Putting at Queens Park in Burnley

A visit to the Putting Course at Queens Park in Burnley, Lancashire.

We were in Burnley at the weekend and once again Emily struck minigolf gold as she found us a Putting Course to visit!

Unfortunately the interesting looking layout wasn't open.

The course hadn't been cut in for the season, but we could see that most of the cups were in place.

It's the first time we've seen solid wooden posts used as the 'flags'. It'd be fun trying to score a hole-in-one getting a rebound off the posts.

The grass Putting Green at Queens Park in Burnley became the 912th course we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Paradise Island Adventure Golf Open Championships 2019

The Paradise Island Adventure Golf Open Championships are once again taking place at the indoor Paradise Island Adventure Golf courses around the country.

This year's event runs from the 18th to the 21st July and will also see action at the newest Paradise Island Adventure Golf venue at Rushden Lakes.

I won the PIAG Open at the Manchester course last year - it was a title I'd wanted to win for years

More details of the event and the other PIAG courses at Cheshire Oaks, Glasgow, Livingston, Manchester, Sheffield and Derby can be found on the Paradise Island Adventure Golf website and on the PIAG social media accounts.

MiniLinks Mini Open 2019 in Lytham Saint Annes

The team at MiniLinks Golf organise a number of competitions throughout the year, including four Mini Majors.

Hole 1 of the 18-hole MiniLinks course

Next up is the Mini Open taking place on the Par-3 miniature golf course from the 18th to the 21st July. For more info check out the MiniLinks Golf website.

Crazy Golf in Didsbury, Manchester

Spotting a missed opportunity to play Crazy Golf in Didsbury, Manchester.

While visiting the Didsbury & South Manchester Car Show at Didsbury Park we spotted a banner for the Didsbury Family Fun Day that took place last week. There was a Crazy Golf course there!

Didsbury is only ten minutes from us as well. Typical that we missed out on playing a course on our doorstep!

Entries open for the 2020 World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings

Entry to the 2020 World Crazy Golf Championships is now open.

Entries to next year's World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings are now open.

Taking place at Hastings Adventure Golf in East Sussex the World Crazy Golf Championships will tee-off on the 5th June 2020.

The reigning, defending and two-time back-to-back World Crazy Golf Champion - Marc 'The Force' Chapman

All competitors must beat the windmill and watermill as well as negotiate the bends, twists and ramps on the traditional seaside course at Hastings Adventure Golf – the UK’s ‘spiritual home of mini golf’.

The windmill hole at Hastings. One of the 18-holes competitors have to tackle in the World Crazy Golf Championships

2020 will be the 18th year that Hastings Adventure Golf has hosted the World Crazy Golf Championships.

Competitors can enter the 2020 World Crazy Golf Championships via the Hastings Adventure Golf website.

Happy ninth birthday to the Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is nine years old today.

Many happy returns to the Crazy Golf Museum as it marks it's ninth birthday today.

Set up by Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies and me back on the 15th July 2010, the virtual musuem is a treasure trove and archive for all things minigolf.

There are so many marvellous things going in the world of miniature golf that there's new stuff to log and record every single day. The future of the game is looking bright too, with new courses opening, new tournaments to play in, milestones and anniversaries to be celebrated, and lots of minigolf fun to be had.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more information, photos, items, ephemera, stories, videos, postcards, games and more!

Munch Man

Spotting 'Pac-Man' on a sandwich shop sign in Burnley.

Pac-Man is always munching

We've also seen the video-game character pop up on shop signs in Preston, Ipswich, Nottingham and Bristol.

Bender Bending Rodríguez on a park bench in Didsbury, Manchester

After visiting the Didsbury & South Manchester Car Show at Didsbury Park on Sunday we went for a wander around Fletcher Moss Park.

There are some interesting benches there including this one.

There's a lot of intricate detail and for some reason Bender from Futurama is riding an owl on it!

We couldn't see a plaque on the bench or and info as to why he's depicted on it.

My first DeLorean

I finally ticked 'See a real life DeLorean' off of my bucket list.

My first DeLorean

Our friend Celine was showing off her car at the Didsbury & South Manchester Car Show in Didsbury Park yesterday and as soon as she parked up let me know there were some DeLoreans there too.

