Blockbuster in Billingham

A look at the old Blockbuster Video Express in Billingham town centre, Teesside.

The former Blockbuster Video Express in Billingham is one of the last remaining Blockbuster storefronts that is almost fully intact in the UK.

It's always interesting seeing ghost signs for lost brands and even better when those ghost signs are so fresh looking.

Blockbuster in the UK

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.

Blockbuster around the world

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

Blockbuster visits

We've visited a number of former Blockbuster locations, including:

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

New Crazy Golf course at Cefn Mably Farm Park near Cardiff

There's a new farm-themed Crazy Golf course at Cefn Mably Farm Park near Cardiff, Wales.

As well as the new Crazy Golf course the farm park is also home to a new miniature railway.

Visit the Cefn Mably Farm Park website for more information, opening times and prices.

Happy World Penguin Day

Today is World Penguin Day.

This obstacle is at the Surfside Amusements at Pensarn Beach in Abergele, Wales.

In September 2017 the Surfside Crazy Golf course at Pensarn Beach in Abergele became the 463rd played and 782nd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

To mark the day why not check out The Putting Penguin minigolf course review website.

New Adventure Golf course in Perth, Scotland

There are plans for a new adventure golf course in Perth.

The Willowgate Trout and Salmon Fishery has created plans for an 18-hole animal and wildlife themed adventure golf layout.

Visit the Willowgate Trout and Salmon Fishery website for more information.

Minigolf in Perth

We visited Perth on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2012. It was the location of one of our strangest course visits as we found a huge, abandoned Crazy Golf course in South Inch Park.

Final results from the Putt18 World Pro League 2021

Play has concluded in the 2021 Putt18 World Pro League and the results are in.

The 2021 Putt18 World Pro League was won by Matt Ansley (NZL) with a total of 805 points from seven events (28 rounds and 504 holes). Matt successfully defended the title having won the inaugural event last year.

Dave Gomm (GBR) was the runner-up on 761 points.

Josh Mars (AUS) finished in third place with 675 points.

Others in the prize money were John Ansley (NZL) and Cameron Couper (NZL) in 4th and 5th places. Glenn Palmer scored the lowest round (59) from players outside the top 5 to pick up that prize.

A total of 21 players teed-off in the seven event series back in January. Competitors hailed from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

I completed the Putt18 World Pro League in 16th place with 109 points. I was 15th place in the strokeplay leader-board on 2,150 shots and an average of 76.79 per round of 18 holes.

International pro putting. From my kitchen

Putt18

Playing in the league has been a fun and interesting way to compete with fellow minigolfers, golfers and novices in a new golfing format during the pandemic and the various lockdowns we've found ourselves in.

We first received the Putt18 golf game home competition putting mat from Australia last May - where has that time gone?

Competitive Putt18

The first tournament we played on it was the Putt18 4 Nations Cup the day after we got it!

I then entered the 2020 Putt18 World Pro League and finished in 18th place of 20 players with 107 points. I finished in 17th place of 20 players in the strokeplay rankings with 2,189 shots and an average of 78.18 per round of 18 holes.

In the Pro League each player had a 20-minute time limit to play four 18-hole rounds for a 72-hole total score in each of the seven events of the Pro League. There were additional points on offer for low scores and the round total.

In January I played in the first Putt18 Battle of the Brits putting tournament - and won it with a total of 281 strokes over 72-holes - a new personal best four round total. My fourth round of 67 was also a personal best.

Check out the Putt18 website for more information.

Dates for your diary - Coeliac UK Awareness Week 2021 - 10th-16th May

Coeliac Awareness Week runs from the 10th to the 16th May.

This year's Coeliac UK Awareness Week is taking place from the 10th to the 16th May.

The theme of the week this year is #ShineALightOnCoeliac to make life better for everyone who needs to live gluten free.

What is Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac Disease ('Celiac' in the USA and Canada) is a lifelong autoimmune condition, where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. In Coeliac Disease the immune system mistakes substances found inside gluten as a threat to the body and attacks them. This can trigger a number of painful, horrible, stressful and uncomfortable symptoms.

In the UK it's estimated that 1 in 100 people have the condition.

Visit the Coeliac UK website for more information.

Living a gluten free life

Having suffered from a range of symptoms for around ten years I finally received a positive diagnosis of Coeliac Disease following some 'interesting' and in-depth tests and procedures in 2008. It came as a relief to finally have a name for the mysterious cause of my illnesses and ailments, but at the time I was only given a brief summary and told that I'd have to "cut down on bread and beer". It was only later when I met with a Gastroenterologist and a dietitian that I found out that the only treatment for people with Coeliac Disease is a strict, life-long gluten free diet.

