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What's the attraction?
A new state-of-the-art ten-pin bowling, featuring 24 lanes, a Take 10 diner, licensed bar, pool tables and amusements.
What's on offer?
A fun and healthy activity that all the family can enjoy no matter how cold, dark, snowy and inhospitable the weather outside is.
How did you get there?
The 970-space car park at Eagles Meadow is easily reached from the town centre's inner ring road, and is signposted along all major routes in to the town. We paid £3 for the amount of time we were there.
How long did you stay?
We arrived at about 6pm in the evening and didn't manage to get a lane until after 9pm, such is the popularity of the newly opened complex. My advice is to book on line beforehand.
Did you take a brolly?
No, don't be silly, along with those flash bowling shoes, it would be a fashion disaster. It's an excellent winter's day indoor attraction
What did you do there?
After paying, we grabbed a pair of shoes each, (as I pondered over how many feet have been squeezed into them before mine) tied the laces and predictably decided that I needed a size bigger.
We then typed humorous nicknames onto the scoreboard, again having a debate about the order of play. It was time to choose our weapon, in this instance, ball. They are numbered according to weight - the heavier the ball the larger the number.
Stick to a weight you're comfortable with and avoid the temptation to grab the heaviest ball you can find. The central idea of the game is hardly neuroscience, knock down as many objects (or pins) as you can with a big ball.
Thanks to automated scoreboards you don't need a degree in mathematics to work out if you're the winner. Be warned, it is more difficult than it looks.
Please remember that between the legs bowling, while smirking at your family, does not make you look cool (Or so Rachel told me) similarly, running and skidding up to the line might look good on the professionals, but almost resulted in a trip to A&E for me.
We then basically all patiently waited for our next turn, whilst trying not to laugh at various family members bowling techniques, and repeated the process until all our turns had gone and either decided to give up the day job, get personalised shirts made-up and start a career on the pro-circuit, or vowed never to play this stupid game ever again.
My attempts to demand to have the gutter guards put up were ignored.
How much did it cost you?
Bowling starts from £18 for a game for the whole family. They advise to check out the website as various offers for un-limited bowling or family offers are usually available www.tenpin.co.uk.
How about food and drink?
The Take 10 menu has burgers and pizzas to paninis and salads. However, as we had a few hours to kill before we could bowl we went next door to Nandos and tried the peri peri chicken, it was delicious. We also spotted a Frankie and Bennies, Starbucks or the M&S cafe, so plenty of choice.
Are there any shops?
We were bang smack middle of the Eagles Meadow shopping complex, from fashion to accessories, books to toys, home ware and confectionery.
It's all here along with a eight-screen cinema, opening this Easter. All the shops were open till late while we were there, which was handy as we waited for bowling session.
Is it ok for kids?
Ten Pin's Bowl Club means kids get their own membership and collector card immediately entitling them to exclusive offers - such as free gifts during school holidays. There's a Bowl Club meal deal for £7 (two games of bowling and kids' meal).
There are ramps to help the younger children bowl and you can also have the sides up to stop the bowl from going into the gutter every time.
Or there's an after school kids club, mainly 4pm-7pm, when under 13s can bowl for only £3 a game.
Can people with disabilities get around?
Ten Pin bowling centres offer full disabled access. They have ramps that allow wheelchair users to bowl without restriction.
What were the best bits?
Definitely when someone got a strike - ten-pin is a game invented for self-congratulation. It's impossible not to punch the air, jump for joy or do a victory dance (or is that just me?) but not so when you've knocked over just two pins and a third that wobbled a bit (yes, that happened to me as well).
It is very competitive and remarks such as "bad luck there" may often get a frosty glare in return. However, it is great fun. and to have such an excellent facility in North Wales is long overdue.
Opening times?
Sun-Thurs 10am-midnights, Fri-Sat 10am-2am
Tenpin Bowling Wrexham, Tenpin, Unit B14, Eagles Meadow, Wrexham 0871 873 2450 or www.tenpin.co.uk
