Fun and Games at the Yattendon & Frilsham Village Fete

Competing in a Christmas Tree Throwing Competition & other games at a Summer Fete in West Berkshire!

Ahead of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee extended Bank Holiday weekend I had a look online to see what events would be taking place in and around the Abingdon-on-Thames area as we’d be down that way for the Bun Throwing in Abingdon.

One of my searches found that the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete in nearby West Berkshire would be taking place on Monday 4th June and amongst the entertainment, fun and games on offer would be Crazy Golf. Amongst this and the other traditional English fete attractions such as tombolas, raffle, coconut shy and a number of stalls the news item in the Newbury Weekly News said that the fete would also be hosting a Christmas Tree Throwing Competition!?

After a few wrong turns we eventually found the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete and saw that it took over the whole of the village. Scanning the Programme of Events for the afternoon we saw that we were still in time for plenty of activities including the Welly Wanging and a chance to watch a Guinness World Record Attempt for the “Largest Synchronized Morris Dance”! We also read that the fete has been running for over 220 years!

The Kennet Morris Men at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

We also spotted signs directing people to the Aunt Sally game, although this was found to be a Crockery Shy, rather than the game I know as Aunt Sally that is very popular in my home town of Abingdon and involves knocking a ball off of a metal spike with wooden sticks!?

Aunt Sally poster at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

Emily plays "Aunt Sally"

The first thing to do was find the Crazy Golf course that was meant to be there. Unfortunately there wasn't one at the fete, so we wouldn't be adding another played Miniature Golf course to our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour list.

While looking for the Crazy Golf course we found the the Christmas Tree Throwing Competition area, which was gathering quite a crowd.

Quite a crowd for the Christmas Tree Throwing Contest

The rules of the competition were quite simple, it was £1 per go and the person who threw the furthest in their category would win. By the time I had a go there were markers out for the best man, woman, boy and girl and somehow someone had managed to lob a Christmas Tree a fair distance and we'd guesstimate it was about 12 metres.

The Christmas Tree Throwing Competition Playing Field at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

In total I had three goes and on each occasion I beat the distance of the first marker (best girl’s distance), but only just!

Launching a Nordman Fir in the Christmas Tree Throwing Competition at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

The agony of the third throw in the Christmas Tree Throwing Competition at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

A great new sport, although quite bizarre to play during summer!? From what I can tell, the village of Yattendon has become very well known for Christmas Trees and the Yattendon Estate is one of the largest producers of Christmas Trees in the country.

Richard and a Christmas Tree

In the other 'throwing a green thing up a field event' Emily got fairly close to the women’s best position in the Welly Wanging contest with her two throws. I once again beat the marker, but was a fair way off the men’s best.

Emily Welly Wanging

There was also an Egg Throwing arena, but seeing how messy the competitors were getting we gave this a miss, although it does make a great spectator sport. Posters for the event also called the game "Chucky Egg".
 

The Egg Throwing Arena at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

At 3.30pm the Kennet Morris Men congregated in the village square for their attempt at setting the record for the “Largest Synchronized Morris Dance”. We’re not sure whether they managed the feat and we wondered how many other sites were hosting Morris Dances as part of the record bid.

The Guinness World Record Attempt for the “Largest Synchronized Morris Dance”!

Before we left we sampled some local cider from the wonderfully named Tutts Clump Cider. On the drive to the fete we’d seen the name Tutts Clump on the map too and found the name amusing. We chose to buy four bottles of three varieties of cider on offer, one of which was a special edition produced for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The Diamond Jubilee Cider from Tutts Clump

Tutts Clump Ciders

A great afternoon spent in a lovely English village.

Fete Related Blog Posts:

- Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough

- Three Fetes and Minigolf & Crazy Golf Re-Visits in Melbourn & Whaddon (& Royston)

- Ladies & Gentlemen, introducing your 2011 'Melbourn Village Fete Target Bowls Champion'

- Miniature Crazy Golf at Swavesey Village Fun Day - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #180

- Miniature Crazy Golf at Melbourn Village Fete - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #179

Other Related Blog Posts:
- All Guinness World Records-related Blog Posts at the Ham & Egger Files

Links:

- Yattendon Parish

- Yattendon Estate

- Yattendon & Frilsham Fete
- Kennet Morris Men
- Tutts Clump Cider

A Gottfried vs. Gottfried Crazy Golf Match in Abingdon-on-Thames

Playing the Abingdon-on-Thames Crazy Golf Classic

While in Abingdon-on-Thames for the town’s Bun Throwing tradition that was taking place for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee my brother and I had planned to have a Minigolf rematch following our last game in April. The weather was far too inclement to play on Sunday so we headed to the course for a match on Bank Holiday Monday.

