Sunday, April 06, 2014

Crazy Golf at the Zumo Cafe in Forton (from the archives)

A felted 'Concrete' type of Minigolf course in Forton, Lancashire.

My friend, Minigolf rival and co-owner of the excellent Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing, Anthony Pope recently spotted a 'felted-Beton' type of Minigolf course in De Panne and Koksijde, Netherlands and posted the pics on Twitter.

At first I didn't think we'd found a type of this course - known in continental Europe and by the World Minigolf Sport Federation as 'Concrete' - on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. But then I remembered we'd played a felted-concrete layout on a road-trip in 2012.

The 18th at the Zumo Cafe in Forton

Emily playing Crazy Golf at the Zumo Cafe in Forton

The course in question was the first we played on our 49 course tour of the north west of England, some of Scotland and the north east coast. Located at the Zumo Cafe course in Forton, near Garstang in Lancashire, the course was the 285th course we played.

Each of the holes on the course is named after a local place or landmark.

Hole 1 - Cockerham Sands

Hole 2 - Fleetwood

Hole 3 - Parlick Pike

Hole 4 - Lancaster Canal


Hole 5 - Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Hole 6 - Glasson Dock

Hole 7 - Beacon Fell

Hole 8 - Windy Harbour

Hole 9 - White Scar Caves

Hole 9 - White Scar Caves

Hole 10 - Zumo Cafe/Bar Special

Hole 10 - Zumo Cafe/Bar Special - an intriguing hole!

Hole 10 - Zumo Cafe/Bar Special - the green
  
Hole 11 - Isle of Man

Hole 12 - Nicky Nook

Hole 13 - Brock Bottoms

Hole 14 - Garstang

Hole 15 - Morecambe Promenade

Hole 16 - Forest of Bowland

Hole 17 - Trough of Bowland

Hole 17 - Trough of Bowland - the hole!

Hole 18 - Lancashire Windmills

While not a totally official type of 'Concrete' course (see our blog post for photos from the championship course in Stockholm, Sweden for pics of a traditional looking one) the course in Forton looked very similar to Beton (albeit with shorter holes), with obstacles and lane types we've seen and played before.

On our visit, the owners of the Zumo Cafe told us they had been inspired to build the course having played a lot of Minigolf on courses like it in Spain.

The Miniaturegolf standard of course (aka Eternit) is another smooth concrete type of Minigolf, and we've found a few examples - official and un-official - on our travels. Notably in Warrington, Clacton-on-Sea (where a couple of the holes were a bit Beton-y too), Colchester, Woking, Beckenham and Milton Keynes.

More recently we visited Valley Gardens in Harrogate where I played on the solid concrete course that was very similar to the Eternit type of Miniaturegolf.

Link:

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The Simply Cook Gluten Free Box

Trying out the new Gluten Free recipe and ingredient box from Simply Cook.

The Gluten Free Box from Simply Cook


Following the event Karen sent me a sample box including four recipes and ingredients from their first ever Gluten Free Box.

The aim of the kits is to give restaurant quality food in 20 minutes, with you just needing to follow the recipe and add between 4-6 fresh ingredients.

The Gluten Free Box looks good and is well laid out in the smart packaging. The recipe cards and ingredients contained within allow you to make four interesting meals – Malay Laksa (a chicken and butternut squash dish), Pork and Chorizo Beans, Spiced Butternut Squash Risotto and Smoked Haddock Kedgeree.

The recipes are for two people – and we found there was plenty left-over for lunch the next day (or seconds).

Check out our photos of the four tasty meals below.

The first dish we made was the Malay Laksa

One pot cooking

Gluten Free Malay Laksa

The Pork and Chorizo Beans recipe card and ingredients

Dinner is served

The ingredients and recipe card for the tasty Spiced Butternut Squash Risotto - no photo of the finished meal exists as it was quickly scoffed!

The ingredients for the Gluten Free Box Smoked Haddock Kedgeree recipe

I'm a big fan of Kedgeree so this was my favourite meal of the week

Emily enjoyed cooking and eating the dinners, while I enjoyed eating the food Emily and the Gluten Free Box produced. Following our testing of the box we've sent the team at Simply Cook our feedback.

The normal price of the subscription service is £10 a month, which includes postage. Simply Cook has an offer where you can get 50% off when you quote the code 'GFRichard' when making an order on the Gluten Free Box.

Find out more about Simply Cook at the links below.

