National 7-Eleven Day

Today is National 7-Eleven Day.

7-Eleven convenience stores celebrate National 7-Eleven Day on when else but the 11th July.

We were surprised to see a number of 7-Eleven stores in Stockholm on our last trip there in 2018. We'd only ever seen them in the USA before that

Normally customers receive free or discounted Slurpees on 7/11. However this year 7-Eleven have cancelled the promotion because of the coronavirus pandemic and will instead be donating 1 million meals to the charity Feeding America.

The first 7-Eleven Day was held in 2002.

Tee Party Crazy Golf at The Club House in Manchester. July 2016

A look back at the Tee Party Crazy Golf course at The Club House in Spinningfields, Manchester.

It was the 684th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Sadly I was in the city a day after the pop-up had closed so no clubs or balls were available. At least the holes were still there.

Urban Exploration - Blockbuster Video in Fallowfield, Manchester

A look at the old Blockbuster Video store in Fallowfield, Manchester.

Since I found the remains of the Blockbuster Video store in Fallowfield, Manchester last October I've been intrigued to see the brand still has a lingering presence in the retail world. It's always interesting to see ghost signs, remnants of old & dead brands and signage while out and about on our travels.

It's so odd to see Blockbuster branding along with social distancing signage and notices 

Blockbuster ceased operations in the UK in December 2013.

A notice on the door at the old Fallowfield branch. Some retail history

As well as the Fallowfield Blockbuster there are still signs of the stores in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, Chiswick in London and Norwich in Norfolk.

A view inside the old store

Related blog posts:
- Blockbuster
- Fallowfield
- Urban Exploration

Itchy & Scratchy on the Fallowfield Loop

Spotting some Itchy & Scratchy graffiti on the Fallowfield Loop in Manchester.

We spotted this superb street art by Good Life while out on a walk along the Fallowfield Loop.

The Itchy & Scratchy Show in Manchester

It's always fun finding Simpsons-inspired artwork while out and about. Last year we saw this nice piece in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Related blog posts:
- Street Art
- The Simpsons

Caddy Shack opening at Sol Central in Northampton

The new Caddy Shack Mini Golf course at Sol Central in Northampton is opening this month.

The new Caddy Shack indoor games venue is due to open on Friday 17th July. It was originally planned to open earlier this year.

Caddy Shack is a New York-themed venue and home to a minigolf course, tenpin bowling and darts and is part of the Gravity Activity Entertainment centre at Sol Central.

Check out the Caddy Shack website for more information.

We're looking forward to visiting Caddy Shack and playing the crazy golf course there on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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New Adventure Golf course opening at Wexham Park Golf Centre in Buckinghamshire

A new Adventure Golf course will be created at Wexham Park Golf Centre in Slough, Buckinghamshire.

The 18-hole Adventure Golf layout will also be joined by a new Footgolf course.

It'll be a new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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Farmyard Crazy Golf at Uncle Henry's Farm in Gainsborough

A new minigolf course has opened at Uncle Henry's Farm in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.

A brand new Farmyard Crazy Golf course has opened at Uncle Henry's Farm Shop, Butchery & Cafe in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.

It's a new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've enjoyed our visits over to Lincolnshire on our travels.

Visit the Uncle Henry's Farm website for more information, opening times, booking details and prices.

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Crazy Golf on Southend Pier

A look back at our visit to play Crazy Golf on Southend Pier.

We headed to the seaside town of Southend on Sea for a day out of fun and games back in June 2016.

It was the last seaside trip we made while still living down south. We started the big day out with a visit to the brilliant Southend Pier Crazy Golf course - 1.3 miles out to sea!

The view back towards dry land

Playing above the sea

  

Related blog posts:
- Swedish Felt Mini Golf courses in Essex
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Essex

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Pitch & Plakks indoor miniature golf game

Check out the Kickstarter for the new Pitch & Plakks minigolf game - there are only 11 days to go.

Post contains affiliate links

We love playing minigolf - whether it's a full size course, a video game or a board game we're super competitive!

In May we found out about Pitch & Plakks, an indoor minigolf course board game toy. It's the second game from the team at Plakks after they successfully launched the Plakks football game in 2019.

If you are interested in finding out more about Pitch & Plakks and supporting a growing business with a great product please use this link. Any pledges made through it will also support us to continue bringing you brilliant minigolf content.

Pitch & Plakks will be a nice addition to our collection of minigolf toys, games and board games.

More information, FAQs, photos and videos can be found on the Pitch & Plakks Mini Golf game Kickstarter campaign page.

WINNERS DON'T USE DRUGS

Who is your favourite Director of the FBI?

I'd have to go with William S. Sessions.

Show me a better arcade game attract screen. I'll wait

Happy National Video Game Day!