The long third hole on the Abingdon Abbey Meadows Crazy Golf course

In the contest we once again faced-off at the Abbey Meadow Crazy Golf course. The match-up was played in slightly soggier conditions than our previous match, but thankfully the rain stayed away while we played.

Playing hole 5

Our play was nowhere near as good as in our April game, not that it was up to much then either. I once again picked up the win with a score of 34(+14) to 43(+23). Last time out the match was a lot closer when the result was 28(+8) to 31(+11).

Looking at the options while stuck in the ditch on hole 3

Jon plays out of the ditch on hole 3 of the Abingdon Abbey Meadows Crazy Golf course

Jon plays hole 4

The dates of the next Abingdon Classic and a Minigolf competition between Jon and I on a different course are yet to be set, but will hopefully be at a seaside and in nice weather.

Related Blog Posts:

- A day out of Bun Throwing, Crazy Golf and Bar Billiards in Abingdon-on-Thames

- Abingdon Abbey Meadows Crazy Golf Course Replay on a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Revisit

- Crazy Golf in Abingdon, Oxfordshire

A 'Royal' Diamond Jubilee Garden Party in the riverside village of Benson

Spotting 'The Queen' & 'Prince Philip' in Oxfordshire today!

After a brilliant day of Diamond Jubilee fun in my old home town of Abingdon-on-Thames we headed back to Luton today by way of the Yattendon & Frilsham Village Fete and the riverside village of Benson. Driving through the village we saw a ‘royal’ garden party!

'The Queen' & 'Prince Philip' enjoy a glass of wine at a 'Royal' Garden Party in Oxfordshire

More blog posts of our adventures, fun and games in Abingdon and beyond are to follow...

Runner-up in a High Town Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Street Party Race!

High Town in Luton marks the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a Street Party with fun, games and races

To celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee the High Town area of Luton organised a Street Party on Saturday 2nd June 2012 from 2pm-6pm.

The competitors in the High Town Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Street Party 18-50 year-old's 60m Race under starter's orders

Part of the fun included a series of street races. After the children's races and before the senior’s Egg & Spoon Race I took part in the men’s 18-50 year-old 60m* sprint – and finished second!

And they're off...

In addition to the running races the special community celebration day had a number of events going on including a fancy dress competition with a royal theme, a cake contest, an interesting exhibition of old photos of the High Town area,  High Tea and a concert in the High Town Methodist Church Hall.

The running race was the second ‘track athletics’ pursuit I’ve undertaken in 2012. Back in March a bunch of us took part in the first-ever Ripping Yarns Hopathon at Hampstead Heath Athletics Track in London!

Links:

- The Diamond Jubilee

- Luton News "Get set for a weekend full of Diamond Jubilee fun!"

* It was more or less 60 metres I think

Another New Game Played - Northamptonshire Skittles

Playing Northamptonshire Table Skittles at the Engineers Arms in Henlow.

We visited the Engineers Arms this afternoon having recently seen an advert for the pub in a CAMRA magazine that we picked up at the London Hatter pub in Luton. The advert caught my eye as it mentioned that they had Northamptonshire Skittles at the pub! As fans of pub games we made a note to visit next time we were in the area.

Emily and I really enjoyed our visit to the pub. It’s a nice spot and we had a drink in the cool and shady beer garden before facing-off in our first-ever game of Skittles!

The Northamptonshire Skittles Table at the Engineers Arms in Henlow

Having never played the game before we sought advice on the rules from Northamptonshire’s premier Minigolfer Marc ‘The Roller’ Bazeley, a man who is known to play the game of Skittles in his local sports and social club.

Abridged Rules Northamptonshire Skittles:

- The table has 9-skittles and 3 ‘cheeses’ to throw at the skittles

- First player to 7-legs wins

- Each leg consists of 3-throws per player

- The player who knocks down the most skittles wins the leg

- In the event of a tied leg each player throws one cheese, the player who knocks down the most pegs wins that leg

Once Emily and I had received the rules we set about playing. I took the first leg 5-3, but Emily took the next two 5-6 and 4-6, before I regained the lead with wins 6-5, 7-5 and 8-7.