What a sight!

I've wanted to see one in real life for ages, so it was typical I got to see two at the same time.

Next I need to drive one.

The crazy world of UK minigolf - a guest blog post

Check out my new guest post on the Putterfingers Crazy Golf blog where I look at the increasing popularity of minigolf in the UK.

My guest blog post for Putterfingers is about the increasing popularity of Crazy Golf in the UK

Greetings from Seacroft Holiday Club in Hemsby, Norfolk

Many thanks to our friend Steve from the On the Buses fan club who recently sent us this nice old postcard showing the Putting Green at the Seacroft Holiday Club in Hemsby, Norfolk. The card was posted in 1988 and is a very nice addition to our miniature golf postcard collection.

Greetings from Seacroft Holiday Club. Hemsby, Norfolk. By Fincom. Posted 1988

Looking online it appears that the Seacroft Holiday Club, also known as Seacroft Holiday Camp and Seacroft Holiday Village, was merged with its sister site Hemsby Beach Holiday Park in 2017. The current Richardson's holiday park is home to a Crazy Golf course.

We also have this nice postally used John Hinde card showing the Pontin's Seacroft Holiday Centre in our collection. It was posted on the 13th May 1985.

Pontin's Seacroft Holiday Centre, John Hinde (Dis.) Ltd. Postally used 13 May 1985

The latest issue of Picture Postcard Monthly magazine (July 2019) contains an article I wrote about Pontin's holiday camps.

We've enjoyed our trips to Hemsby on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Hemsby is home to one of my all-time favourite courses - the Lost World Adventure Golf. We're looking forward to a return visit in the future.

Mini Golf courses in Rhyl, Wales

A look at the miniature golf courses in Rhyl.

We've been visiting the seaside town of Rhyl in Wales since September 2009 and have been to a number of minigolf courses there.

There are a mix of miniature golf options in Rhyl, with everything from Crazy Golf to Grass Putting to Adventure Golf. There's also a new indoor minigolf course in an amusement arcade.

- Drift Park Crazy Golf

- Welsh Dragon Adventure Golf

- Putting Green at the North Wales Crown Green Bowls Centre

- Putting Course at the Botanical Gardens

- Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Lyons Robin Hood Holiday Camp

- Indoor Mini Golf at The Palace Fun Centre

Related blog posts:
- Rhyl
- Wales
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minigolf etc. - English to Welsh translations

The Simpsons ice cream van art

Spotting another Simpsons ice cream van.

It's always fun spotting Simpsons stuff while out and about and the family often appear in the artwork on ice cream vans, such as this glorious one we saw in Leeds.

We've also seen The Simpsons adorning Steve's Ices in Stockport.

Space Invaders street art

As fans of retro video games, tickable lists and urban exploration it's been brilliant to go 'Invader Hunting' over the last year and a half.

Invader LDN_120 in London

Luckily for us French street artist Invader visited Manchester in 2004 and put up 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970. They look superb.

Invader MAN_16 in Manchester

Here in the UK Invader has also invaded London and Newcastle and we've managed to find a few of his pieces on trips to the two cities.

Invader LDN_24 on Brick Lane in London

But it's in Paris that Invader has really made his mark, with more than 1414 Invaders worth a total of 37650 points to be found all over the city!

Emily's first flashed Invader

Emily's first official Invader logged on the Flash Invaders app was in Paris - PA_598.

PA_598 was worth 10 points

To date I've managed to snap 112 Invaders on the Flash Invaders app - worth 2890 points. At the time of writing I'm ranked 13281st in the ever-changing world rankings. Emily is 62128th. The person at the top of the leader-board has found 2527 of them!

The first Invader I spotted in Manchester that reminded me that they existed - and got me hooked on finding more - was MAN_08 on Withy Grove Stores on Dantzic Street

Looking for the Space Invaders has been brilliant fun and we've seen a lot of cities we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader Hunting. It's always nice to be on a leader-board for something too.

Invader NCL_01 in Newcastle is worth 30 points

To date Invader has invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3776 pieces.

