Showing posts with label Pub Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pub Games. Show all posts

Friday, May 06, 2022

Crazy Golf at The Lion by Olivers in Brinsley, Nottinghamshire

There's a new pub Crazy Golf course at The Lion by Olivers in Brinsley, Nottinghamshire.


There's a new pub Crazy Golf course at The Lion by Olivers in Brinsley, Nottinghamhire

Check out The Lion by Olivers website and social media for further details on the 9-hole Crazy Golf course.


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

While the course is outdoors, the pub adds UV lighting so players can putt in the dark. It sounds ace.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

15 years ago today

A look back at the 10th course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.


We visited the 10th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on this day in 2006. On a bitterly cold 23rd December 2006 Emily, Christopher and I headed along to the Horse and Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire to have a game on their beer garden Crazy Golf course.

And what a course it was - we'd not seen anything like it before. And we haven't seen anything quite like it since!

Crazy Golf at the Horse and Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire - December 2006
Crazy Golf at the Horse and Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire - December 2006

We revisited the course in April 2011 and while it was a bit drier, it was still a very mossy layout.

Crazy Golf at the Horse and Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire - April 2011
Crazy Golf at the Horse and Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire - April 2011

Little did we know back then that our interest in crazy golf would become an obsession and that we'd visit 982 courses in the last 15 years.

Friday, April 16, 2021

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.


Horse and Groom pub Crazy Golf in Ningwood on the Isle of Wight. Photo by Matt Dodd, July 2020

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.

Horse and Groom pub Crazy Golf in Ningwood on the Isle of Wight. Photo by Matt Dodd, July 2020

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.

Tuesday, September 08, 2020

Crazy Golf at The Beaver Inn, Appledore, Devon

There's a Crazy Golf course at The Beaver Inn, Appledore, Devon.


Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Alan 'Storming' Norman for sending over these photos of the Crazy Golf course at The Beaver Inn in Appledore, Devon.

Crazy Golf at The Beaver Inn, Appledore, Devon. Photo by Alan Norman, September 2020

It looks like a very nice layout and one we've added to our To Play list when we're next down that way on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.


It's always fun finding minigolf courses in pub beer gardens.

Visit The Beaver Inn website for more information.


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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Crazy Golf at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorset

There's a new Crazy Golf course at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorchester, Dorset.


There's a new Crazy Golf course at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorchester, Dorset

The team at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorset have spent some of the lockdown period building a Crazy Golf course.

We're looking forward to giving it a play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

We've played a few pub minigolf courses - but there aren't nearly enough of them in our opinion.

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Monday, December 23, 2019

Crazy Golf at the Horse & Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire

Thirteen years ago today we visited the 10th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.


On a bitterly cold 23rd December 2006 Emily, Christopher and I headed along to the Horse & Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire to have a game on the beer garden Crazy Golf course there.


In all the years and hundreds upon hundreds of courses we've seen since, none have been anything quite like the 9-hole course.


Crazy

Back in 2006 we never realised how BIG our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour would become. To date we've visited 942 courses!

We popped back to the pub for a look at the course in April 2011.

How the course looked five years later

Looking online it doesn't look like the course is in the pub's beer garden anymore.

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens

A visit to the Crazy Golf course at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens.


Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens

Last Saturday we visited Garswood in St Helens, Merseyside as Emily had recently spotted what looked like a Crazy Golf course in a pub beer garden. The sighting was correct and The Railway Hotel in the St Helens village did indeed have a course!


Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens

Sadly the 9-hole Crazy Golf course was no longer in use. While we didn't get to have a game, we did however enjoy sitting in the sun in the beer garden before moving on to our next location.


At The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
A nice spot to spend a while on a sunny Saturday afternoon

We'd love to know more about the history of the pub beer garden Crazy Golf course. It looked like it had been there for quite some time. It's the sort of course a minigolf time machine would be perfect for so we could see what it was like when it was first built.

The course was the 906th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 1

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 2

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 3 - 'Middle Hill', an obstacle found on Eternit Miniature Golf courses

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 3

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 4 also has a hint of an Eternit course about it

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 5

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 6

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 7

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 7

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 8

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 9

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens
Hole 9 - we reckon this was a very tricky last hole to play

We've visited a few pubs with minigolf courses. The Railway's course reminded us most of the old concrete course at The Dolphin pub in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire.

Related blog posts:

What a weekend of minigolf!
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Monday, June 17, 2019

Bar Billiards at The Railway pub in Stockport

Finding a Bar Billiards table at The Railway pub in Stockport.


We're big fans of the old pub game of Bar Billiards so were very pleased to find a table at The Railway pub in Stockport on Saturday!


The Bar Billiards table at The Railway pub in Stockport

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to play it as the pub had problems with its water supply and had to close while the emergency works were completed.


The Rules of Bar Billiards
Bar Billiards Rules

We're looking forward to returning for a game or two in the future.

The Railway Pub in Stockport
The Railway Pub in Stockport - you can see the table if you look in through this window

In 2017 we played the Bar Billiards table at The Blossoms pub on the A6. Like The Blossoms, the table at The Railway uses the four peg arrangement.

Bar Billiards at The Railway pub in Stockport
The table looks to be popular!

Coming from down south we're more used to seeing three pegs. We haven't seen too many four-peg tables on our Barmy Bar Billiards Trail. The ones at The Cheshire Cheese pub in London and The Chequers Inn at Knebworth spring to mind.