Tossing a Cheese at the Northamptonshire Skittles Table at the Engineers Arms in Henlow

With the game at 4-2 in legs the seventh leg saw us tie 6-6. In the play-off I won 3-2 to make the game 5-2.

Emily though went on a roll and notched up an 8-9 win, scoring the first maximum, followed by 2-4 and 6-7 wins to bring the game level.

The next game saw Emily step-up and hit a 9 with just two cheeses and take the leg 4-9 and make the game 5-6, but the win was not to be as I scored a 7-5 win followed by a 7-6 win the decider to take a 7-legs to 6 win overall.

A nice village pub that is well worth a visit. There are a number of other pub games on offer at the Engineers Arms, including Darts and Shut the Box!

Links:

- The Engineers Arms

- CAMRA

- Pub Games-related Blog Posts on the Ham & Egger Files

- Another new game played – Bar Billiards

- A day out of fun and games in Milton Keynes and Northampton

Minigolf Report - Gottfried’s play in the 2012 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters International Championship in Hastings

Richard & Emily Gottfried compete in individual and team international Adventure Golf championships.

Luton Minigolfers and Great Britain Internationals Richard and Emily Gottfried received their fourth caps for GB as they competed in the second World Minigolf Sport Federation tournament played in the UK. The WMF World Adventure Golf Masters took place at the 18-hole Pirate-themed Adventure Golf course in Hastings, East Sussex on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th May.

The WMF World Adventure Golf Masters saw a 20-player individual tournament take place along with a five-team competition.

As part of the Great Britain B Team Richard and Emily teamed with Brad Shepherd and Ruth Burke as they took on Germany, two other Great Britain teams and a WMF Allstar team comprised of players from Germany, Kosovo, the Republic of Ireland and the USA.

Richard Gottfried playing Hole 2 at the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters 2012 in Hastings

In the battle for the bronze medal the WMF Allstars won the seven-round contest by thirteen shots with a total of 686, with Great Britain B on 699. The overall champions were Germany who retained their title with a five-shot victory over the Great Britain A Team.

In the two-day individual competition Richard finished 14th, scoring rounds of 32, 34, 38, 34, 36, 32 and 34 to finish on a twelve under par total of 240 across the seven-rounds.

Emily scored rounds of 38, 33, 36, 39, 34, 35 and 31 to finish on 246(-6) and 17th place in the overall tournament. Emily was unable to retain her WMF World Adventure Golf Masters Women’s title, losing to Ruth Burke by ten shots.

Emily Gottfried playing Hole 2 at the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters 2012 in Hastings

Germany’s Martin Stoeckle retained his title winning the overall tournament with a score of 191(-61). Great Britain players Michael Smith and James Rutherford were in second and third place.

Richard said “It’s always an honour to represent Great Britain and the World Adventure Golf Masters is a great event. Our team had a real battle with the Allstar team in the fight for the Bronze and it was a shame we couldn’t defeat them. Apart from my rounds of 36 and 38 I was happy with my scoring, but will need to hit a few more Aces in next month’s BMGA British Minigolf Championships which will be on the same course.”

Emily said “Obviously I am sorry not to retain my title and although I had a couple of poor rounds I also scored a Personal Best round of 31 on the course. I lost out by 10 shots so I know I need to work on this and win the Women’s World Adventure Golf Title back next year.”

Saturday 19th May also saw the first-ever BMGA British Adventure Golf Open competition take place. The three-round tournament was won by Michael Smith with a score of 89(-19). Richard finished the contest in 9th place in the fourteen-player field following rounds of 36, 32 and 34 for a 102(-6) total.

In the latest World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) Rankings Great Britain is ranked 19th of 31 Countries.

Ends

Seagull Sullies Minigolf Scorecard in Hastings

A run-in with a Seagull on the Pirate Adventure Golf course in Hastings.

One of the perils of playing Minigolf at the seaside is the threat of Seagulls. It has been known for players to have their ball gobbled up by a greedy Seagull during a tournament and there are always plenty of them milling around on the look out to steal chips and other food from competitors.

During the sixth round of last weekend’s WMF World Adventure Golf Masters competition in Hastings, East Sussex our group’s scorecard, which I was holding at the time, was splattered by a passing Seagull causing a minor delay in play while we cleaned up the card. Luckily the scores for myself, Alex 'Perfect Par' Pragnell and Lavdim Zylfiu were not smudged.

