My first Air Hockey win since the Undisputed International Worlds Crazy Air Squash Championships

On Sunday 24th October I managed to win my first Air Hockey match since the debacle that was my performance in the Undisputed International Worlds Crazy Air Squash Championships in Hastings on the 18th September 2010.

In the match at Namco Station in Luton, I defeated Suffolk's Luke Tubby 7 goals to 5.



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Air Hockey in Hastings versus Finland's Pasi 'The Bruiser' Aho

Prior to the 2010 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships I faced Finland's Pasi 'The Bruiser' Aho in a best-of-three International Air Hockey Competition at 'The Buttons' in Hastings, East Sussex.

On Thursday 28th October 2010 I lost 8-5.

On Friday 29th October 2010 I lost 8-4.

Back in September 2010 I played in The Undisputed International Worlds Crazy Air Squash Championships where I lost 9-0 to Pasi's German colleague Gerhard Zimmermann.

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Crazy Minigolfers Play Air Hockey Tournament in Hastings

After the first day's play in the 2010 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships a group of Crazy Minigolfers hit the Amusement Arcade for a £2 Tat Challenge which was followed by a great Air Hockey Tournament, which was won by Kevin Moseley.

Full results:

First Round
Scott Lancley beat Marc Chapman 6-5
Steve Gow Lost to Pasi Aho (Fin) 4-7
Kevin Moseley beat Phil Exall ?-?
Alex Exall beat Richard Gottfried 7-4
Owen Johnson beat Paul Johnson (6)5-4
Keith Kellard beat Chris Harding 7-5
Peter Jones beat Emily Gottfried 7-4
Brad Shepherd received a bye to the Quarter Finals

Quarter Finals
Pasi Aho (FIN) beat Brad Shepherd 7-5
Scott Lancley lost to Kevin Moseley 4-7
Alex Exall beat Owen Johnson 7-2
Keith Kellard lost to Peter Jones 4-5

Semi Finals
Pasi Aho (FIN) lost to Kevin Moseley 2-7
Alex Exall lost to Peter Jones 6-6 - 6-7 AET

3rd/4th Place Play-Off
Pasi Aho beat Alex Exall 7-3

Final
Kevin Moseley beat Peter Jones 7-4

Note: All players are GB, except where stated.

Air Hockey – Minigolf Professionals

In a battle of the titans BMGA British Number 14 Steve Gow took on BMGA British Number 15 Richard Gottfried at the noble sport of Air Hockey at Wroxham Barns on 2nd August.

The outcome – a 4-4 draw!

Harry's Buttons in Bristol and a Closed-Down Quasar!

Following the Laser Quest Challenge in Bristol we headed over the road to Harry's Amusements, where the neon sign outside said there was a Quasar Laser Tag inside!


However when we enquired, 'Harry' told us that the Quasar there closed four years ago!


Instead we played some old retro arcade machines, had an Air Hockey tournament and played a Table Football competition - this resulted in a ten-nil victory to the Richard-Richard/Gottfried-Skeggs Combination!

In 'Harry's Air Hockey Tournament' Oliver beat Richard G 7-3, Richard S beat Marc 7-2 and in the Grand Final Richard S beat Oliver 7-2 (or possibly 7-3).

Happy 39th 'birthday' to Pac Man

Pac Man was first released in North American on this day in 1980.

A small selection of the Pac-Man stuff in my ever-growing collection

The 22nd May is considered to be Pac Man's 'official' birthday.

Waka waka waka

Back in the 1980's you could get Pac-Man breakfast cereal. I saw this old box at the Cereal Killer Cafe in Birmingham

But hey, why not celebrate the brilliant video game character as often as possible!

I've been playing Pac-Man arcade games for years

It'll soon be time to dig out my Pac-Man Christmas jumper for the festive season

A Pac-Man Smash air hockey table at Namco Funscape at the Trafford Centre

We've seen Pac-Man pop-up in a number of official and unofficial spots on our travels.