Links:

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Pirate's Landing Adventure Golf at Trent Lock Golf Centre in Long Eaton

Playing the 332nd and 333rd miniature golf courses on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On the Pirate's Landing Adventure Golf course at Trent Lock Golf Centre

On Friday 28th March 2014 we headed to the Trent Lock Golf Centre in Long Eaton, Nottinghamshire to visit and play the 12-hole Pirate's Landing Adventure Golf course.

The course is next to the clubhouse and car park and is instantly noticeable on your arrival at the Trent Lock Golf Centre.

It's a great looking course and has some striking features including the giant pirate ship in the middle of the course, the two rafts players must use to travel between some holes and the Pirate Captain's Toilet on hole 8!!!



Photos of the course from our visit.








As a warm-up we played the good little 6-hole Putting Green next to the Pirate's Landing course. In our match-up Emily won 13-14 on the 553rd Minigolf course we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The 6-hole artificial turf Putting Green at Trent Lock Golf Centre 

Emily putting on the Putting Green

In our main-event match-up on the 12-hole Pirate's Landing Adventure Golf course Emily also ran out the winner with a score of 34 to my 35.

Hole 7 was a killer hole for me - watch me get robbed of a number of shots on it.

Check out the Adventure Golf page of the Trent Lock Golf Centre website for details of the course opening times and prices.

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Videos from our visit:

Monday, March 31, 2014

New Mini Golf course opening soon in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham

36-hole Miniature Golf centre opening at Birmingham's Cannon Hill Park in April 2014.

My fellow Minigolfer adventurers Paul & Owen Johnson and newly based in Birmingham Minigolf duo Steve Sturdy and Ruth Burke have let me know that a new 36-hole Mini Golf centre is opening at Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham in April 2014!

The sign on the fence displaying details of the new 36-hole Mini Golf course opening in April  (photo by Paul Johnson)

The venue will be home to two 18-hole courses that from the look of the plans and details in the news release sound like they'll be great.

Check out the photos of the new Golden Putter Mini Golf site in the photos below taken by Paul Johnson and Steve Sturdy in March 2014.

It was still a bit muddy when Steve Sturdy and Ruth Burke visited the Cannon Hill Park site (photo by Steve Sturdy)

One of the holes in the process of being built (photo by Paul Johnson)

Cannon Hill Park has an interesting Miniature Golf history, as many years ago it was home to a concrete Crazy Golf course that Owen 'Jackpot' Johnson unearthed on a visit in 2011.

The remnants of 'hole 3' of the very old Cannon Hill Park Crazy Golf course discovered by Owen Johnson in 2011

The park was then the site of a semi-portable Minigolf course that had made its way from Rotherham, to the Pier in Clacton-on-Sea and then back inland to Birmingham!

Emily and I didn't manage to play the course when it was in Cannon Hill Park, but did play the great (17-hole!) layout in Clacton in 2011.

The team at Golden Putter Mini Golf also operate the Lammas Park Adventure Golf course in Staines, the Minigolf at Wroxham Barns, the Minigolf at St Nicholas Park in Warwick and the Clifton Park course in Rotherham.

Apart from the Rotherham course, our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour has taken us to the rest of those operated by Greenspace Leisure / Golden Putter Mini Golf and really enjoyed testing our skills on them. We're looking forward to heading to play the new layout at Cannon Hill Park soon.

Links:
- Golden Putter Mini Golf
- Greenspace Leisure Ltd
- Birmingham City Council

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minigolf on Clacton Pier - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #217

The Lost City Adventure Golf at The Cornerhouse in Nottingham

Playing the 330th and 331st miniature golf courses on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour at The Lost City Adventure Golf in Nottingham.

The Lost City Adventure Golf at The Cornerhouse in Nottingham

On Friday 28th March 2014 Emily and I visited the two-course, 36-hole Lost City Adventure Golf centre in Nottingham.

A view of the course from the balcony

The Temple Trail course was the 330th course we've played and 551st visited, with the Sacred Skull Pass the 331st and 552nd respectively on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In our match-up on The Temple Trail I defeated Emily 43 to 44, while on the Sacred Skull Pass Emily beat me 37 to 38 - which meant over the 36-holes it was a tie! We'll have to return one day for a play-off.



We played both courses before 12 noon and so the 36-holes cost £9 per player. Check out The Lost City's website for details of costs and opening times.

The entrance to The Lost City. It's all very well themed.

Emily playing at The Lost City Adventure Golf

Richard putting at The Lost City Adventure Golf course

Emily at The Lost City Adventure Golf course in Nottingham

Richard playing at The Lost City Adventure Golf course in Nottingham

Richard on The Lost City Adventure Golf course

The course is well designed, looks great and is well maintained. It's well worth a visit if you're in Nottingham.

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