Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wardown Park in Luton - Changes to the Crazy Golf Course & Ducks Fighting

On the 26th March 2011 we went for a leisurely stroll around Luton's Wardown Park. While there we popped along to check out the Crazy Golf and Mini Golf courses before they re-open for the summer season next weekend.

We noticed that the car park next to the course has been worked on and slightly extended, and the 9th hole of the Crazy Golf course is now very very close to the curb! It used to look like this.





We first played the 9-hole Crazy Golf course on the 5th of May 2007.

More photos of the Crazy Golf and Mini Golf courses on the 26th March 2011.


















We first played the Mini Golf course on the 19th May 2007.






An interesting fact about Miniature Golf in Luton is that there has been a course in the same location in Wardown Park since the 19th June 1934!

Wardown Park is always a great spot for some Bird Watching too, and yesterday we spotted some Ducks chilling out on one of the Bowling Greens!


There was also some Duck 'Fighting' going-on on the lake itself!




While in the park we also headed to the Town's Wardown Park Museum to have a look at the 'Luton Photographs' exhibition. It's well worth a look.

Links to more Crazy Golf and Minigolf Course Visits can be found on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour page.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Laser Tag Rankings - An Update

Here is the update to the Laser Tag Rankings (since January 2011 to 20th March 2011):

Click to enlarge ranking list

In the Ongoing Laser Tag War that rages between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS we've all taken part in Laser Battles in 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton and Cannock.

Laser Tag Arena in Cannock - Gottfried vs. Gottfried

On our way home from our weekend away in Liverpool last week, we headed back via Cannock in the Midlands, as on the way up North we had spotted a Laser Tag Arena at Fun City!

Having had exclusive use of the Laser Quest in New Brighton (with a Party group not turning up) we once again found ourselves in the position of being able to play a game of Laser Tag in a one-on-one format!


This Laser Tag also had 'Aliens' inside, which were able to shoot you and also explode mines which would completely destroy you - requiring a total re-energise!

The final result, with me and Emily having a 'Civil War' as the YELLOW Team, was a win to me - 206 points to 113. Emily was unfortunate to have been hit by the Mines 4 times, compared to me getting hit twice.







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


"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!!!

Happy National Laser Tag Day!

As we've recently got back into playing the great game of Laser Tag I was doing some searching online and found out that today - Saturday 26th March 2011 - is National Laser Tag Day!

The day has been created by the International Laser Tag Association (ILTA) to celebrate the opening of the first-ever Laser Tag Centre in 1984!

I wish every Laser Tag Warrior a Happy National Laser Tag day. Whether you're a RED, GREEN, BLUE, or even a YELLOW, have a good one :-)

Aintree Crazy Golf Ain't There Any More

While in Liverpool for the BMGA National Open minigolf tournament last weekend, we were going to head to the Harrow Drive Playing Fields in Aintree to check out the Crazy Golf course there.

However, a quick Google search before we set off to find it showed that the course had been dug up ready to be replaced as part of a 'Playbuilder' scheme to improve the recreation facilities in the park.

However, further searching found out that this scheme has since been cancelled due to the withdrawal of government funding! Meaning the Park has removed the Crazy Golf and is left with a patch of bare ground :-(

Friday, March 25, 2011

Two New Adventure Golf Courses Played in Liverpool

On Friday 18th March 2011 we played two new courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, as we headed to Liverpool and the brand new two-course Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course, at the city's Liverpool ONE Shopping Centre.


Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
The courses were the 212th and 213th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since 2006.



The courses are good fun to play, have very friendly and helpful staff, and a nice bar area to relax before and after you've played.

Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in LiverpoolThere's also an 'Active' Volcano to watch out for as you play too!

Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool
Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course in Liverpool



In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour contest I defeated Emily 38-42 on the Volcano Course, and 38-44 on the Swamp course.

The Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course was the host venue for the British Minigolf Association's 2011 National Open tournament.

For details of other courses visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour please click here.

Check out the Jungle Rumble Indoor Adventure Golf course website for more information.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

New Brighton's 'Pier'

While in New Brighton, Wirral on Saturday 19th March 2011 we noticed there used to be a Pier there.


Coast Magazine is currently running a 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. On our last look at the Coast Magazine 'Pier Prom Tick List', of the 51 surviving Piers in the UK, we had visited 32 of them on our travels around the UK and the Coast! More details of our Piers-Visited-List.