Credit Cruncher in Bristol

Pac-Man graffiti on the wall at Ghetto Golf in Liverpool

Munch Mart in Ipswich

Munchies in Nottingham

Munch in Burnley

Scof in Preston

Level in Preston

 

Pac-Man graffiti in Luton

 

The very nice official Pac-Man pin badge arcade cabinet set

Pac-Man ghost sticker in Düsseldorf, Germany

Results of a three town 'Octathlon' sporting challenge series

Sporting rivals compete in contests in Letchworth, Baldock & Stevenage

On Thursday 7th June I competed in a series of sport and games challenges against Dodgeball and Minigolf adversary “Rowdy” Russell Fenner. The ‘Octathlon’ event comprised of eight contests in three towns.

The contest ended up as an Octathlon, rather than a Biathlon, Duathlon, Triathlon, Pentathlon, Hexathlon, Heptathlon or Decathlon of events due to a mixture of us being unable to agree on a set number of contests to play and not actually planning the event further than setting what the first event would be!

The action began at the Letchworth Par-3 Golf Centre with a 9-hole round of Pitch & Putt. Both of us have previously played the course “a few years ago” so it was as level a playing field as it could be.

“Rowdy” Russell won the honour of teeing-off first with a preliminary round win in a game of Rock Paper Scissors. He promptly shanked the ball off the tee and landed in the heavy rough.

'Rowdy' Russell Fenner looks for a missing Golf ball

Choosing to play the Golf round early was a wise decision as the weather was fairly mild at tee-off, but took a turn for the worse later in the day. The round on the tough but fair Letchworth layout saw Russell score a 45(+18) while I scored a 38(+11) to take the opening win of the contest.

Following what would be the only true outdoor event of the Octathlon we headed inside for a game of Pool.

With Russell previously having the edge in Pool matches against me he won the Rock Paper Scissors game and let me have the break. The match was the closest we’ve had against each other, and after ‘Rowdy’ miss-cued on his first shot I thought I’d pick up a win. However, Russell won the contest to tie the Octathlon at one win apiece.

Playing Pool at Letchworth Par-3 Golf Centre

Next up, Darts. Not Russell’s strongpoint, but with one high double figure score of 78 punctuating a run of dismal throws he did manage to get down to a double. The round of Darts was played in a 301-straight-in, double-out format and saw me once again take the lead in the series with an escape of the ‘madhouse’ by hitting double-1.

The scoreboard from the Darts match at Letchworth Par-3 Golf Centre

With the games in Letchworth completed we headed down the road to  The Orange Tree Inn  in nearby Baldock for a game or Bar Billiards. Walking into the public bar at the Orange Tree there was a bit of a shock as the table was nowhere to be seen! Luckily after asking the barman we found the table had been moved into the other bar. It’s in a great position now with space to play shots from both sides. There is also a great old painting of the Orange Tree Pub hanging over the table.

Russell aiming for the 200-hole on the Orange Tree's Bar Billiards table

As Russell had never played Bar Billiards before we had a friendly warm-up contest. The match saw some steady, if a little low, scoring before the sudden-death shoot-out. With the score at 500 to 340 Russell needed to hit the 200-hole to win and after a few missed shots he nailed it to take the win in his debut game.

The Octathlon round kicked off after a short interval and the game was played in front of an audience of a man eating his lunch. It must have been the added pressure of having a spectator present that led to some of the most dismal Bar Billiards ever played. The man “having played a bit in his time” offered a few tips, but to no avail to either of us. The contest once again went to a sudden-death play-off, however Russell was in an almost unwinnable position and as I didn’t topple the black mushroom it stayed that way as I picked up a win 640 to 550, despite Russell once again nailing the 200-shot.

The new position of the Orange Tree's Bar Billiards table

The morning session of gaming action finished with a 3-1 scoreline and was punctuated by a sportsman’s lunch of Fish & Chips at the excellent Cox’s of Letchworth. Adequately fuelled for the final stretch of competition the two rivals headed down the A1(M) to Stevenage and the Hollywood Bowl to play a game of Tenpin Bowling.

Unfortunately due to it being half-term all of the bowling lanes were fully booked for the next two hours, so the next series of sporting endeavours, would have to be amusement arcade games-based.

First up in the arcade games was Air Hockey and a decisive 7-1 win to Russell to make the Octathlon series 3-2.

