Bowlpex

Scott and I visited Bowlplex twice over the course of two days… I think we’ve become ultra-​competitive as we recognise each other’s strengths and — for fun — try to out-​do each other!
This place is pretty huge — 20+ lanes and a small selection of arcade games around about to kill time. There is a small restaurant area at the back of the unit, but we didn’t have time to try out the food. We did purchase some drinks and a bottle of water — came in at under a tenner so not hugely expensive which is a bonus.
First of all: I love that there’s no rule at this alley that states players must wear the ‘silly shoes’ provided to bowl. I want to bowl in my own comfortable and hygienic clothing, not someone else’s manky shoes!
There’s a great selection of balls here too… I love balls. I love the size 14 purple one more than the size 14 red, but that’s personal taste more than anything else… Anything lighter just doesn’t hit the pins right or give the arms a decent workout at the same time!
Worth a visit if you’ve got some time to kill! :)

I was so excited about bowling for the first time in my adult life. Sadly this venue failed to impress.
It being a Sunday night, we figured it would be a bit quieter which to be fair it would have been if all the lanes were opened.
They close at 10pm on a Sunday and we arrived not long after 8pm.
We waited 20minutes to get 2 lanes for 8 people in total.
I wouldn’t expect lanes to be closed at that time but hay ho (please note that we had been in earlier to check how busy it was and all lanes were open– around 6pm)
About 10 minutes into playing we noticed that one of the lanes we were using was clearing pins at the fraction of the speed the other was.
The slower lane about 15minutes in then stopped working completely.
It took us 5 minutes to find the lady who was on her own managing the place and cleaning. When we found her she went to tell an engineer of the issue.
An error message then showed on the score board and again another 5minutes passed while we waited to have it fixed.
Spirits were pretty low at this point and it’s clear to say that one of the teams games took twice as long as the other due to the lag that continued there after.
I can’t say I was over happy with the service but then again there was only one lady there on floor so its not her fault.
But it’s safe to say on a Sunday night there should be more staff in.

OK, folks — here it is. It’s a bowling alley! They have LANES! And BALLS! And PINS!
That’s all you really need for a good bowling alley. This, however, does have more going for it. For a start, their website is one of the best I’ve used. I was able to surf to it on my mobile phone (oh get me, Mister Technology) and register and account, book a time slot for me and my son and pay in advance all within 5 minutes of finding the site. Not bad, especially as I was on the shoogliest bus that ever did shoogle.
It may be a special offer, but £6.99 for three games (be it adult or child) is a damn good deal in anyone’s book. It’s Monday-​Friday. any time before 6pm — check it out!
No, I don’t work for them, but that’s half the price of other places I looked at for the same time slot.
In any case, the venue itself looks pretty nice. It’s clean, tidy and very welcoming. There are the obligatory arcade machines that the kids run rampant on (adults too. Well… me) lined up alongside the bowling, and a bar and café area. I didn’t try the food, so I can’t comment on pricing, I’m afraid.
The staff are friendly, chatty and helpful — and this place has the advantage of not needing to change your shoes if you’re wearing flat shoes like trainers. Great if you have kids that freak out, or just have really smelly feet. *cough*
I like this place, I could see me coming back. My son wasn’t keen, but that was only because he got beat. Yes, I beat a child at bowling and I’m not ashamed. They need to learn!