Bar Billiards at The Railway pub in Stockport
The nice and 'easy' 50-point holes are guarded by the white mushrooms in the four peg game

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
Pub Games
- Stockport
- Pubs

Sunday, March 04, 2018

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich

We had a brilliant time in Norwich last weekend and it was a nice surprise to find a Bar Billiards table to have a game on too.

We're big fans of the traditional pub sport and the tables can often take some hunting out.

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
The four-pin layout of the pegs is a tough variation on the three-pin game

The table at the Golden Star pub used the four-pin set-up, a variation on the rules that makes the game trickier to play as two of the pegs/mushrooms partially block the 'easy route' into the 50-pockets.

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
It's a neat set-up at the Golden Star

The table had some nice features, including the cue holders at the baulk end.

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
I really like the cue holders built into the end of the table

It was a very old table owned by Alfred Sams & Sons of Hoddesdon, Herts. We hadn't seen that particular badge on other tables we've played on our travels.

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
Some lovely old design and features

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
An old National Bar Billiards Association badge

In our game (played using three-pins) I won with a score of 980 to Emily's 0. Emily had knocked down the black peg with her shot at the 200-hole to wipeout her tally of 510.

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
Emily in action

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
The final score

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
Emily going for it on the final black mushroom shot

The Golden Star is worth a visit and the Bar Billiards table there is well worth a play. It's only 50p a game too.

The Golden Star pub in Norwich
The Golden Star pub - you'll find the Bar Billiards table at the back of the pub, by the blue door on the left hand side of the photo

It's great to know that the pub plays host to competitive events as part of the Norwich Bar Billiards League too. Check out the links below for more info.

Bar Billiards rules at the Golden Star pub in Norwich
League Rules

Links:
- Golden Star, Norwich
- Norwich Bar Billiards League

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
- Norwich

Friday, December 15, 2017

PLONK Golf at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton

There's a new PLONK Golf minigolf course at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton.


PLONK Golf can now be found in Brighton as well as London

The team at PLONK Golf have created a new minigolf course at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton.

The course is the only pub beer garden Crazy Golf course in Brighton and features 9-holes. It's open until 10pm daily.

Check out the PLONK Golf and Sidewinder websites for more info.

PLONK Golf also have minigolf courses in London at venues in Battersea, Brixton, Hackney, Dalston and London Fields. They also recently launched PLONK PUZZLE PUTT - a Crazy Golf Escape Room!

The team are also taking a course on tour around the UK in 2018.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour we've played the Plonk Golf courses at Efes Snooker Club in Dalston and at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton.

Saturday, December 02, 2017

Bar Billiards at The Blossoms pub in Stockport

Finding our first Bar Billiards table in Stockport.


On our walk back from a visit to the wonderful Christmas Tree Festival at St George's Church in Heaviley we stopped off at The Blossoms pub on the A6. We went in the main entrance and were very surprised to see a Bar Billiards table in the room to the right!

Bar Billiards at The Blossoms pub in Stockport
The Bar Billiards table at The Blossoms pub in Heaviley, Stockport

We're big fans of the old game and had searched online to see if there were any tables in the area when we moved here last year. It's brilliant to know there's a table just up the road from us.

Bar Billiards at The Blossoms pub in Stockport
We didn't play the finest game of Bar Billiards using the four-peg arrangement

We had three matches - the first using all four pegs and then two using the three peg rules we are more accustomed to.

Bar Billiards at The Blossoms pub in Stockport
Emily in action

We haven't seen too many four-peg tables on our Barmy Bar Billiards Trail. The ones at The Cheshire Cheese pub in London and The Chequers Inn at Knebworth spring to mind.

Bar Billiards at The Blossoms pub in Stockport
A great game in a nice pub

Game 1 - Richard 790, Emily 200 (had wiped out a score of 110, but then potted the last ball in the 200 hole).

Game 2 - Richard 880, Emily 450 (potted the last ball in the 200 hole).

Game 3 - Richard 1,060, Emily 720 (potted the red ball in the 200 hole).

You can find The Blossoms at 2 Buxton Road, Heaviley, Stockport.

Last year we played Bagatelle, another old cue game, at the Union Vaults pub in Chester.

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
- Stockport
- Pub Games
- Pub

Link:
- The Blossoms

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Flight Club Darts in London

A quick visit to Flight Club in London.


Flight Club Darts in London

While on a recent trip to London I called in at Flight Club to check out the Shoreditch darts venue. I'd heard good things about it and some friends have had a 'do' there before.

Flight Club Darts in London
One of the many dart boards set-up over the two levels at Flight Club in Shoreditch

I really liked the array of darts memorabilia and ephemera adorning the walls. It looked top notch.

A little bit of the old darts memorabilia to be found on the walls
A little bit of the old darts memorabilia to be found on the walls

There's a wall of dart boards at Flight Club. No Quadro board though
There's a wall of dart boards at Flight Club. No Quadro board though

I spotted a Pin-Bagatelle board next to one of the dart boards downstairs too
I spotted a Pin-Bagatelle board next to one of the dart boards downstairs too

It's always nice to see a celebrity leaderboard
It's always nice to see a celebrity leaderboard

Check out the Flight Club website for more info on the Shoreditch and Bloomsbury venues, opening times and prices.

Flight Club Darts in London
I had a nice welcome from the staff at Flight Club and look forward to throwing a few arrers there in the future

Related blog posts:
- Darts
- London