A 7-1 Air Hockey win for Russell in Stevenage 

The next contest was a battle at the Basketball Hoops shoot-out ticket game. Russell once again won the Rock Paper Scissors contest to see who would go first and ‘put me into bat’. I opened with a few good baskets before failing to score much more. My total to beat was a meagre 17. Russell stepped up and nailed 19 to take the contest to three wins apiece.

The seventh game and last of the three amusement arcade events was the Sideshow Shooting Gallery ticket-game. Winning the Rock Paper Scissors I let Russell play first to set a target score. Missing just one shot he ended with a good total of 190 points. This wasn’t enough though as I hit each of my targets and scored a perfect 200 and make the Octathlon 4-3 in my favour.

Sideshow Shootout in Stevenage

With time ticking on and the weather getting worse there were no other sports or games options in the area and so the final contest would be a best-of-5 Rock Paper Scissors match.

Rock Paper Scissors was a running-theme of the Octathlon due to both players’ history in the game, having competed against each other in the team contest at the 2011 Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships in London.

Throughout the day Russell had won most of the RPS ‘honours’ games and managed to keep his nerve to win the Rock Paper Scissors contest to tie the Octathlon at 4-4. Far from being a decision making tool, in this instance Rock Paper Scissors had merely been an (un)decider in the Octathlon event!

Another multi-sport contest is scheduled to take place between the pair of us later in the summer...

 

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf at Watford TopGolf - Major Course Improvements & Match vs. 'Rowdy' Russell Fenner

- Minigolf Challenge Match at TopGolf Watford

- Report from the Sportingbet UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2011

- From the Archives - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #38 Letchworth Garden City - Putting Course

- Gluten Free Fish & Chips in Letchworth Garden City

Links:

- Letchworth Par-3 Golf Centre

- The Orange Tree Inn

- Cox’s of Letchworth

- Hollywood Bowl Stevenage

- Octathlon

Holiday on the Buses Weekender at Pontin's 2014

Having a marvellous Holiday on the Buses at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park.

As BIG fans of On The Buses and members of the On The Buses Fan Club we jumped at the chance to visit the iconic holiday camp that was the setting for the film spin-off Holiday on the Buses.

The Holiday on the Buses plaque on the gates to Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park

Organised by the On The Buses Fan Club, the Holiday on the Buses Weekender 2014 at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands allowed fans of the series and films the opportunity to stay at the camp, meet fellow fans and go on a number of mystery tours of filming locations.

The gates and Inspector's office at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands have not changed since the film was made!

So me, Emily and our friends Brad and Seth hit the road for what would become an unforgettable holiday!

En route to the Holiday on the Buses Weekender

At only £100 per person including food and entertainment it was marvellous value. Although it did cost us slightly more than £14 in fares to get to Prestatyn.

The main building at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park

With a programme of activities set-out for the Saturday and Sunday, we eagerly arrived on the Friday afternoon. After checking in we headed out for a look around - from an exterior point of view the Holiday Park has not changed much since it was a Holiday Village in the film. And that's a good thing.

The louts and hooligans having a look at the plaque at the main gates at the start of the Holiday on the Buses Weekender

After watching the film in the Queen Victoria pub on Saturday morning there was a talk by Paul Roberts who was a driver for the cast and crew during the production of Holiday on the Buses and we got to hear some very interesting stories and facts.

The office from where Blakey emerges in Holiday on the Buses

After the screening and talk by Paul we headed out for a walking tour of the park led by Craig Walker - author of some great books about On The Buses, and Steve Luxton - Inspector of the On The Buses Fan Club.

On the walking tour - this is the spot where Blakey gets his marching orders at the end of the film

The First Aid Post where Blakey and Jack receive their 'treatment' in the film

A discussion of the location of the drains which exploded after Stan blows up the chalet lavvy by bunging a fag end down the wotsit after Olive had put petrol down it

These were not the same drains from the film. There is always some sort of drain 'controversy' at an On The Buses Fan Club event!

