Cue Gardens Crazy Pool at The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre in Preston

The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre in Preston is now home to a new Crazy Pool course.

A new Crazy Pool layout has opened at The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre in Preston, Lancashire.

As the name suggests, Crazy Pool is a cross between crazy golf and pool, with wacky obstacles traversed by a ball 'potted' by the player using a cue.

The Crazy Pool course at The Flower Bowl is a 9-hole setup.

Check out The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre's website for more information.

The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre is also home to a Secret Garden Crazy Golf course.

We haven't managed to make it to the centre on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour yet, but are looking forward to playing some games there.

Crazy cue games

We've seen a fair few variations and hybrids of minigolf, pool, snooker & billiards games on our travels.

These have included Crazy Golf Pool and Pit-Pat, as well as some Crazy Golf obstacles that have been created using old pool and snooker tables.

Happy Shopper

Finding a Happy Shopper store in Preston.

Short of completing my Time Machine and heading back to 1999 I thought it was nigh on impossible to find an old Happy Shopper shop sign. I guess yesterday was my lucky day.

What a sign

I just happened to be wearing the right colour jacket for the photo too!

I'm always a happy shopper when I find old branding and interesting signs. We'd gone to Preston to take a look at the abandoned Toys R Us store there

I remember seeing the Happy Shopper shops and branded products a lot when I was a kid.

The Happy Shopper branding was changed in the year 2000 and I think it lost a lot of its charm and individuality. Many of the former Happy Shopper stores were rebranded as Premier shops.

Happy Shopper does still exist, as both convenience stores and own brand food & drink products.

Do you remember Happy Shopper? Did you have a favourite Happy Shopper product?

Lost shops

On our travels we've seen a number of old shop signs and retro retail remnants including Tandy in Hitchin; RadioShack in St Annes on the Sea; Toys R Us stores in Ancoats, Manchester, Warrington, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and Preston; Woolworths Big W in Brunstane, Edinburgh; Blockbuster in Fallowfield, Manhester; Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent; BHS in Stockport; Blockbuster Video Express in Colne; Orange Mobile in Oswestry; Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness; Cooltrader in Blackpool and the remains of Blockbuster Video stores in Oldham, Cheadle Hulme, Marple, Hastings, Felixstowe, Telford, Prescot and Chester.

Lost shops - Toys R Us in Preston, Lancashire

September 2020 - Toys R Us still exists. Kind of.

Toys R Us ceased trading in the UK in April 2018. I worked there back in the year 2000.

It's always interesting to see signs from lost brands

This store is in Preston, Lancashire.

Toys R Us at the Deepdale shopping centre in Preston

Apart from one ghost sign on the side of the building where the raised letters have been removed it looks like it could've still been open.

Ghost signs

A busy car park

A colourful store front

Welcome to Toys R Us

This store is now closed

The entrance

A nice sign on the right of the building

At the exit

The exit doors

A piece of ephemera 

Remnants

A branded electricity substation

There have been plans for the old Toys R Us at the Deepdale shopping centre to be converted into a gym or a Sports Direct. But at the moment it's still there as something of a time capsule.

Other lost Toys R Us stores

We've also been to the abandoned Toys R Us in Warrington, Cheshire, had a look at what remained of the old Toys R Us store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester before it was demolished and visited the Toys R Us in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent shortly before it was converted into a Go Outdoors this month.

Lost shops

On our travels we've also seen a RadioShack in St Annes on the Sea; Woolworths Big W in Brunstane, Edinburgh; Tandy in Hitchin; Blockbuster in Fallowfield, Manhester; Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent; BHS in Stockport; Blockbuster Video Express in Colne; Orange Mobile in Oswestry; Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness; Cooltrader in Blackpool and the remains of Blockbuster Video stores in Oldham, Cheadle Hulme, Marple, Hastings, Felixstowe, Telford, Prescot and Chester.

Happy Shopper

On our way to look at the old Toys R Us we also found a bonus lost shop - a Happy Shopper!

New Crazy Golf planned for Fulwood Central in Preston

There are plans for a new Crazy Golf course to be created at the Fulwood Central retail park in Preston.