Mr Mulligan's Lost World Adventure Golf in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. July 2016

A look back at our visit to Mr Mulligan's Lost World Adventure Golf in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

We visited Mr Mulligan's Lost World Adventure Golf in Stevenage back in July 2016. It was the last course we visited while we still lived down in Luton.

There are two 18-hole indoor adventure golf layouts at the centre at Stevenage Leisure Park - the Jungle Explorers and Ocean Adventurers courses.

The courses were the 685th and 686th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

You can also find Mr Mulligan Adventure Golf courses in Basildon, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Castleford, Cheltenham, Milton Keynes (indoor and outdoor), Newcastle, Nottingham, Sidcup, Tonbridge and Woking.

We've visited them all apart from Basildon, Bournemouth, the indoor course in Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Tonbridge.

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Where in the world was this miniature golf course?

Can you identify where this miniature golf course was?

Clue - it's a lost course

Happy National Video Game Day

Today is National Video Game Day.

This is some of the video game graffiti art at the Ghetto Golf indoor minigolf courses in Birmingham and Liverpool.

Putting in the Kitchen

Pandemic Putting at Home has now moved into our kitchen.

Does that look an adverse camber to you?

I'm looking forward to competing in the new Putt18 World Pro League.

The season tees-off tomorrow, Wednesday 8th July and players from around the world will compete every two weeks for a total of seven events.

More information can be found on the Putt18 website.

Putter Madness face masks

The team at Putter Madness have some very nice branded face masks for staff to wear at their upcoming minigolf events.

We are all prepared for our first event next week, it’s been a while! ⛳️ #Event #CrazyGolf #MiniGolf #MiniPutt #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/iE3oJElXAg

— Putter Madness (@Putter_Madness) July 2, 2020

Cranford Golf Centre in Heaton Mersey, Stockport

A look at a lost golf centre in Heaton Mersey, Stockport.

The gates at the entrance to the old golf centre

In May we found a lost golf centre on one of our daily walks in Stockport during lockdown.

This building will not be standing for much longer

We were in Heaton Mersey again yesterday and had a walk round the Common and Nature Reserve next to the centre.

The fence at the back of the centre

A view of the rear of the golf centre building

There's some graffiti on the buildings

Cranford Golf Centre was a golf driving range. It closed down on the 31st October 2014.

The range and bays

A closer look at the bays

A view of the overgrown driving range

Looking online there were plans for the area to be turned into housing. We saw a notice with more details of the demolition of the golf centre buildings on the gate yesterday, it was dated 22nd June 2020.

The public notice about the proposed developments on the site

Ghetto Golf face masks

Ghetto Golf has a range of branded face masks for sale at their venues. More info is up on the Ghetto Golf website.

Social distancing at Teezers Crazy Golf in Coventry

Teezers Crazy Golf in Coventry is reopening tomorrow, Wednesday 8th July.

Pubs of Stockport

A look at the pubs of Stockport during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

Pub number 1 - The Kings Tap on Station Road in Cheadle Hulme. A lovely Art Deco building. We'd never seen it shuttered before the lockdown

We've spent some of our new-found outdoor exercise time during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown visiting the pubs of Stockport.

Pub number 73 - The Crown Inn on Heaton Lane in Stockport town centre

It's been interesting to see the variety of architecture, different signage, parts of the town we haven't been to for a long time and other parts of the area we've never been to. I've been documenting them on Instagram using the #StopfordianPubs tag.

Pub number 222 - The Bull's Head Hotel in High Lane, Stockport. Our daily walks around the town took us to the borough's canals on a number of occasions

This is us outside pub number 265 - The Nursery Inn in Heaton Norris on Friday 3rd July 2020.

At the 265th pub on our lockdown 'pub crawl'. Not a drop was drunk on our daily walks in April, May, June and July

It was the last of all the pubs in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport we visited on our daily outdoor exercise between Wednesday 1st April and before pubs were allowed to reopen with social distancing measures on Saturday 4th July.

Pub number 185 - The Crown in Hawk Green, Marple, a part of the borough we never knew existed before our walks began

We saw a real mixture of pubs, bars, club and social clubs, along with a few lost and closed pubs. There were also some new pubs getting ready to re-open post-lockdown.

Related blog posts:
- Pub
- Pubs
- Stockport
- Lockdown

A token from the Boondocks

One of the minigolf tokens in my collection came from a visit to play the two miniature golf courses at Boondocks Fun Center in the town of Northglenn, Colorado, USA.

It was one of the arcade machine tokens in use at the fun center when I visited in March 2009.

Do you know of any minigolf courses that still have tokens when you win on the lucky last hole, or in use at attached arcades or fun centres?