The stairs that Mrs Hudson (Mavis' mum, played by Eunice Black) walks up to catch Stan 'at it' with Mavis

Saturday afternoon saw us head out on a tour aboard a 1973 Barton coach - which took in a visit to the Dyserth Waterfalls and Tea Rooms, the bridge at Abergele where Olive, Arthur, Mum and Little Arthur lose their luggage, and a drive through Rhyl.

The 1973 Barton Coach we travelled on during the Holiday on the Buses Weekender

On the coach

Dyserth Waterfalls Tea Room and Shop

At the bridge in Abergele where the family lose their luggage on the way to the holiday village 

After the tour we headed for a quick wander around Prestatyn town centre before walking back to Pontin's - via the seafront Crazy Golf course where we spotted our friend and fellow minigolfer, Peter Jones! We also had a chat with the friendly course owners who were looking forward to the visit by the On The Buses fans the next day.

Sunday began with another all you can eat breakfast (Emily, Brad and Seth tell me the food they had for brekkie and dinner was marvellous) and then a walk to the Crazy Golf course for The Butler Cup competition on the 18-hole course - a classic Arnold Palmer layout.

Emily showing everyone how to win at Crazy Golf

The Crazy Golf Champions - Emily with her Holiday on the Buses Pro trophy and Eric Huckle with the prestigious Butler Cup

A visit to the antique/collectibles/car boot sale/market in Prestatyn after playing Crazy Golf was interesting and we picked up a few bargains before heading back to the camp.

We also went to this surreal Indoor Car Boot Sale Without Car Boot at a house/tea room next to the train station in Prestatyn!

After the morning's Crazy Golf we had to have another game, and this time had a fun round on the 9-hole course in the park. Brad scored an amazing round of 18(par) on the tough layout for the win.

Emily playing Crazy Golf at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park

The layout is right next to the Go-Kart track, which back in the 1970's was the boating lake seen in the film.

This used to be the boating lake

We also re-enacted the scene with Mavis and her mum on the BIG bikes and had a fun cycle round the camp.

On the quad cycle

Give us a push. You're 'avin a larf! You'll never move that with four people on it

One of the funniest scenes in Holiday on the Buses takes place in the swimming pool and we had to have a dip while there. It was amazing that the pool is still recognizable from the film. Unfortunately the diving board has been removed, but the pool was still deep enough for some diving (belly flopping) into the very deep deep-end.

Outside the swimming pool

As well as all the On The Buses-related fun and minigolf during the weekend we got to play bingo, stand-up bingo (Seth won!), air hockey as well as other amusement arcade game fun and much more.

Brad and Seth in the first of many Air Hockey battles over the weekend

Seth Thomas - Standing / Reverse Bingo Champion at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands

The whole holiday was marvellous and we are looking forward to attending future On The Buses Fan Club events.

Near the dunes and beach where Stan and Jack lorst the bus to the tides on their moonlight mystery tour

Many thanks to Steve at the On The Buses Fan Club for organising such a great trip. And thanks to Pontin's for running such a fun holiday park.

The holiday park (camp) has lots to offer and is also close to the seafront. The apartments (chalets) were also comfortable, with plenty of space, good beds, nice bathrooms (with interesting showers) and a good sized kitchen area - including a fridge (perfect for stocking essentials like booze and gluten-free food for me).

Over the years I've stayed in a lot of holiday camps - my family used to go to Barry Island and Butlin's Minehead in the 80's and 90's as well as a few independent/smaller camps too. It was great to go for a Holiday on the Buses. A nice nostalgic trip.

Pontin's mad

Back in 2011 we attended the On The Buses Fan Club's annual event in Elstree. It was a marvellous day out and you can read more about it at "On The Buses Event - 40th Anniversary of the First On The Buses film."

You can join the On The Buses Fan Club for free by signing up with your email address on the website. The On The Buses Fan Club site has stacks of information, photos, interviews and more and is a great resource for fans of the TV show and films. There are also events and meet-ups throughout the year. If you're a fan of the show and films then we all recommend you join the club and look to book a future trip for a marvellous Holiday on the Buses.

Related blog posts:
- On The Buses
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Wales
- Prestatyn

Links:
- On The Buses Fan Club
- Pontin's Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park