 'stuck in traffic', which meant for the first time ever we were able to play a one-on-one battle against each other!

It was brilliant!


The Riverside Laser Quest is a two floor arena and as there were only two of us playing, the staff pumped the battlefield full of smoke to help add to the atmosphere, and aide hiding!





Richard Gottfried takes on Emily Gottfried in a one-on-one Laser Tag Battle in New Brighton!


In the battle between me and Emily (both playing as the mighty REDS) I won with 228 points to Emily's 201. Emily had a much better "% of shots on Target" score, with 6%, compared to my 3%. In total I blasted 689 shots!!!

Toys R Us in Basingtoke

A visit to the old Toys R Us store at the Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

We visited the old Toys R Us store in Basingstoke last month. There was still a lot of signage on display at the former store.

I worked in the Gipsy Lane Toys R Us store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. It's amazing to see that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK. 

Check out my blog posts below about other former Toys R Us stores:

• Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Enfield Retail Park in Enfield
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• Riverside Retail Park in Nottingham
• Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees
• Western Esplanade in Southampton
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

Happy National Miniature Golf Day 2019

Have a brilliant National Miniature Golf Day.

Playing at Championship Adventure Golf in New Brighton

Each year there are two annual 'days' to celebrate the game. The first is National Miniature Golf Day, while the second of these awareness days is Miniature Golf Day on the 21st of September.

Happy September

Happy September. Don't forget it's Miniature Golf Day on the 21st!

Each year there are two quasi-official annual 'days' to celebrate the game.

Playing at Championship Adventure Golf in New Brighton on National Miniature Golf Day (Saturday 13th May 2017)

The second of these awareness days is Miniature Golf Day and it is ALWAYS on the 21st of September.

Miniature Golf Day appears as an important date in the Dull Men's Club Calendar for 2017

After Miniature Golf Day the next is National Miniature Golf Day which is on Saturday 12th May 2018.

Fellow Stockport resident Dave Shaw is the Dull Men's Club pin-up for September. His interest is in vintage radios

Five years on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

Back on the 30th September 2006 we played our first course on what would become the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, when we played the 9-hole Victory Trail Adventure Golf course at Treasure Island in Southsea. The second course we played was the Warrior Trail course at Treasure Island on the 1st of October!

We've since gone on to visit a total of 419 courses in eleven countries to date, playing 268 of them. These 419 courses have gone under various names and guises (not all Miniature Golf courses are the same), in fact we've played the game at courses using a total of 43 synonyms!

The tour itself and the many road trips we've been on since 2006 came about after Emily and I set about visiting as many seasides in the UK as we could. So far we've made it to 149 coastal resorts, towns and villages by the sea. We've played Minigolf in 89 of these places.

Photo: Richard plays Hole 7 of the Oddballs Crazy Golf Course in Cleethorpes, Lincs

Photo: Emily putts through a Rocketship hole at the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

So to celebrate the half-decade landmark point of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour we've put together the following facts and stats.

Number of courses played = 268

Number of holes played on the 268 courses = 3,675

Number of courses visited but not played = 151

Number of courses visited overall = 419

Number of courses played that had a Windmill obstacle = 16

1. Brighton #12

2. Southend-on-Sea #16

3. Great Yarmouth #26

4. Broadstairs #35

5. Margate/Cliftonville #36

6. Margate/Cliftonville #37

7. Hastings #39

8. Blackpool #45

9. Bury St Edmonds #71

10. Rhyl #145

11. Prestatyn #147

12. Southport #150

13. Gorleston-on-Sea #173

14. Cleethorpes #226

15. Skegness #234

16. Great Yarmouth #265

- Rottingdean’s Putting Course and Miniature Golf #223 was at an actual Windmill!
- The Extraordinary Golf at Alton Towers has a Windmill on it but the course was flooded on our visit, so we could not play there

Number of countries Emily and I have played Minigolf in = 11 – England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Finland, USA, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden

Number of Piers that we’ve played Minigolf on = Two – Sandown, Isle of Wight & Clacton-on-Sea

Number of Piers that have got a Minigolf course on, but which wasn’t open on our visit = One – Southsea

Number of Piers that advertise that they have got a Minigolf course on, but haven’t = One – Brighton

Number of Seasides we’ve played Minigolf in = 89

Number of Capital Cities we’ve played Minigolf in = 6 – London, England; Stockholm, Sweden; Auckland, New Zealand; Vienna, Austria; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland

Islands in the British Isles we’ve played Minigolf on = 7 – Portsea Island, Isle of Wight, Thanet, Isle of Anglesey, Barry Island, Canvey Island, Hayling Island

View the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour courses played and visited list.

