Monorails and minigolf!

Check out my latest post about Butlin's monorails on the Reflections of a Bygone Age blog.

A Typical Butlin Monorail. Postcard S25. Skegness 1971

Stonehenge Big Mini Golf in Hemsby, Norfolk

My brother and charter member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Christopher visited Hemsby in Norfolk yesterday and swung by the Stonehenge Big Mini Golf course.

Stonehenge Big Mini Golf was the 174th course played on our travels in June 2010. We first visited in May 2009.

Our combined total of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour now stands at 983 courses visited.

Lost World Adventure Golf in Hemsby, Norfolk

My brother and charter member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Christopher was in the seaside town of Hemsby in Norfolk yesterday and sent me this snap from the Lost World Adventure Golf course.

The course has a new app

Lost World Adventure Golf was the 88th course played on our travels back in May 2009.

It's one of my all-time favourite courses.

Check out the Lost World Adventure Golf website for more information, opening times and prices.

The combined total of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour is now at 983 courses visited.

Crazy Golf at the Horse & Groom pub in Ningwood on the Isle of Wight

A look at the Crazy Golf course at the Horse & Groom pub in Ningwood on the Isle of Wight.

My friend and minigolf rival Matt Dodd found this Crazy Golf course at the Horse & Groom Pub in Ningwood on the Isle of Wight last summer.

Visit the Horse & Groom pub's website for more information.

I'm looking forward to my next visit to the Isle of Wight and a game on the unique pub crazy golf course.

Toys R Us at Teesside Park in Stockton-on-Tees

A look at the old Toys R Us store at Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. Luckily there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK. I worked in the Gipsy Lane store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000.

Check out my blog posts below about other former Toys R Us stores:

• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby
• Riverside Retail Park in Nottingham

Lofty's Crazy Golf course in Seaton Carew

A visit to Lofty's Crazy Golf course in Seaton Carew, Teesside.

We made our first new minigolf course visit of the year yesterday as we swung by Lofty's Crazy Golf course on the seafront in Seaton Carew, Teeside.

We couldn't get a game as it was a weekday out-of-season so the course wasn't open.

It looks like a fun layout and very well made. We'll be heading back to play in the future.

Check out the Lofty's Crazy Golf website for more information, opening times and prices for the 10-hole course.

It was the first new course we've visited since the 3rd September last year!

We've now been to 957 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since 2006.

Blockbuster Video Express in Billingham

A visit to the old Blockbuster Video Express store in Billingham town centre, Teesside.

This is one of the very last remaining Blockbuster store shopfronts that is almost fully intact in the UK.

What a sight!

Many thanks to LaserDisc Turtle on Twitter for letting me know about the store's existence and Visual Sound on Instagram for recently letting me know it was still there.

We live near an abandoned Blockbuster Video store here in Manchester. It's always an eerie, interesting and nostalgic thing to drive past the old shop at Fallowfield Retail Park.

Blockbuster ceased operations in the UK in December 2013. At the start of that year there were 528 Blockbuster locations in the UK. The number dwindled until October when only 264 shops remained. The remaining stores closed on the 16th December.

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 Blockbuster stores around the world. There is now just one remaining store open. It's in Bend, Oregon, USA.

We've visited a number of former Blockbuster locations, including the site in Colne, Lancashire last summer.

Jungle Adventure Golf in Shanklin Village

A look at the Jungle Adventure Golf course in Shanklin Village on the Isle of Wight.

My fellow minigolf explorer Matt Dodd sent me this photo of the new Jungle Adventure Golf course in Shanklin Village on the Isle of Wight on his visit to the island last summer.

Matt and his family have visited hundreds of courses on their crazy golf adventures and it's always fun to meet up with them for a game. Matt has managed to track down and play quite a lot of courses that we're yet to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

Putt18 World Pro League 2021 - Week 7 - Final

I'll be teeing-off in week seven of the Putt18 World Pro League at 6pm on Saturday 17th April.

You can watch my rounds on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Facebook Page.

21 players from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the USA are competing in the seven event series to find the world's best putter on the Putt18 Golf Putting Game System.

Visit the Putt18 website for more information.

The 'Mini Masters' in Manchester

A look back at the 'Mini Masters' minigolf tournament in Manchester.

I won the 'Mini Masters' minigolf competition in Manchester back on the 11th April 2009. Time certainly flies!

Mini Master

The 'Mini Masters' was the first of two tournaments I won on the 9-hole Championship Miniature Golf course at what was then Playgolf Manchester. The second event being the 'Miniature Open' in July 2009.

Putting in the Mini Open

I won the Mini Masters with a three round total of 81 (-24) after scoring 26, 27, and 28.

In second place with a score of 86 (-19) was the then current BMGA British Number One Chris Harding. Paul Johnson was third with 87 (-18).

One of the very long minigolf holes on the course

The course was the 84th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Back then the course wasn't one of our local layouts as we still lived in Luton and travelled up for the events.

A large water hazard on the course!

The Championship Miniature Golf course is no longer at the centre, but you can find an expanded Championship Miniature Golf layout with two 18-hole courses in New Brighton. The centre is no longer a Playgolf venue either. It's now known as the Trafford Golf Centre and is also home to two 18-hole dinosaur adventure golf courses. I won the Dino Falls Masters Adventure Golf competition there in 2018 too!

