Crazy Golf at Canterbury Leisure

The 983rd course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the Crazy Golf at Canterbury Leisure in Canterbury, Kent on the 26th February.

Unfortunately we didn't have time for a game this time.

Palm Swings crazy golf at Chow Down in Leeds

A pop-up crazy golf course will be part of the Chow Down food festival in Leeds this year.

The whole event tees off on the 14th of April and runs through to the 4th of September.

We're often in Leeds and hopefully we'll get to swing by on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour this summer.

Visit the Chow Down food festival website for more information.

Hole in Wand minigolf opening in Blackpool

A new magic-themed indoor minigolf course is opening in Blackpool.

The team at the Hole in Wand minigolf in York are opening a second venue, this one will be on Blackpool Promenade.

The indoor miniature golf course will be opening in part of the former Woolworths unit on the seafront!

We're often over in Blackpool as it's one of our local seasides. The last time I was there I was lucky enough to see the ghost signs of the former Woolies store!

Hole in Wand will be another new venue for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Head to the Hole in Wand website for more information.

Par 59 minigolf bar planned for Bristol

A new indoor minigolf course and bar is planned to open in Bristol.

The second of Gareth Bale's Par 59 venues is planned to open in Bristol. The indoor minigolf course in the city follows the first location in Cardiff.

Par 59 opened after our last visit to Cardiff so they are two more places to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Check out the Par 59 website for more information.

Mini-Golf at a new Boom: Battle Bar in Exeter

A new Boom: Battle Bar is opening in Exeter city centre and will include a mini-golf course.

The indoor competitive socialising venue is opening at the Exeter Guildhall Shopping Centre.

We've played Crazier Golf at the first Boom: Battle Bar in Norwich.

The Exeter course will be another new venue for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Check out the Boom: Battle Bar website for more information.

New Mini Golf course in Brierley Hill, Dudley

There are plans for a new Mini Golf course in Brierley Hill, Dudley.

A new indoor minigolf course is planned to open at The Waterfront in Brierley Hill, Dudley in the West Midlands.

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

The Big Mini Golf Tour 2022

Find out more about the Big Mini Golf Tour - taking place in Great Yarmouth, Hemsby and Gorleston-on-Sea this summer.

Check out the Big Mini Golf Tour's website and give the event a follow on social media.

Miniature golf courses across the Greater Yarmouth Tourism & Business Improvement Area have come together to promote the game.

The four-month event highlighting miniature golf courses across the Greater Yarmouth area tees-off on National Miniature Golf Day, Saturday 14th May 2022 and runs until Miniature Golf Day on Wednesday 21st September 2022.

Visit Great Yarmouth

Funding from Visit Great Yarmouth/GYTABIA has helped to bring you the “Big Mini Golf Tour”.

Take a look at the Visit Great Yarmouth website to find out about all of the activities and events taking place in the seaside resort this year.

New Adventure Golf course at The Valley Shopping Centre in Evesham

There are plans for a new Adventure Golf course at The Valley Shopping Centre in Evesham, Worcestershire.

The new 18-hole Adventure Golf course would be part of a high-ropes course and zipwire attraction at the shopping centre.

Visit The Valley Shopping Centre website for more information.

The new course will be another for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Big Mini Golf Tour 2022 tees-off on Saturday 14th May

The Big Mini Golf Tour 2022 tees-off on National Miniature Golf Day - Saturday 14th May.

Miniature golf courses across the Greater Yarmouth Tourism & Business Improvement Area have come together to promote the game.

The four-month event highlighting miniature golf courses across the Greater Yarmouth area tees-off on National Miniature Golf Day, Saturday 14th May 2022 and runs until Miniature Golf Day on Wednesday 21st September 2022.

More information will be available across the Big Mini Golf Tour social media channels, here on the blog and from the minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf and putting courses taking part.

The event tees-off on National Miniature Golf Day, Saturday 14th May 2022 and runs until Miniature Golf Day on Wednesday 21st September 2022.

Putter Chaos Adventure Golf opening in Middlesbrough

A new indoor adventure golf course is opening in Middlesbrough town centre.

Construction is underway, with the course planned to open in April.

Check out the Putter Chaos Adventure Golf website for more information.

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

75 Days Until The Big Mini Golf Tour Tees-Off in Great Yarmouth

The Big Mini Golf Tour 2022 tees-off in 75 days - Adventure, Crazy and Mini Golf courses in Great Yarmouth, Clippesby, Hemsby & Gorleston-on-Sea will be taking part.

Day one of the event is on Saturday 14th May - National Miniature Golf Day.

Visit The Big Mini Golf Tour to find out more.

There are 75 days until National Miniature Golf Day

There are just 75 days until National Miniature Golf Day 2022.

National Miniature Golf Day takes place on the second Saturday in May. In 2022 that is Saturday 14th May.

A Happy Shopper in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

A visit to a Happy Shopper shop in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

We made a stopover in Wisbech while en route to Norwich last November and while there found a Happy Shopper shop!

