Happy National VCR Day

Today is National VCR Day!

Do you still own or use a Video Cassette Recorder? I do.

There are still some great and rare films and programmes that can only be seen on video tapes these days, so I'm glad we've still got our TV/Video combination set. As well as a few standalone players.

Over the last year several years I've been documenting the remains of Blockbuster Video stores - and other video shops - in the UK.

The QuikDrop box on the old Blockbuster Video store in Southampton

There are still some video shops trading today! As well as some retro and nostalgia locations such as bars, speakeasies and shops that are a throwback to those halcyon days of the 1980s and 1990s video shop experience.

Crazy Golf and Pitch & Putt in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall

A look at the Crazy Golf and Pitch & Putt courses in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall.

During our road trip around the South West of England in 2015 we spotted the Crazy Golf and Pitch & Putt courses in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall. The next planned stop after visiting Newquay was Padstow, but we found these bonus minigolf courses en route!

The Crazy Golf looked vintage and must've been there for many years.

The Crazy Golf course in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall. The Pitch and Putt course is on the hill

Unfortunately the parking in Mawgan Porth wasn't ideal so we were unable to give the courses a play on that trip.

Some interesting looking holes on the old concrete Crazy Golf course

The courses were the 48th and 49th visited on our trip around the South West of England and the 647th and 648th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

It did look like a nice spot for a few rounds of miniature golf

Mini-Golf at Landal Holiday Parks in the UK

A look at minigolf courses at Landal Holiday Parks in the UK.

My brother Christopher and his family recently returned from a Landal Holiday Park in the Netherlands where they played the minigolf course.

Looking on the Landal website they have a very handy filter when searching for parks, and one of the options on the 'Active and leisure' menu is 'Mini-golf course'. Clicking this shows there are minigolf courses at nine of Landal's 24 holiday parks in the UK.

You can find minigolf courses at the following Landal holiday parks.

• Piperdam in Dundee, Scotland
• Bude Coastal Resort in Cornwall, England
• Brunston in Girvan, Scotland
• Clowance in Camborne, Cornwall, England
• Whitbarrow in the Lake District, England
• Ullswater Heights in Penrith in the Lake District, England
• Marwell Resort in Owslebury, Hampshire, England
• Angrove in Great Ayton, Yorkshire, England
• Aysgarth in Leyburn, Yorkshire, England

Check out the Landal Holiday Parks website for more information.

There are 149 Landal holiday park locations across nine countries including the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, England, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Czechia and Scotland.

63 of the Landal holiday parks are home to mini-golf courses.

Christopher and his family stated at Landal Het Vennenbos in the Netherlands - one of 78 Landal holiday parks there. Of those 78 parks, 38 of them have minigolf courses.

Minigolf at the Landal Holiday Park Het Vennenbos in the Netherlands. Photos by Christopher Gottfried, May 2025

Abbey Gardens Crazy Golf in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Playing the Crazy Golf course at the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Last year Emily spotted a Crazy Golf course at the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds and we swung by again in August.

On our recent return trip to the town we had a game on the 9-hole crazy golf course.

The Abbey Gardens Crazy Golf in Bury St Edmunds is open from April to October. Interestingly the layout changes as the course is set-up and taken down each day!

In our minigolf match Emily scored the win with a round of 23 to my 24.

The Abbey Gardens Crazy Golf course in Bury St Edmunds was the 583rd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 1,054th visited overall since September 2006.

Photos of the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds on the 1st June 2025.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 9

It's the second time we've played a minigolf course in the Abbey Gardens, the first was a pop-up back in 2008. That was the 71st on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Crazy Golf course reopening in Ardrossan, North Ayrshire

The seafront Crazy Golf course in Ardrossan, Scotland has been refurbished and is opening on Friday 6th June.

The Ardrossan Community Development Trust undertook the work as part of the developments to the promenade in the seaside town.

We visited the Crazy Golf in Ardrossan on our trip to Scotland for the Glasgow 2014 Comonwealth Games. The course was right outside our hotel. Below are some photos showing how the course looked back then.

Crazy Golf in Ardrossan, North Ayrshire. July 2014

Check out the Ardrossan Community Development Trust website and Facebook Page to find out more about the project.

Sea Road Adventure Golf in Felixstowe, Suffolk

A look at the Fantasia Adventure Golf course in Felixstowe, Suffolk.

We swung by the Fantasia Adventure Golf course on Sea Road in Felixstowe while visiting the Suffolk seaside town on Monday.

It's one of our most visited courses and was originally the 7th we went to on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The course opened in 1997/98 and was one of the first adventure golf layouts to open in the UK.

The course is planned to close for good...

Sadly the Fantasia Adventure Golf in Felixstowe, Suffolk is set to be demolished.

The course will be closed and the site turned into residential properties after plans were approved for the work to go ahead.

It's a shame to see minigolf courses close down. Fantasia Adventure Golf has always been fun to play.