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Piers we've visited and a new Coast Magazine 'Pier Campaign'

The excellent Coast Magazine has a new campaign that is encouraging people to walk as many of Britain's piers as possible so they can raise funds to help restore the Grade II-listed pier in Hastings - which was almost all destroyed by fire in October 2010. A terrible shame indeed. More information about the community-led campaign by the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust can be found on the HPWRT website.

Looking at the Coast Magazine 'Pier Prom Tick List', of the 51 surviving Piers in the UK, we've visited 32 of them on our travels! We hadn't realised we'd visited quite so many since we made a resolution to visit as many different seasides all over the UK back in 2006.

Here's the Coast Magazine Pier Prom Tick List, along with a note on those that Emily and I have been to:
1 Aberystwyth Royal -- Visited
2 Bangor Garth
3 Blackpool Central -- Visited
4 Blackpool North -- Visited
5 Blackpool South -- Visited
6 Bognor Regis
7 Boscombe -- Visited
8 Bournemouth -- Visited
9 Brighton Palace -- Visited
10 Burnham-on-Sea
11 Clacton -- Visited
12 Cleethorpes Pier 39
13 Clevedon
14 Cromer
15 Deal
16 Dunoon
17 Eastbourne -- Visited
18 Falmouth
19 Felixstowe -- Visited
20 Gravesend Town -- Visited
21 Great Yarmouth Britannia -- Visited
22 Great Yarmouth Wellington -- Visited
23 Harwich -- Visited
24 Herne Bay -- Visited
25 Llandudno -- Visited
26 Looe Banjo
27 Lowestoft Claremont -- Visited
28 Lowestoft South -- Visited
29 Mumbles -- Visited
30 Paignton
31 Penarth -- Visited
32 Rothesay
33 Ryde -- Visited
34 Saltburn
35 Sandown Culver -- Visited
36 Skegness
37 Southend-on-Sea -- Visited
38 Southport -- Visited
39 Southsea Clarence -- Visited
40 Southsea South -- Visited
41 Southwold -- Visited
42 St Annes -- Visited
43 Swanage
44 Teignmouth Grand
45 Torquay Princess
46 Walton-on-the-Naze -- Visited
47 Weston-super-Mare Grand
48 Weymouth Bandstand -- Visited
49 Weymouth Pleasure -- Visited
50 Worthing -- Visited
51 Yarmouth

We've also been to Colwyn Bay Pier (closed) and Hastings Pier (Burned Down) on our coastal tour of the UK.

You can join Coast's Great Pier Promenade by visiting the Coast Magazine website.

Link to the National Piers Society website.

Photos of some of the Piers we've been to.

Southwold.


Brighton.


Eastbourne.


Walton-on-the-Naze.


Herne Bay.


Clacton.

Blackpool.

Southend-on-Sea.

Southsea.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Seasides Visited on Our UK Coastal Tour to Date.

All Four Home Nations Visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Mini Golf by Simon Martin

New Minigolf book from photographer Simon Martin.

London, Kent & Brighton based photographer Simon Martin recently completed his latest project entitled 'Mini Golf'.

'Mini Golf' by Simon Martin - a great coffee table book

From late 2012 until May 2013 Simon travelled around the UK photographing a range of Mini, Crazy and Adventure Golf courses, as well as following the competition players on the British Minigolf Association Tour circuit to capture portraits of the players.

Simon Martin (l) presents Richard Gottfried with a copy of 'Mini Golf' at the 2013 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament in Hastings

The book produced is a brilliant document of his travels to Minigolf 'hot spots' such as Brighton, Wroxham, Herne Bay, Blackpool, Great Yarmouth, Birmingham, Hemsby, Cheddar, Margate, Newport, East Finchley, Camden, Worthing, Sidcup, Canvey Island, The Mumbles, Arkley, Cwmbran, New Barnet and West Horndon. There are a couple of courses in the book that even Emily and I haven't yet visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

The player portraits are a nice touch too - some of us stars of the BMGA Tour are actually quite photogenic!

For more information on the Mini Golf project and to view some of the book's images please check out the Simon Martin Photography website.

Links:

- Simon Martin Photography

- Simon Martin Mini Golf Project

- British Minigolf Association

- Miniature Golf Books at the Crazy Golf Museum

Related blog posts:

- Miniature Golf Books for World Book Day

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour