Benches in Middlewich, Cheshire

A look at some benches on the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal.

Welcome to Middlewich. Please take a seat

I was in Middlewich on Saturday and as it was the my first time in the small town I had a good wander around.

On my walk I found the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal.

A nice spot for a sit down. If it wasn't tipping it down that is

The thing that really caught my eye was this unusual bench next to the towpath.

A narrowboat bench

The seat part is meant to depict a cargo of salt

A view looking north

As it was raining quite heavily I didn't get to walk too far alongside the canal, but on my wander I did spot some other benches of interest.

Can you spot the bench in this photo

There it is

What a view

Another nice bench. This one depicts the three locks at Middlewich

The Floodgate is about to open

A new indoor activity entertainment centre is opening in Digbeth, Birmingham.

The Floodgate social sports and games bar is opening soon in Digbeth and will offer people the chance to play the game of Pit-Pat.

Pit-Pat is similar to minigolf, but is played on elevated tables where you use cues to play the ball, rather than putters.

Playing the only other Pit-Pat course to have previously been in the UK

The Floodgate opens at The Custard Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham on Friday 1st November.

The Pit-Pat layout at The Floodgate will be the UK's first indoor Pit-Pat and the only playable course. Until a few years ago the UK's first and only other Pit-Pat layout was on the seafront at Western Putting on Banjo Road in Littlehampton.

The now sadly closed Western Putting in Littlehampton was home to a Pit-Pat layout, Crazy Golf and a grass Putting course

A view of the UK's first Pit-Pat course

Here's me scoring a two in a crazy way!

Emily scoring a two.

Shooting through a hoop.

I first saw the game of Pit-Pat aka Hindernis Billard while on a minigolfing trip to Austria in March 2010.

Pit-Pat Hindernis Billard at the Askoe Wien Wasserpark in Austria

Pit-Pat Hindernis Billard at the Askoe Wien Wasserpark in Austria

Pit-Pat Hindernis Billard at the Askoe Wien Wasserpark in Austria

As well as Pit-Pat the indoor competitive socialising venue will feature a curling rink and baseball batting cages.

We're looking forward to a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to The Floodgate.

Visit The Floodgate website for more information, opening times and prices.

Check out my other Pit-Pat related blog posts.

Pizza Luigi takeaway in Blackpool

Spotting a Luigi's pizza takeaway in Blackpool.

On my recent trip to Blackpool I was surprised to see the Pizza Luigi takeaway on Dickson Road!

Pizza Luigi in Blackpool

Mmmm, Calzone

I've seen a number of Mario takeaways, and another Mario's on Foxhall Road in the town that features both Mario and Luigi on the sign in the window. But this was the first where Luigi was on his own.

Interestingly, Pizza Luigi is opposite Mario's!

Mario's takeaway on Dickson Road in Blackpool

I've also seen a Mario mini market in Levenshulme, Mario and Luigi ice cream vans in Buxton and Hathersage, Mario movers in Newcastle and Mario's takeaway in Barnsley.

Mario's takeaway in Blackpool

Spotting a Mario's takeaway in Blackpool.

On my recent trip to Blackpool I spotted Mario's takeaway on Dickson Road!

Mario's takeaway in Blackpool

Mario's takeaway in Blackpool

Mario's is opposite Pizza Luigi!

Pizza Luigi takeaway on Dickson Road in Blackpool

I've also seen a Mario mini market in Levenshulme, Mario and Luigi ice cream vans in Buxton and Hathersage, Mario movers in Newcastle and Mario's takeaway in Barnsley.

There's another Mario's takeaway on Foxhall Road in Blackpool. That one features both characters on the window.

The Cheshire Coeliac Meeting, gluten free cakes and sausage rolls

A day out doing gluten free things in Cheshire.

The bunting was out for the Coeliacs of Cheshire

I attended the Cheshire Coeliac Group Meeting in Middlewich yesterday and had a nice afternoon buying cakes, chatting to fellow coeliacs and watching the cooking demonstrations.

I bought a fair few gluten free cakes to see me through the week

Chris from the Cheshire Coeliac Group and Cakes by Noah getting to grips with Genius Puff Pastry for his gluten free sausage rolls

Here's some Chris made earlier

I bought a couple of the doughnuts from Lottie's Bakehouse - one sugar coated and one cinnamon flavour. They were both quickly scoffed

I also had a couple of wins on the raffle!

As I'd bought a lot of delicious cakes from Lottie's Bakehouse the cooking demonstration by group organiser Chris was perfect, as it gave me inspiration to do some savoury baking myself. Something I haven't done in many years. Partly because my view of food and cooking changed when I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, but also because Emily is such a superb cook.