It'll be another relatively local minigolf course for us to play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Retail parks, malls and shopping centres have become a popular location for minigolf courses and other activities as part of retailtainment offerings. This shoppertainment offers customers something extra to shopping and dining, as well as increasing footfall and dwell time at a venue.

Read more in my blog post - Shopping mall minigolf: The growth of shopping centre crazy golf and retailtainment.

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Crazy Golf at The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre in Preston

A look at the social distancing measures in place on the Crazy Golf course at The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre in Preston.

The 18-hole Secret Garden Crazy Golf course is one of the new minigolf courses we had planned to play before the coronavirus pandemic hit. The course is part of The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre in Preston, Lancashire.

We've heard great things from everyone who has had a chance to play there so far and the photos we've seen of the course have been amazing.

The team at The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre have kindly sent over photos of The Secret Garden Crazy Golf course and details of the measures they've put in place to make it as safe as possible for players and to be COVID-19 Secure in 2020.

The Crazy Golf course is open, however booking is compulsory.

Visit The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre's website for more information, opening times and prices.

In addition to the Crazy Golf course the centre is home to a wide-range of activities that will be reopening in the coming weeks and months.

The impact of coronavirus

It'll be interesting to see the changes to how minigolf is played as lockdown restrictions ease and it becomes safer to get out and about a bit more.

I've been writing about social distancing and the impact of coronavirus on minigolf and competitive socialising venues. You can see more of my posts at 'The Coronavirus (Ham & Egger) Files'.

Social distancing Pitch & Putt

We don't have any adventure, crazy or mini golf courses in Stockport, but we do have a Pitch & Putt miniature golf course at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle Hulme. We saw the social distancing measures in place there while out on our daily exercise recently.

Restarting the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

We're looking forward to restarting our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It's currently paused at 948 course visits. We were on quite a roll this year as we visited 20 courses in the first 20 days of 2020.

We were also closing in on visiting the final 40 courses that were on our original list of 600 when our travels began in 2006.

Links:
- The Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre website
- Staying 'COVID-19 Secure' in 2020 video

Related blog posts:
- Preston
- Social distancing
- A look at minigolf and competitive socialising in the time of coronavirus and social distancing

Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Newsletter archive and sign-up to receive future editions

World Cycling Day

Happy World Cycling Day.

It's amazing how may different things we've seen depicted on minigolf courses - this cycling-themed hole is at Trailer Trash Jim's Crazy Golf course at Level Preston

I've been Putting At Home during lockdown as well as getting out and about on my BMX

A look back at a Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston

A look back at the Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston, May 2018.

Back in May 2018 I was invited to be a speaker at the Dull Men's Club's 'Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening' at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston.

The Dull Men's Club is where dull men — and women who appreciate dull men — share experiences of enjoying everyday, mundane things, far from glitz and glam — "Celebrating the Ordinary".

The keynote speaker at the event was Dr Sandi Mann, aka ‘Dr Boredom’, author of The Science of Boredom: The Upside of Downtime, who spoke to the attendees about the benefits of boredom and her research on the Thirty Habits of Boring People.

My speech at the summit centred on the world of miniature golf.

Talking crazy golf at the Dull Men's Club Summit in 2018

Some highlights of my presentation covered my travels on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and how I, along with Emily, had - up to that point - visited 815 miniature golf courses since 2006.

Some of the intricacies of the sport were also discussed, with the show & tell element on minigolf balls being a particular highlight.

Check out the latest posts and interviews from the Dull Men's Club.

In November last year we had an enjoyable evening of mild excitement at the Dull Men's Club Anorak of the Year Award event in Manchester.

Related blog posts:
- Dull Men's Club
- A Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston
- A dull evening in Manchester

Links:
- Dull Men's Club website 
- Dull Men's Club blog "We’ve been trendsetters all along? Our way of life is now the ‘new normal’?"

Looking back at the Dull Men's Club's Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston

A look back at the Dull Men's Club's Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston.

A year ago yesterday I was a speaker at the Dull Men's Club's 'Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening' at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston.

Talking (minigolf) balls

Where has the last year gone*.

Showing off my Putter to the audience

The keynote speaker at the event was Dr Sandi Mann, aka ‘Dr Boredom’, author of The Science of Boredom: The Upside of Downtime, who spoke to the attendees about the benefits of boredom and her research on the Thirty Habits of Boring People.