Shine a light on Coeliac

With the possibility of meeting up with family and friends, and once again visiting restaurants means people with Coeliac Disease need to again take the risk of eating and drinking items prepared by other people.

Trusting other people to provide gluten free food can cause feelings of worry and exclusion. And the last thing anyone needs now is more isolation. So Coeliac UK is looking for everyone to shine a light on Coeliac Disease together to make life better for people who need to live gluten free.

Check out the #ShineALightOnCoeliac web page for more information, advice, fundraising ideas, recipes, challenges and activities.

Pirates Cove Adventure Golf in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight

A look at the Pirates Cove Adventure Golf course in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

A big thanks to fellow minigolf fanatic Matt Dodd for these pics of the Pirates Cove Adventure Golf course in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

Visit the Shanklin Seafront website for more information, opening times and prices.

Matt and his family have visited hundreds of courses on their crazy golf adventures and it's always great to meet up with them for a game.

The Pirates Cove Adventure Golf course was built on what was once a grass Putting Course.

We visited the Pirates Cove Adventure Golf course but ran out of time to play it on that occasion.

New mini golf course opening in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland

A new mini golf course will be opening as part of an Airtastic entertainment centre in Newtownabbey, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The location will be home to an 18-hole indoor mini golf course, inflatable park, arcade, tenpin bowling and more.

Interestingly the new retailtainment venue is opening up in a unit formerly occupied by Toys R Us.

There are also minigolf courses at the Airtastic entertainment centres in Craigavon and Cork.

Visit the Airtastic website for more information.

We're looking forward to a return visit to Northern Ireland on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Grainger Games in Ashton-Under-Lyne

We spotted the old signs for Grainger Games while having a walk round Ashton-Under-Lyne last week.

The company was founded in 1996 and ceased operations on the 28th March 2018. The Ladysmith Shopping Centre location in Ashton-Under-Lyne became a bike shop and is now a clothes shop. The racking and walls inside are still clearly still using the Grainger Games colour scheme.

We've also seen former Grainger Games stores in Stretford, Salford and Hyde. Interestingly they were all still branded and some had a few bits of stock inside!

Adventure Golf in St Albans

Rockin' Romans Golf in Verulamium Park, St Albans.

The ancient Roman city of St Albans in Hertfordshire is home to an adventure golf course.

The 9-hole Rockin' Romans Golf course can be found in Verulamium Park.

Check out the Rockin' Romans Golf website for more information, opening times and prices.

It's a course created by Mini Golf 35 and Greenspan Projects.

Crazy Golfing in St Albans

We've visited two previous crazy golf courses in Verulamium Park. They used to be local layouts for us when we lived in Luton. The first of those was the 17th played on our travels. We've now been to 957 courses.

Roman Miniature Golf

It's always nice to see different themes in minigolf. We've played a Roman-themed minigolf course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour before. That was the Wye Valley Miniatvre Golf course in Symonds Yat West back in 2010.

The Cow Putt crazy golf course at Tapnell Farm Park in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.

A look at The Cow Putt crazy golf course at Tapnell Farm Park in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.

My friend and fellow crazy golf enthusiast Matt Dodd sent me these snaps of The Cow Putt crazy golf course at Tapnell Farm Park in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight from his trip to the island last summer.

Visit the Tapnell Farm Park website for more information.

It's always ace to find out about different minigolf courses and the layout at Tapnell Farm Park we've not yet been to on out Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Dull Men's Club Self-Isolators of the Year Award

We won it.

We have been declared the Self-Isolators of the Year by the Dull Men's Club for the way we have continued to explore, promote and enjoy our minigolf hobby during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

In recent years the Dull Men's Club has presented an 'Anorak of the Year' award. For 2018 it was presented to Kevin Beresford from Redditch, founder of the Roundabout Appreciation Society. For 2019 to Archie Workman, a drainspotter in Cumbria.

Leland Carlson, Assistant Vice President of the Dull Men's Club said "Normally the Dull Men's Club would have awarded the Dull Man of the Year Award in person, but coronavirus has put a stop to our ability to meet up and discuss the merits of our member's interests and present the award. At the last event in Manchester in November 2019 we awarded Archie Workman the Dull Man of the Year Award for his services to the world of Drain Spotting."

