Mini Golf at King Pins in the Manchester Arndale Centre (October 2024)

A look at the Mini Golf course at King Pins at the Manchester Arndale.

Mini Golf at King Pins at the Manchester Arndale became the 578th played and 1,063rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

Adventure Golf at Santa’s Christmas Funland Harrogate 2024

There will be a Winter Forest Adventure Golf Trek at Santa’s Christmas Funland in Harrogate this December.

Santa’s Christmas Funland Harrogate runs from the 14th to the 24th December.

Find out more on the Santa’s Christmas Funland Harrogate event website.

Coney Island Carnival Golf at Volcano Falls in Milton Keynes

Playing Volcano Falls Adventure Golf Coney Island Carnival Golf course in Milton Keynes.

Emily played the Coney Island Carnival Golf at Volcano Falls Adventure Golf at Xscape in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire earlier this month.

The course is one of three indoor courses at the venue along with the Tropicana Beach Club course and the Volcano Valley layout.

Coney Island Carnival Golf at Volcano Falls became the 576th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It was the 1,034th visited when we swung by last October.

You can find Volcano Falls Adventure Golf venues in Milton Keynes, Castleford and Edinburgh.

Check out the Volcano Falls Adventure Golf website for more information.

Photos of the Coney Island Carnival Golf course at Volcano Falls Adventure Golf at Xscape in Milton Keynes.

Minigolf and Pit-Pat at Olympiapark München

A look at the Minigolf and Pit-Pat courses at Olympiapark München.

The Olympiapark München is home to a Miniature Golf course that was set-up in the athletes village for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Our friend Kevin Moseley recently visited Olympiapark München while on holiday in Germany and sent us this snap of the minigolf and Pit-Pat layouts.

Minigolf and Pit-Pat at Olympiapark München. Photo by Kevin Moseley, October 2024

It's always nice to see different courses around the world. The Minigolf and Pit-Pat courses at Olympiapark München have been on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour to visit list since we found out about them.

You can find more information on the Olympiapark München and the Minigolf & Pit-Pat Olympiapark München websites.

Crazy Golf at the Priory Centre in Worksop

There are plans for a Crazy Golf course as part of the redevelopment of the Priory Centre in Worksop.

The Priory Centre in Worksop, Nottinghamshire is being redeveloped to improve the shopping centre and introduce leisure activities including crazy golf, soft play and tenpin bowling.

Visit the Priory Centre website for more information.

It'll be another new course for us to check out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

Adventure Golf at Allerton Manor Golf Club

Allerton Manor Golf Club in Liverpool is building an adventure golf course as part of developments at the club.

Visit the Allerton Manor Golf Club website for more information.

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

Happy Back to the Future Day 2024

Today is Back to the Future Day.

Back on the 13th March 2020 I got to see a DeLorean time machine at MediaCity in Salford. How different times were then!

In October 2020 we found a video rental shop in Little Lever, Bolton stocked with loads of VHS tapes. It was like stepping back in time!

I got to see my first DeLorean in real life at the Didsbury & South Manchester Car Show in Didsbury Park back in July 2019

Charity Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium

A look back at our visit to the Charity Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

Charity Crazy Golf at Woburn Sands Emporium

Last year we heard that the Woburn Sands Emporium garden centre was home to a Charity Crazy Golf course, so we had to head along for a game when next in the area.

A view of the course from hole 1

The hut

The scarecrow proprietor

It's always fun playing a minigolf course we didn't previously know about. And excellent when it's a unique layout.

Emily tees-off

The Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium certainly was different, and it was fun to play the 7-hole course!

Emily on hole 5

Emily playing the windmill hole 3

The Charity Crazy Golf at Woburn Sands Emporium was the 1,037th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A combined 1,037 miniature golf courses visited

A view of the course from hole 7 (the flag is from when the course had 9 holes)

In our minigolf match I took the win with a score of 17 to Emily's 18. It had been close for the first six holes, with Emily ahead by one shot. But the final hole was a round wrecker and game killer. Emily played first and shot a 6, while I was able to hit a 4 and take the win.

Playing hole 6

Photos of the 7-hole Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium (October 2023)

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Visit the Woburn Sands Emporium website for more information about the course and the garden centre's charity partners. It's an excellent garden centre with plenty to see and do there.

39 years of Blockbuster Video

Not completely gone, and not completely forgotten.

This was the sign at the Blockbuster Video store in Nuneaton, Warwickshire when it was uncovered for a short period of time in 2021

The first Blockbuster Video store opened in Dallas, Texas, USA on this day in 1985.

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 stores around the world. 500-plus of those were in the UK.

There is now just one Blockbuster Video store left open. It's in Bend, Oregon, USA.

There has been a boom in nostalgia for the brand - which back in the day was seen as something of a 'category killer' that saw off many smaller operators.

Blockbuster in the UK

The remains of the Blockbuster Video Express store in Billingham, Teesside in 2020

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 last stores closed on the 16th December.

