National Bowling Day 2020

It's National Bowling Day!

Today is National Bowling Day.

The annual day to celebrate the game of tenpin bowling takes place on the second Saturday in August.

A tenpin bowling-themed hole at Puttshack super tech mini golf at White City, London

Tenpin bowling is an area of the indoor entertainment industry that has been hit by lockdown rules during the coronavirus pandemic with re-openings being pushed back in England.

We enjoy playing tenpin bowling, bowlingo and skittles and it'll be nice when we're able to safely play again in the future.

Glow-in-the-dark Bowlingo at Mr B's amusement arcade in Rhyl last year

Tenpin bowling and minigolf

With the boom in the popularity of minigolf and the growth in new courses, a number of tenpin bowling centres have added minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf courses.

Traditionally the two leisure activities have been quite separate and distinct, with people choosing to do either one or other and most operators running either a minigolf course or tenpin bowling alley.

We're fans of both games and we've been to quite a few places on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour that have both entertainment options.

Our 900th minigolf course visit in the British Isles was the Pirate Cove Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl tenpin bowling centre in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

Pirate Cove Adventure Golf at New York Thunderbowl in Kettering, December 2019

Playing Mini Golf next to the tenpin bowling alleys at Lane7 in Newcastle upon Tyne

You can see more in my blog post about Minigolf and tenpin bowling.

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Glow-in-the-dark Bowlingo at Mr B's amusement arcade in Rhyl

Playing Glow-in-the-dark Bowlingo at Mr B's amusement arcade in Rhyl.

Last month I had a fun day out in Rhyl and Prestatyn with my friend and minigolf rival Peter Jones. As it was out of season we didn't get to have a go on the miniature railway or play any of the Crazy Golf courses there. Luckily the amusement arcades were open so we were able to have a game of UV glow-in-the-dark black light Bowlingo at Mr B's amusement arcade!

The glow-in-the-dark artwork looked cool 

A day out in Rhyl and Prestatyn

Revisiting Rhyl and Prestatyn.

The seafront at Rhyl

Earlier this week I had a brilliant day out at the seaside with my friend and minigolf rival/team-mate Peter 'The Crazy Aced Assassin' Jones.

We had to revisit the Crazy Golf course in Prestatyn

The weather was wonderful for the time of year and we had a good time exploring the two seaside towns.

The Drift Park Crazy Golf course in Rhyl

The Drift Park Crazy Golf course in Rhyl

On the seafront in Prestatyn

The Crazy Golf course in Prestatyn

I've been to both Rhyl and Prestatyn a number of times since 2009 and we stay at Pontin's Prestatyn Sands holiday camp for the On the Buses fan-club events. However, until my latest visit I hadn't been to Marine Lake - the location of Britain's oldest miniature railway!

Steam trains have been running at Marine Lake since 1911 

The station

The entrance to Marine Lake is also a crossing for the railway

The lake itself was being drained while we were there 

As it was out of season we didn't get to have a go on the miniature railway or play any of the Crazy Golf courses. Luckily the amusement arcades were open so we were able to have a game of Bowlingo.

Bowlingo at Mr B's Amusement Arcade in Rhyl

I'm already looking forward to my next day out at the Welsh seaside.

Related blog posts:
- Rhyl
- Prestatyn
- Crazy Golf
- Miniature Railways

Bowlingo in Towyn

It can never be resisted. A spot of Bowlingo is always a good challenge!

Bowlingo at Mumbles Pier

Following the 2009 Cystadleuaeth Minigolff Cymraeg we headed to Mumbles Pier for a game of our second favourite seaside resort sport - Bowlingo.





The pier and facilities are very good, although the wooden slats on the pier have some of the widest gaps of any pier I've visited!




Some parts of the pier were also under repair when we visited.