The Sullied Adventure Golf Scorecard

The splat from the seagull sits astride the scores on the sullied scorecard

A number of players did question whether the offending Gull was Top Gull, "Lancing, Worthing & Brighton's Premier Seagull", or if it was one of his mates from the #GullMafia???

A Seagull takes a break in the fountain between the 10th & 11th holes at the Hastings Pirate Adventure Golf

Did Top Gull make a visit to Hastings from Lancing, Worthing or Brighton?

Related Blog Posts:

- Worthing's Splash Point Mini Golf Course Becomes a Temporary Seagull-Free Zone!

- Minigolf Report - Gottfried’s play in the 2012 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters International Championship in Hastings

A Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man at the Warwick Hilton

Many thanks to Trevor ‘Lord of Smeeth’ Robertson for sending me this snap of a Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man, or as he calls it a “windy man”, for my ‘collection’!

It was spotted at the Hilton Hotel in Warwick.

A Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man at the Warwick Hilton

Many thanks Trevino ;-)

Check out other Ham & Egger Files blog posts about Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-Men.

A surprise meeting with Big Bird in Hastings!?

I always enjoy a trip to Hastings. There’s obviously the brilliant Minigolf courses to play, meeting up with friends, visits to some very good pubs, excellent seafood, the great 1066 Cake Stand, the Amusement Arcades, some interesting events and of course the wonderful Post Office Tea Rooms in nearby St Leonards. But wandering along the seafront while in town during our latest visit for the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters tournament I randomly got to meet Big Bird out of Sesame Street!

Me and Big Bird, from Sesame Street, in Hastings

A Gluten Free Challenge - Eccles Cake

Ahead of our trip to Hastings for the WMF World Adventure Golf Masters minigolf tournament I’d contacted the excellent 1066 Cake Stand to see if they were able to make Gluten Free Eccles Cakes. They hadn’t made any before, but up for a food challenge they said they’d give them a go and have some ready for me to try when we were next in town.

When we arrived in Hastings ready to practice for the weekend’s tournament our first stop was to the 1066 Cake Stand in Hastings’ town centre at the Thursday market. We spotted the Eccles Cake and I bought one for my breakfast. Very tasty it was too. A job well done indeed.

The tasty Gluten Free Eccles Cakes at 1066 Cake Stand in Hastings

I also bought some Latkes – two in a pack for 90p – and this savoury snack of a potato pancake made a great second course to my Eccles Cake! I also really like the Kugel that 1066 Cake Stand make.

Unfortunately I didn’t have room to try the Gluten Free Chocolate Cake they had made.

Shelley and Kevin at 1066 Cake Stand make and bake a wide-range of Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Wheat Free, Egg Free, Vegetarian and Vegan food. They are well worth a visit.

Links:

- 1066 Cake Stand website

- 1066 Cake Stand – Review on Travel Gluten Free

1066 Cake Stand Blog Posts:

- Eccles Cakes for mini golfers

- It's cake Jim, but not as we know it

The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland

Visiting and playing the world's first Miniature Golf course!

On Sunday 8th April 2012 Emily and I visited St Andrews in Scotland to visit and play the world’s first Miniature Golf course!

The Ladies' Putting Green (The Himalayas) at St Andrews, Scotland

The Himalayas Putting Course, also known as the Ladies’ Putting Green, is part of a private club run by the St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club. In 1867 the course was created and the St Andrews Ladies’ Golf Club was formed.

Evidence of the founding of The Ladies' Putting Club at St Andrews in 1867 - the World's First Miniature Golf Course and Club!

As part of our tour of Scotland we had visited Minigolf courses in Helensburgh, Bannockburn, Perth, and Broughty Ferry before arriving at St Andrews for the most anticipated course visit since we first heard about The Himalayas!

Richard & Emily Gottfried at the World's First Miniature Golf Course - The Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

Luckily on our visit the course was open for play by the general public. It’s open from April to September, but there are some ‘members only’ reserved times. We quickly paid for a round and hit the links!