Leland continued "2020 was certainly a different year to most and it's unfortunate that the wide-range of people who make up our club haven't been able to get together in person. We've had a lot of conversations and meetings online and found that members of the club have adapted remarkably well to life indoors. Many of the hobbies and pastimes we practise are perfect for whiling away the hours, days, weeks and months of a lockdown."

"Richard and Emily are long-standing members of the club and always supportive of our events and the interests of fellow Dull people. While on the surface minigolf is not the dullest of activities and many would argue it is far more flashy than its 'big' brother Golf, there are plenty of rabbit holes to head down to research, explore and archive in the mini game. Dullness is a spectrum and everyone's hobby or interest has a place on it."

We appear in the 2021 edition of the Dull Men's Club Calendar along with a number of other characters each with their own 'dull' pursuit.

It was fun to be included in the Dull Men's Club Calendar again this year after debuting in the 2017 edition. To have been presented with the Self-Isolators of the Year Award is a fine accomplishment.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and obsession with the game does cause mixed opinions - some people find our fascination with all things related to miniature golf over-the-top to the point of dullness.

We're looking forward to getting back out on our minigolf travels again soon

I have given presentations on the history of minigolf at a number of Dull Men's Club events and always get good feedback. Perhaps it's a nice palate cleanser on the agenda in-between talks about such things as roundabouts, telegraph poles, postcards, cacti, drains, lawnmowers, giant vegetables and valve radios. I'm certainly looking forward to the time when we're able to meet up in person again to hear about other people's hobbies and interests and also what they've been up to during lockdown.

Minigolfing activities we have been involved in during the last year have included:

• Creating crazy golf holes and obstacles at home.
• Promoting a minigolf bucket list of things to do.
• Judging a crazy golf course design competition with the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club community group in Knowle West, Bristol.
• Helping two charities re-open a crazy golf course on Princess Parade in Blackpool.
• Archiving contents in the online Crazy Golf Museum.
• Competing in tournaments on the Putt18 home putting game where we play against people in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and other parts of the UK.

When the first lockdown started we did wonder when we'd be able to play minigolf again, but as we're always keen to be active in minigolf projects we've managed to find lots to do.

I've been playing a lot of indoor golf in the last year

We have now visited 957 minigolf courses around the world since 2006, with 918 of them in the British Isles. In recent years before the pandemic we had visited around 60-80 new courses per year. We got off to a tremendous start to 2020 and visited 20 courses in the first 20 days of the year. But by the end of the year we had only been able to get to a total of 46.

Lofty's Crazy Golf course in Seaton Carew was the first course we've visited this year

Find out more on the Dull Men's Club website.

The Dull Men's Club 2021 Calendar is available from Amazon.

Rascal Bay Adventure Golf in Chelmsford

The new Rascal Bay Adventure Golf course at West Park in Chelmsford opens this Saturday, 24th April.

Chelmsford's West Park is home to a new minigolf course.

Rascal Bay Adventure Golf is located at the Pitch & Putt centre in the park.

Visit the Rascal Bay Adventure Golf Facebook Page for more information.

We played the old Crazy Golf course at West Park Pitch & Putt in December 2009. The layout was the 157th course played on our travels.

Lost minigolf courses - Castle Grounds, Tamworth

The Crazy Golf course in Tamworth's Castle Grounds has been replaced by a new outdoor gym.

We played the course in March 2015. It was the 356th played and 590th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Pirate Adventureland Golf in Weston-super-Mare

A look at the Pirate Adventureland Golf course in Weston-super-Mare.

A big thanks go to my friend and minigolf rival Simon Brown for sending over these pics from his recent visit to play at Pirate Adventureland Golf in Weston-super-Mare.

Visit the Pirate Adventureland website for more information, opening times and prices.

We're yet to play the Pirate Adventureland Golf course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It was built after our last visit to the seaside resort.

Crazy Hills Putting in Weston-super-Mare

A look at the Crazy Hills Putting course in Weston-super-Mare.

Many thanks go to my friend and minigolf rival Simon Brown for sending over some photos from his recent visit to play the Crazy Hills Putting course in Weston-super-Mare.

The 18-hole Arnold Palmer Putting Course was the 261st course we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2011.

Fella's Crazy Golf in Weston-super-Mare

A look at Fella's Crazy Golf course in Weston-super-Mare.

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Simon Brown for sending over some snaps from his recent visit to play at Fella's Crazy Golf in Weston-super-Mare.

The 14-hole Crazy Golf opposite the Grand Pier was the 260th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2011.

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!