by Peter Jones » Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:30 pm
Mentioning Weston-Super-Mare, I wondered whether anyone was familiar with the course near Minehead. I suppose it won't be open yet, but I've stayed in Minehead three times in the last few years, so I'm no stranger to that part, but I only realised there was a course in Blue Anchor when I looked it up on the list There's no mention of it on the leaflets for the West Somerset Railway, although it mentions a crazy golf at Blue Anchor, on their website. It's over three miles from Minehead. It's a horrible journey by car or bus from Taunton, so the way to get there is the free bus to Bishops Lidyeard, and then then a steam or diesel train from there.
There was a Southern TV children's drama, aired in 1977-78, starring Sheila Fearn, of The Likely Lads and George & Mildred, Gwyneth Strong, who played Cassandra in Only Fools and Horses, and Blue Peter's Peter Duncan, and was filmed almost entirely on the line.
Sheila Fearn was only in the first of the two series, due to filming of the second series of George & Mildred, which had attracted audiences of over 20 million. In the first series, after the Ropers had moved to Peacock Crescent, Hampton Wick, They visited Geoffrey Fourmile's local. The Genevieve George had wanted to go the Pig & Welly as they had a drag act on but Mildred wanted him to join their new neighbour and his snobby friends at the golf club. One of them told him to try the crazy-golf at the park as they let anyone join.
The episode of Rising Damp, when gentleman thief Seymour asked Rigsby if he played, his reply was "No, but I do have a feeling for the game. I did very well one year on the front at Skegness, but I got stuck in front of one of those little wooden windmills". A reference to the Arnold Palmer course.