Invader LDN_99 in London

Putting Green at the Charterhouse Christian Guest House in Teignmouth

In among the haul of old minigolf postcards we found at the collector's fair in Stockport on Sunday was this one showing two holes of the Putting Green at the Charterhouse Christian Guest House in Teignmouth, South Devon.

Charterhouse Christian Guest House, Teignmouth, South Devon. E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd. Posted on 29 April 1980

We've been to  Teignmouth on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and played the Jurassic Adventure Golf course on the sea front.

Looking online it appears that the Charterhouse Christian Guest House has long since closed. In its later years the house was used as a residential care home.

We've played and visited a number of miniature golf courses at hotels on our travels, including those at the Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel, The Imperial Hotel in Exmouth, The Victoria and The Belmont hotels in Sidmouth, The Imperial Hotel in Torquay, the Sutton Staithe Hotel in Norfolk, The Riviera Hotel in Weymouth and the Merlewood Hotel in Saundersfoot.

I wonder how many other hotels have minigolf or crazy golf courses 'hidden' in their grounds that we don't know about?

Prison Mini Golf in the Faroe Islands

A look at a very unusual miniature golf course in the Faroe Islands.

A big thank you to my friend, minigolf rival and team-mate Kevin Moseley for sending me these snaps of a remarkable minigolf course he spotted in the Faroe Islands.

Faroe Islands prison minigolf - there's a caption I never thought I'd write when I started blogging in 2006!

The layout is a 6-hole minigolf course at the prison, located in an area called Mjørkadalur on the largest island of Streymoy.

A closer look at the course

The prison holds 12 inmates so the course is unlikely to ever get crowded. Prisoners who are held for more than a year and a half are sent to prisons in Denmark.

I had a look online and the Faroe Islands are home to a couple of other minigolf courses should you be visiting. Layouts can be found at Hotel Vágar and at Eioi Camping.

The Faroe Islands prison minigolf course is definitely one of the more unusual we've seen or heard about. And that includes the course we played with no cups to putt into and Kim Jong Un's Miniature Golf course in Pyongyang, North Korea!

Where's the craziest place you've played minigolf? Do let us know.

Tee Party Crazy Golf in Manchester

One from the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour archives - Tee Party Crazy Golf at The Club House in Manchester.

Three years ago we made the move up to Greater Manchester from Luton. Just after arriving I was in Manchester city centre and found a Crazy Golf course at Spinningfields.

A hopscotch hole

Unfortunately I was one day too late to play it!

Luckily the holes were still in place, so I was able to at least look at them in the shopping and dining area.

A dominoes hole

The Spinningfields Tee Party Crazy Golf course became the 684th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006. We've now been to 911 courses.

Crazy Golf Football

Luckily since we've moved up here a number of new permanent minigolf courses have opened up in the city centre, including Junkyard Golf on First Street, Roxy Crazy Golf at Roxy Ball Room on Deansgate and Treetop Adventure Golf at The Printworks.

New guest blog post on Minigolfnews

Check out my latest guest blog post on Minigolfnews.

At our 900th minigolf course visit, at the North Bay Crazy Golf course in Scarborough

New Pirate Crazy Golf course at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield

There's a new Pirate Crazy Golf course at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

A new Pirate Crazy Golf course has opened at the Berry Hill Park Café in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. It's open at weekends and during school holidays.

We've yet to visit Mansfield and are looking forward to a round on the new Pirate-themed course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Putting Green at the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth

Among the old minigolf postcards we found at a collector's fair in Stockport on Sunday was this one of the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth.

You can see the flag for hole 3 on the far left of the postcard

We've been to Bournemouth a number of times over the years and are due a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour revisit to the town as some new courses have opened since our last trip to the south coast resort in 2013. I can't believe it's been six years since we were last down there!

Looking on the Hotel Miramar website it doesn't appear to have a minigolf course there anymore.

We've played and visited a few miniature golf courses at hotels on our travels, including those at The Imperial Hotel in Torquay, the Sutton Staithe Hotel in Norfolk, The Riviera Hotel in Weymouth, the Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel, The Imperial Hotel in Exmouth, The Victoria and The Belmont hotels in Sidmouth and the Merlewood Hotel in Saundersfoot.

I wonder how many other hotels have minigolf or crazy golf courses 'hidden' in their grounds that we don't know about?