The Dull Men's Club is where dull men — and women who appreciate dull men — share experiences of enjoying everyday, mundane things, far from glitz and glam — "Celebrating the Ordinary".

Some highlights of my presentation covered my travels on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and how I, along with Emily, had - up to that point - visited 815 miniature golf courses since 2006.

The desk space in the lecture theatre was a lovely shade of grey

Some of the intricacies of the sport were also discussed, with the show & tell element on minigolf balls being a particular highlight.

Later that evening I visited the 816th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when I swung by the indoor Crazy Golf course at Level Preston. We've now visited 887 courses.

One of the holes at Trailer Trash Jim's indoor Crazy Golf course at Level Preston

Following the event we've since met up with fellow dull man and writer Elliot Windmill who profiled us on his excellent website.

Playing Crazy Golf with Elliot at Manor Park in Glossop

One of the other guests we met at the event was Martin, head of the Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society. Interestingly (for some) Telegraph Pole Appreciation Day and Miniature Golf Day both fall on the 21st September each year. Martin also wrote a nice blog post following the event.

A telegraph pole I spotted on our visit to the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway heritage steam railway in the Lake District last year

What a wonderfully dull world we inhabit.

Related blog posts:
- A Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston
- Meeting the Dull Men of Great Britain – The Crazy Golfers
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Dull Men's Club
- Preston

Links:
- Dull Men's Club
- Lossul
- Sandi Mann's website

* I would have put an exclamation mark at the end of that sentence, but they are frowned upon by the Dull Men's Club.

Trailer Trash Jim's Crazy Golf at Level Preston

A visit to Trailer Trash Jim's Crazy Golf course at Level Preston.

Following the Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston last May I visited the 816th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when I swung by the indoor Crazy Golf course at Level Preston.

It's just not cricket

Harry Putter 

The course has nods to local heritage, such as this hole themed on Bond's ice cream parlour 

A tea hole 

Tour de Preston

Jabba The Putt!

The other Bond's hole 

It's a fantastic venue packed full of fun activities including tenpin bowling, darts, shuffleboard, arcade games, laser tag and more.

The bar area looks fun too

We're looking forward to a return visit to Preston to spend more time at Level.

Link:
- Level Preston

Related blog posts:
- Preston
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

A Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston

Last month I was invited to be a speaker at the Dull Men's Club's 'Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening' at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable time as a guest speaker at the Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening at UCLan

The Dull Men's Club is where dull men — and women who appreciate dull men — share experiences of enjoying everyday, mundane things, far from glitz and glam — "Celebrating the Ordinary".

The Dull Men's Club - where dull men, and women who appreciate dull men, share thoughts and experiences about ordinary things

The keynote speaker at the event was Dr Sandi Mann, aka ‘Dr Boredom’, author of The Science of Boredom: The Upside of Downtime, who spoke to the attendees about the benefits of boredom and her research on the Thirty Habits of Boring People.

One of the highlights of the evening at UCLan

The pink post-it notes directing delegates to the lecture theatre were a bit bright for a dull event

We were on the 1st floor

Not far from here

The desk space in the lecture theatre was a lovely shade of grey

Some highlights of my presentation covered my travels on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and how I, along with Emily, had - up to that point - visited 815 miniature golf courses since 2006.

One of the scorecards displayed in my presentation

Some of the intricacies of the sport were also discussed, with the show & tell element on minigolf balls being a particular highlight.

Course #683 - Southend Pier Crazy Golf

Somewhat controversially the 'Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening' was anything but. With a range of characters talking about their hobbies, pursuits and interests the group could've spent a long time sharing stories and ideas. Perhaps next time there'll be a longer Dull Men's Club symposium to spend more time talking about dull and boring matters.

Showing off my Putter

The "Anorak of the Year 2017.4" was also announced one the night (".4" as we were 40% into 2018), with Roundabout enthusiast Kevin Beresford taking the title.

Following the event I visited the 816th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when I swung by the indoor Crazy Golf course at Level Preston.

At Trailer Trash Jim's Crazy Golf course at Level in Preston

Links:
- The Dull Men's Club
- Dr Sandi Mann

Other dull blog posts can be found within the archives of the Ham & Egger Files...