Link:

• Richard Gottfried's minigolf player profile

New Roxy Ball Room in Leeds

A new Roxy Ball Room is opening in Leeds.

The new Roxy Ball Room venue in Leeds is replacing the former Roxy Arcade on Merrion Street. The location will be home to a Crazy Pool course as well as Duckpin Bowling, Bank Shot Shuffleboard, ping pong, beer pong and pool.

Crazy Pool is a cross-between Crazy Golf and Pool, with players using a cue to 'putt' past a range of obstacles on a variety of table shapes.

Check out the Roxy Ball Room website for more information.

We've played Crazy Golf at Roxy Ball Room in Leeds and at the Manchester Deansgate venue.

We're yet to play Crazy Pool. There are two Roxy Ball Room locations in Manchester city centre and the new one at Withy Grove has a Crazy Pool layout.

We visited Roxy Arcade on our last trip to Leeds in November 2019!

GOLF PROHIBITED at Meriton Road Park in Handforth

No golf allowed at Meriton Road Park in Handforth, Cheshire.

We saw a number of other Borough of Macclesfield NO GOLF signs on a daily walk in Poynton last June.

Former Blockbuster Video stores

A look at some lost Blockbuster Video stores.

Since first spotting the remains of the former Blockbuster Video store in Fallowfield, Manchester in October 2019 we've been on the lookout for other remnants of the brand. Sometimes we've been lucky and found an old QuikDrop box or piece of signage and on occasion we've been really lucky and seen full shopfronts and branding left inside stores.

However, on some occasions we haven't been as fortunate. That's been the case when visiting Chorley, Telford, Abingdon, Great Moor and Wythenshawe.

Former Blockbuster Video Store - Chorley Retail Park in Chorley, Lancashire (August 2020)

Now a restaurant and takeaway

Former Blockbuster Video Store - Rampart Way, Telford, Shropshire (September 2020)

This was a large store

The last remnants of Blockbuster in Telford

Former Blockbuster Video Store - Peachcroft, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (November 2020)

This was my local Blockbuster video shop when I was growing up

Former Blockbuster Video Store - Buxton Road, Great Moor, Stockport (March 2021)

At least this former store is still blue and yellow

Former Blockbuster Video Store - Rowlands Way, Wythenshawe, Manchester (April 2021)

Another tile shop

To date we've been to former Blockbuster stores in:

• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Colne, Lancashire
• Chester, Cheshire
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Wythenshawe, Manchester
• Billingham, Teesside

Alice at the Movies Crazy Golf at Adventure Wonderland in Christchurch, Dorset

A new Alice at the Movies themed Crazy Golf course is opening at Adventure Wonderland in Christchurch, Dorset next month.

Visit the Adventure Wonderland website and Facebook Page for more information.

Jurassic Beach Adventure Golf in Hove

There's a new adventure golf course in Hove, East Sussex.

Visit the Jurassic Beach Adventure Golf website for more information.

Jurassic Beach Adventure Golf in Hove is another new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The former British Home Stores in Stockport

While having a walk round Stockport yesterday evening it was amazing to see the old ghost sign on the rear of the store had been uncovered!

The old BHS shop in the Merseyway shopping centre in Stockport was a Poundland, but that store closed last month.

BHS became defunct in August 2016, but there are still traces of the brand if you know where to look.

As well as the newly uncovered ghost sign you can see name as part of the mural artwork along the side of the store as well as on two small signs in the doorways where the fireman's switches are.

NO GOLF at Lacey Green Park in Wilmslow

NO GOLF allowed at Lacey Green Park in Wilmslow, Cheshire.

We saw a number of other Borough of Macclesfield NO GOLF signs on a daily walk in Poynton last June.

Hove Lagoon Mini Golf

There's a minigolf course at Hove Lagoon in East Sussex.

Check out the Hove Lagoon Fun Play Facebook Page for more information.

Hove Lagoon Mini Golf is another new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we're next down that way.

Splash Point Mini Golf at Denton Gardens in Worthing

A look at the Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing's Denton Gardens.

We last got to visit and play at Splash Point Mini Golf in Denton Gardens, Worthing in April 2019. It's one of the best courses in the country and a favourite of ours to play.

The unique 18-hole layout has a range of challenging holes to play and we've enjoyed playing official tournaments and 'fun' competitions between ourselves there over the years.

It'll be ace to be able to get down for another game there again soon.

The front nine

The back nine

Minigolf in Denton Gardens

Minigolf has been played in Denton Gardens since 1924 and the excellent 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course opened in 2010 and has proved popular with locals, holidaymakers, day trippers and professional minigolfers ever since.

Worthing, Denton Gardens, Putting Green. The Photochrom Co Ltd. Posted  to Birchington, Kent on 30 July 1928

The layout was the 181st course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We're now up to 956 courses visited on our travels since September 2006.

Visit the Splash Point Mini Golf website and follow the course on Twitter.

Puttstars Mini Golf at Rochdale Riverside

A look at the Puttstars indoor minigolf centre in Rochdale.

Emily swung by the Puttstars indoor minigolf centre at Rochdale Riverside entertainment, leisure and shopping centre yesterday.

Puttstars is a new minigolf brand from the Hollywood Bowl Group. The Rochdale venue is home to three 9-hole minigolf courses.

Check out the Puttstars Mini Golf website for more information.