Richard Gottfried playing a shot at the World's First Miniature Golf Course - The Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

In our match I defeated Emily 47 to 59 on the very well maintained and difficult course. The course is incredibly good value and it costs just £2 per person to play the 18-holes

The Himalayas Putting Course - Information and Local Rules Board

The 18-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

The course has been on our ‘to visit and play list’ for some time and was a definite activity on our tour of the north of England and Scotland. A bonus find when we arrived was that there is not only an 18-hole course, but also a 9-hole layout! This is only £1 a round!

The 9-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

In the 9-hole contest the match was much closer. I won the game with a score of 26 to Emily's 28.

Emily plays a shot on the 9-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

Both of the Himalayas Putting Courses were incredibly testing and the grass on them was as good as any felt we’ve played on a Minigolf course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour to date!

Richard plays a shot on the 18-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

After having a walk around St Andrews we returned for another couple of games and I finally managed to score a hole-in-one – on the 6th hole of the 18-hole course.

Emily plays a shot on the 18th hole at The Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

The two courses at The Himalayas became the 292nd and 293rd miniature golf courses played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006!

Richard playing on The Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

Richard playing the 9-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews, Scotland

The Himalayas Putting Course has a Course Record of 34(-2) held by a G. Anderson - that's some top Putting!

Himalayas Putting Green

Video - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to the world's first Miniature Golf course - St Andrews - 1 of 2 - Introduction

Video - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to the world's first Miniature Golf course - St Andrews - 2 of 2

There were two other Putting Greens that we spotted while we were there. One is strictly for Old Course Players, while the other (the Bruce Embankment) is open to the general public. Unfortunately it was closed on our visit.

If you’re a fan of Minigolf and/or Golf then St Andrews is a must visit place. We can’t wait to return. Hopefully we’ll have more time to spend there next time. I’m also looking forward to visit the British Golf Museum as it was closed when we visited.

Visit the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club website for more information.Visit the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club website for more information.

Related Blog Posts:

- The Himalayas Putting Course at Kingsway Golf Centre, Melbourn, Cambs - course played #196

- Visiting a further 49 Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in England and Scotland

- Unplayed Minigolf Courses on our Roadtrip to Scotland & Back

- 495 Miniature Golf course locations visited to date!

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club website

- St Andrews Links, the Home of Golf
- St Andrews - Local Golf Clubs

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

495 Miniature Golf course locations visited to date!

Almost at the 'Magic' 500-mark Milestone on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

With our latest miniature golf roadtrips taking us to the north west and north east of England, some of Scotland and a little bit of the south coast, our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour tally sees us sit at 297 minigolf courses played since the 30th September 2006! Of these I have played 295 and Emily has managed a round of minigolf on 270 courses.

Me and Emily at Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate (2009)

In total we have visited 495 miniature golf course locations in eleven countries. Unfortunately 198 of the courses were found to be unplayable on our visit.

We’ve actually made 517 ‘visits’ to minigolf courses to date. This number includes return trips to play courses that were closed on our first visit and also includes trips to courses with significant changes made since our first visit. For example, at Sandwell Valley Park in West Bromwich the 18-hole Eternit Miniature Golf course was replaced with a 12-hole Swedish Felt Minigolf course. Another example of an additional visit is to a ‘b’ type of course like at Devonshire Square in London. Here the standard 18-hole course was turned into a Christmas-themed Crazy Golf in 2009.

A further type of ‘miniature golf game visit' in the list of ‘517’, but not in the ‘495’, are the visits to Pit-Pat courses/tables. The game is half-minigolf and half-billiards!?

Related Blog Posts:

- Course Played #1 - From the Vault - Southsea Minigolf 2006

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #50 Tampere, Finland - Beton

- Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - 100 Minigolf Courses visited to date!
--- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - course re-visit and played course #173 - Gorleston-on-Sea
- Gottfried's Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Minigolf Course Played No. 100!!!

- Minigolf Course Visit No. 150 and Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Update
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Course Visit Number 200 - Melbourn, Cambs
--- The Himalayas Putting Course at Kingsway Golf Centre, Melbourn, Cambs - course played #196

- Castleford Xscape Cosmic Golf - Minigolf courses played #199 AND 200!!!

- #250 - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Stockholm, Sweden - Beton

- Clevedon Crazy Golf - Landmark 400th Minigolf Course Visited - 258th Played

- Types and Variants of Miniature Golf visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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

A Minigolf Friendly at Tea Green Golf Club (and some Birdwatching)

Playing some minigolf and birdwatching at our local minigolf course.

On Friday Emily and I headed to our local Minigolf course at Tea Green Golf,Wandon End, near Luton.

