It’s that time of year again. Halloween has hit London and I wanted to do something different this time around as opposed to the usual Halloween nightclub parties. Something that caught my eye was Junkyard Golf. Junkyard golf is a crazy golf course that originated in Manchester and has made its way down to Brick Lane in Shoreditch, East London. Having wanted to visit for a while, I thought I would combine my love of Halloween with that of crazy golf, and see what it had to offer.
Our time slot was booked for 8pm so we arrived around 7 to grab some food and drinks beforehand. Upon entering, it was clear that the venue had been transformed into a Day of the Dead Festival, with banners, lights and various Halloween themed decorations hanging from every corner of the room. It was looking pretty busy, with customers donning a variety of scary costumes, resulting in the only downside of the night – long queues!
I opted for a stereotypical black cat ensemble as seen below.
There wasn’t much option in regards to food (although the nachos and hot dogs were pretty sufficient), however there were a selection of chilling cocktails including a Halloween special that looked insane! Unfortunately, it consisted of Tequila and Ginger Beer, neither of which I like, so I instead opted for the ‘Hotline Ting’ which included bubble gum flavoured liquor and a fizz whiz packet!
Throughout the evening there were a variety of spine tingling performances including a magician with some mind blowing card tricks, a captivating performance from ‘The Magic Ball Man’, LED Hoopers and a fire breather. Additionally, Macabre Mexicans had been employed to creep out customers, by lurking behind corners and hiding amongst the props throughout the courses.
On to the golf! There are four 9 hole courses to choose from, each one having its own unique theme and appeal.
Selection of courses
Bozo: Carnival Theme. Think dark fairgrounds, circus freaks, and twisted clowns.
Pablo: Jungle Theme. Work your way through tree houses, forests and caves.
Gary: Scrapyard Challenge. Includes towers of tyres, written off cars and a UV garage rave.
Bruce: Legendary movies. Putt your way through Mordor and take a look inside prison cells, reliving your favourite blockbusters.
As it was Halloween, we opted for BOZO, as it seemed to fit well with the theme, and we weren’t disappointed. There were some really clever designs including a skeleton Ferris wheel, where the aim was to get your ball into a skeleton head, which would be picked up and transported around the wheel, eventually dropping into the hole as the skeleton turned upside down, releasing the ball from its jaw. Another cool design was the cannon, where the objective was to hit your golf ball up the runway and fire it from the cannon, in the hope that it would shoot through one of the star shaped holes of a magician’s wheel. I would have liked the holes to be slightly longer, as most are quite small, but with four courses, there is always the opportunity to do another.
On the whole, Junk Yard golf seems like an ideal place to head over to with a group of friends. There are lots of courses to choose from, each one designed to perfection. It would also work really well as a date idea for those looking for a chilled out but fun activity. As for Halloween, it was definitely a cool alternative to your typical party and worked well as an after work event.
To book Crazy Golf or find out more about the venue, follow this link: https://www.junkyardgolfclub.co.uk/about-ldn.html