The Pleasant News Happy Shopper in Wisbech

Pleasant News on Edinburgh drive certainly lived up to its name.

The shop had one of the 'newer' Happy Shopper signs outside (the one without the Happy Shopper mascot on it), but inside was a different story.

It was like stepping back in time.

The Open/Closed sign was a classic Happy Shopper branded one.

We were happy the shop was open

And the shelf fronts had branded strips on them.

Chatting to the shopkeeper was nice and he told us about the shop's history and plans for the future, with his family opening a new shop on the same parade. Luckily the Happy Shopper branding at Pleasant News will be staying for the time being.

I remember when those crisps were 10p a bag

Happy Shopper nostalgia

We've felt very nostalgic during the pandemic and one of the old brands from our childhood we thought about was 'Happy Shopper' - the name alone conjures up images of the 1980's.

We didn't think there would be many - or any - of the original orange and yellow branded shops still around, but we were proven wrong when we saw one in Preston in September 2020.

Since then we've been lucky enough to spot and snap a few more on our somewhat limited travels. Take a look at my posts about other Happy Shopper shops in:

• Preston
• Sheffield (Sharrow Lane)
• Sheffield (Page Hall Road)
• Ilkeston
• Hitchin
• Ashwellthorpe
• Lowestoft (2011)
• Lowestoft (2021)
• Wisbech
• Sittingbourne

Adventure Golf at High Lodge in Suffolk

A new Adventure Golf course is being created at High Lodge in Suffolk.

The team behind Dinton Adventure Golf, Wardown Adventure Golf in Luton and Lightwater Country Park in Surrey are creating a woodland-themed Adventure Golf layout at High Lodge in Suffolk.

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

A minigolf postcard from Great Yarmouth. Sent in 1927

Stepping back in time for a look at minigolf in Great Yarmouth in the 1920s.

One of the earliest miniature golf postcards I have in my collection is this one showing the Putting Green on Marine Parade in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Putting Green, Great Yarmouth. Postcard postally used on the 11th November 1927

The postcard was sent to Hayes, Middlesex on the 11th November 1927.

You can see the Hippodrome in the left of the image and this building is still standing and is the Hippodrome Circus on St George's Road. If you visit now you'll find a row of buildings in front of the Hippodrome itself!

You will also find that there is still a minigolf course on the same spot as the Putting Green.

Castaway Island Adventure Golf on Marine Parade in Great Yarmouth in 2016

Now called Castaway Island Adventure Golf the site was an Arnold Palmer Putting Course that we played a number of times on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Playing the Arnold Palmer Putting Course on Marine Parade in Great Yarmouth in June 2011

It's proof, if proof were needed, that Great Yarmouth has long been a minigolf hot-spot.

Minigolf Putting in the UK

The first miniature golf course in the world was created at St Andrews in Scotland in 1867. That links course is still there.

The decades that followed saw a boom in the game with minigolf courses popping up around the country. In 1926 the first Crazy Golf course opened in England, with the layout created on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire.

Minigolf in Great Yarmouth

There are a number of brilliant mini, crazy, putting and adventure golf courses on the seafront in Great Yarmouth, as well as in the wider Greater Yarmouth areas of Gorleston-on-Sea and Hemsby.

The minigolf courses in the seaside resort will play host to the Big Mini Golf Tour - a campaign to highlight the courses in the area this Spring and Summer season.

Project Bunkerz Mini Golf in Middlesbrough

Project Bunkerz Mini Golf is opening in Middlesbrough.

A new indoor mini golf course is opening in Middlesbrough town centre.

Check out the Project Bunkerz website for more information.

It'll be another new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour next time we're in Teesside.

Crazy Golf at Worzals in Wisbech

There are plans for a new Crazy Golf course to be built as part of development at Worzals Garden Centre in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

It'll be another new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and our travels to East Anglia.

Keep an eye on the Worzals website for more information.

Mini-golf Nausicaà in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

A look at the Mini-Golf course in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.

My brother Christopher and his family made their first Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit of the year - and their 50th overall - to Mini-golf Nausicaà in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France earlier this week.

Check out Mini-golf Nausicaà on Facebook for more information.

The course in the evening

Together we have now visited a combined total of 1,018 courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

New Mini-Golf course planned for Folkestone

There are plans for a new mini-golf course to be created at Folkestone's Harbour Arm.

A new 12-hole mini-golf course could be created at the Folkestone Harbour Arm in Folkestone, Kent.

The course would be designed by City Golf Europe.

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

We've played minigolf in Folkestone before and have played a number of City Golf courses over the year.

Hackers Crazy Golf opening in Billericay, Essex

The new crazy golf course and escape room venue in Billericay, Essex is opening soon.

Hackers Crazy Golf will be an indoor venue located in the former Argos store in the town centre.

As well as having a 16-hole crazy golf course the location will be home to a number of escape room experiences.

The venue is planned to open in late February 2022.

Visit the Hackers website for more information.

Retailtainment and minigolf

A number of shopping malls, town centres and retail parks are adding minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf and other experiential entertainment and activity leisure offerings to their sites to attract and retain customers.