I play hole 1 on Tea Green Golf's Mini Golf course

We haven’t both been up there for a round of Crazy Golf and Putting for a while and so had a three-round contest, with two-rounds of Minigolf and one-round on the Putting Green.

Emily playing hole 5 on Tea Green Golf's Mini Golf course

In the Keith Classic Miniature Golf Contest* I defeated Emily 52 to 57. I scored two round of 18(par) on the Minigolf and a 16(+4) with one hole-in-one on the Putting. Emily scored rounds of 19, 21 and 17.

* When we arrived we saw a Pheasant lurking around the driveway entrance and heard him throughout the round. We named him ‘Keith’ in honour of the joke about Richie’s Grouse in the Comedy Show ‘Bottom’!

Keith the Pheasant at Tea Green Golf Club

Link:

- Tea Green Golf Club

Milestones and Brown Tourist Signs spotted in Upper Largo, Scotland

Spotting some more points of interest on our travels.

On our way from St Andrews towards Kirkcaldy during our tour of Scotland in April we drove through the villages of Upper Largo and Lower Largo and noticed a few interesting signs and milestones.

At the main junction in Upper Largo there were a pair of Brown Tourist Signs pointing just to ‘East’ and ‘West’, rather than any particular sites of interest! I believe these are for the Fife Coastal Tourist Route. They are also another set of signs spotted for the Follow The Brown Signs website.

A pair of Brown Tourist Signs in Upper Largo, Scotland

At the same junction of Main Street, Saint Andrews Road & South Feus was a milestone that showed distances to 15 places, the closest being Mounturpie at ‘no miles away’. I wonder if The Milestone Society has it logged on their database.

A Milestone in Upper Largo, Scotland

Having a 'wander' around Upper Largo on Google Street View you can see that above the Milestone there are another couple of Brown Tourist Signs, along with the other side of the milestone. One of these Brown Signs showed that 'Scotland's Secret Bunker' was 11 miles in the direction we had come from!

In Lower Largo we saw a ‘Welcome’ sign which stated that Lower Largo was twinned with Robinson Crusoe Island! A little research showed the South Pacific Ocean island to be “The most famous "deserted" island in the World” and the inspiration for the book Robinson Crusoe after the Scottish Sailor Alexander Selkirk, who hailed from Lower Largo, was stranded on the island for four years, four months! The twinning connection was made in 2004 to mark the 300th anniversary of Selkirk's marooning on the island!

Links:

- Follow The Brown Signs

- The Milestone Society

- Largo Area Community Council

Related Blog Posts:

- Visiting a further 49 Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in England and Scotland

- Unplayed Minigolf Courses on our Roadtrip to Scotland & Back

Bollards of Britain...: Seahouses, Northumberland...

Bollards of Britain...: Seahouses, Northumberland...: Spot the bollard... Take a close look at the picture (above/below) and you might notice at first glance the bollard to...

Check out the link above to view my latest contribution to the wonderfully bizarre Bollards of Britain website!

Related Blog Posts:
- Bollards of Britain...: A Chimpanzee, Bike and a Policeman...
- Not getting stang off of a fake wasp on a bollard

Golf Parc challenge - online golf game competition running throughout May!

Win a Golf Parc® Championship Golf Hole in online competition!

The team at Factory Eleven Golf Parc have created an online competition running throughout May 2012 and are inviting players to try their hand at the Golf Parc Challenge golf game. The winner will receive one of the Golf Parc® Championship Golf Holes!

The 9-hole miniature golf putting course layout is very testing and will likely take a good few goes to get a good under-par score. The course has a Par of 27 – in my first game I scored a 34(+7) and my follow up try resulted in a 29(+2).

Once you’ve played the game you need to submit a screenshot of your round to Factory Eleven by email or via Twitter. Full details and a link to the game can be found at – Golf Parc Challenge

Here’s to a month of minigolf mouse clicking!

My scorecard from my second go on the Golf Parc Challenge golf game - a two-over 29!

Checking out the Factory Eleven website I found that they are an events and design business that creates innovative sports equipment. The Golf Parc equipment has been designed to help with the understanding of the fundamentals of golf in a fun and interactive environment.

Links:

- Golf Parc on Twitter
- Golf Parc website

- Factory Eleven on Facebook

- Factory Eleven website

- Factory Eleven Golf Parc website