There are still clearly visible remnants of the brand on the high street and on retail parks. And we've been to most of them on our travels!

Blockbuster Video stores we've visited

Check out the posts about other former Blockbuster Video stores we've been to in:

• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Ashton, Bristol
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Billingham, Teesside
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Chester, Cheshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
• Colne, Lancashire
• Failsworth, Manchester
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Filton, Bristol
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Shanklin, Isle of Wight
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
• Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

A ghost sign at the old Blockbuster Video Express store in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight in 2021

Lost brands

Emily and I have spent the last few years reminiscing about 'the good old days'. One of our areas of interest is in old retail brands - we're both marketers by profession and two of my first jobs in the 1990's and the year 2000 were at Tandy and Toys R Us, while Emily's first job was at a Happy Shopper shop. It's been fascinating to find remnants of these brands - and a number of other lost, dead and defunct brands - on the high street and at retail parks around the UK.

Video Store Day 2024

Today is Video Store Day.

Do you still have a video store near you?

International Independent Video Store Day is observed on the third Saturday of October each year.

This year is the 14th Annual International Independent Video Store Day.

By my reckoning there are three video shops still in operation in the UK. They are:

• Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds
• 20th Century Flicks in Bristol
• Snips Movies in Bebington, Wirral

Unfortunately B.V.C. - Bolton Video Centre in Little Lever, Bolton closed in July this year. We visited that particular video shop on Video Shop Day in 2020!

It's nice to see there are still some businesses active in the sector though!

Northgate Video & DVD Video Rental and Sales shop in Bury St Edmunds, August 2024

There are still traces of former video shops to be found on the streets, shopping centres and retail parks of the UK. Most of those are old Blockbuster Video stores. But there are remnants of independent video shops to be seen if you're lucky. Some of those I've snapped over the years include:

• Shahenshah Videos in Luton
• Deane Video Centre in Bolton
• Video Box Office at the Happy Shopper Wayfairer Discount Store in Ilkeston
• Video Future in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent
• The Movie Box in Manchester
• Jubilee Films in Ashton-under-Lyne
• B.V.C. - Bolton Video Centre in Little Lever, Bolton
• 20th Century Flicks in Bristol
• Video Express in Swansea
• Video Rentals at The Village Top Shop in Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham
• Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds

Blockbuster Video stores we've visited to date include:

• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Ashton, Bristol
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Billingham, Teesside
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Chester, Cheshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
• Colne, Lancashire
• Failsworth, Manchester
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Filton, Bristol
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Shanklin, Isle of Wight
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
• Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

Find out more about the event on the International Independent Video Store Day website.

New Crazy Golf course in Dover

Nexgen Crazy Golf Dover is opening on Saturday 19th October.

The Nexgen Crazy Golf Dover venue in Dover, Kent is home to an indoor Crazy Golf course, axe throwing and arcade games.

Check out the Nexgen Crazy Golf Dover Facebook page for more information.

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

Globetrotters Christmas Mini Golf & Games at Camping World Horsham

Globetrotters Mini Golf will have a pop-up course at Camping World Horsham this festive season.

The Globetrotters Christmas Mini Golf event tees-off in Horsham, Surrey from Friday 22nd November.

Check out the Globetrotters Mini Golf and Camping World Horsham websites for more information.

New Adventure Golf course planned for Kirkby Valley Golf Club

Kirkby Valley Golf Club in Kirkby, Liverpool has plans to create a new Adventure Golf course.

The 18-hole Adventure Golf course would be another new venue for us to check out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Kirkby Valley Golf Club website for more information.

100% Gluten Free Places for People with Coeliac Disease

When you have Coeliac Disease dining out can be very difficult at the very best of times. Luckily there are some 100% gluten free places that are suitable for Coeliacs.

The 100% gluten free places that are able to cater to the specific needs of people with Coeliac Disease that we have visited are:

• The Oxford Place restaurant in Leeds
• Off the Wheaten Track deli in Altrincham
• Wildcraft Bakery in Leeds
• Gluten Free Kitchen Stockport

Other 100% gluten free places we've heard about include:

• Fishermans Catch gluten free fish & chip shop in South Shields
• Niche Gluten-free dining in London
• The Bees Knees - Gluten Free café in Plymouth

Do you know of any other 100% gluten free restaurants, takeaways, delis, bakeries etc.? If you do, please share them in the comments.

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 is 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.

It's important you form your own approach to the 100% gluten free diet as everyone is different. There are some things other Coeliacs would eat or drink that I wouldn't go anywhere near.

Pumpkin Patch Mini Golf at Frosts Willington Garden Centre in Bedford

Frosts Garden Centre in Willington, Bedford has a pop-up mini golf course as part of its Pumpkin Patch attraction.

The Pumpkin Patch is open weekends from the 5th October until the 31st October, and is open 7 days a week from the 26th October.

Visit the Frosts Garden Centres website for more information.