Before cooking here are the rather rustic looking sausage rolls. I used Jus-Rol gluten free puff pastry and Morrisons gluten free pork chipolatas

After baking!

In his cooking demo Chris had suggested putting other ingredients in with the sausage meat. The three on the right are plain sausage rolls, while the one on the far left is filled with Tewkesbury Hot Mustard, the next one was Cheddar Cheese and the next one was pork and Bramley apple flavour in a nod to a Bedfordshire Clanger

They were all delicious. Even Emily said so!

Check out the Cheshire Coeliac Group on Facebook for more information.

More info on Coeliac Disease, its effects and how it must be treated with a strict and life-long gluten free diet can be found on the Coeliac UK website.

Princess Parade Crazy Golf course update

An update on the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course project in Blackpool.

A look at the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course

Earlier this year the teams at Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels joined forces to refresh and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course on Blackpool's North Shore.

How the course looked in May this year

The area has been given a massive clean up by the project team

The minigolf project is helping people in Blackpool by giving them the chance to work on the Crazy Golf course so it is playable and then staffing it for the season. It's a wonderful plan to give people the opportunity to receive work experience, while also bringing an historic, but disused, minigolf course back to life.

We had a play of some of the holes at the course last Thursday and it's coming along nicely

The course will retain as many of the original obstacles as possible, with repairs made to damaged elements

It's a pleasure to be a part of the project and I've enjoyed meetings and calls with the teams at Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool & the Fylde Street Angels, Blackpool Council and the Blackpool Civic Trust since hearing about the endeavour.

I'm really looking forward to seeing and playing the course when it opens for business in April next year

Last week I revisited the course and met with colleagues and volunteers who are doing a superb job. The course and surrounding area are looking in a much improved condition to when I last saw it in person back in May.

More information on the project can be found on the Blackpool Princess Parade Crazy Golf Facebook Group and via Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels.

It'll be wonderful once the course is up and running again. We've got 21 postcards showing the North Shore Crazy Golf course with ten different views. Some of the cards have been postally used, while others are unused. It's great to see the photos of it in its heyday.

Blackpool Crazy Golf course, North Shore. PT18819 by Photo Precision Limited. Unused

The card below is the earliest posted example we have of the course. It was sent to Manchester on the 4th June 1969.

Crazy Golf Course and North Pier, Blackpool postcard. The Photographic Greeting Card Co Ltd. London. Posted to Manchester

Crazy Golf at Medmerry Park in Earnley

A look at the Crazy Golf course at Medmerry Park holiday village in Earnley, West Sussex.

My brother Christopher has visited another course on his branch of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The 9-hole course is at Medmerry Park in Earnley, West Sussex.

He said it's the nicest looking course he's ever seen on his travels.

It does look very smart and there appear to be some nice hole-in-one opportunities on the layout. I'd love to give it a play.

Looking online the course Christopher saw is relatively new and replaces the old Crazy Golf course which was on the same spot.

A nice spot for a sit down

Visit the Windrush Holidays website to find out more about Medmerry Park.

Here are more snaps of the Crazy Golf course.

Christopher Gottfried has now been to 31 courses in the UK and nine overseas countries on his own branch of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Altogether we've visited 948 courses.

Emily and I have also played in Earnley. That was the 15-hole Millennium Crazy Golf course at Earnley Gardens back in October 2011. It was the 270th course played on our tour.

Eleven years ago today...

...I won the Weymouth Open minigolf tournament.

Weymouth Winner

What a day!

The inaugural Weymouth Open minigolf competition was held on the 18-hole Pirate Adventure Mini Golf course at the Weymouth Sea Life Centre at Lodmoor Country Park.

One of the holes on the incredibly tricky layout

I had a very good record in Weymouth Open events. As well as winning the individual title in 2008 my team-mate Chris Harding and I were the Weymouth Open doubles champions in 2011.

The Weymouth Open team champs

I was also runner-up in the 2009 and 2011 events and seventh in 2010. In the 2009 tournament Kevin Moseley and I were tied after two rounds and it took 4-holes of a sudden-death play-off to separate us.

Putting aboard a pirate ship

I've heard that the Pirate Adventure Mini Golf course at the Weymouth Sea Life Centre has undergone some changed over the last few years. It'll be interesting to revisit the layout on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The course was the 77th played on our travels. We've now been to 925 courses since September 2006.

Playing in the 2010 edition of the competition