| Its Back the centre review ! -Norwich gets rated !!! |
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| Written by Basher | |
| Friday, 22 January 2010 | |
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Due to constant pestering by Thurlby, I've bought back the centre reviews. - Click on read more to read how the bowl's lanes, resturant, car park and more importantly the bogs and carpet rate
Namaco Number 10 Norwich
Car Park - Its big and there are spaces round the back, not many people know that, and if you like me and your especially lazy, you can dump ya jam jar right out the front. And despite Leon Devlin hanging about I felt it safe to leave my car there. There are only a couple of small steps leading into the bowl - 9/10
Snack bar - all right as it goes, I had sausage sandwich and that's not a youthanism for anything gay. You can get a big round of sandwich's and chips for a decent price as well - 8/10
Bar - Love the bar at Norwich, SKYand big screens and you can see the lanes, nice comfy seats, quizzer, and fruities - only down side was there were always blokes pulling the pints - where were the bar wenches ? - 8/10
Carpet - Norfolk, where they love a famaliar shag, they like to feel as if its one of the family. I went bare foot most of the time and loved they way it felt - 9/10
Bogs - these were rank ! - possible the worst crappers I've ever been in. Even the bogs in train spotting weren't as bad as these. They reckon they are checked every hour by a vigilant member of staff - who must be blind and have no sense of smell. I nearly passed out from the ammonia - there was a single flie buzzing around and it was desperately looking for an escape route, and of course one of the lights was blinking away. I would rather shit myself then take a dump in these traps - -1/10
Staff - really helpful, and the lane marshalls who voulenteered was a good touch. 8/10
Lanes - wood, and to be honest I have never seen them looking so good ! The fact that most people struggled and worked their nuts off for their scores i don't think had anything to do with the state of the lanes, perhaps the patterns didn't suit the surface, because I think they played a lot harder then Ross was expecting - Hardly any serious breakdowns. 6/10
Overall a decent centre dragged down dramatically by the state of the bogs ! - 47/70
Lakeside - Newbury
Car Park - Good car park, loads of space out the front and the car park goes round the back as well and there are loads of quiet secluded spaces by the fishing lake - ideal for secret liaisons and dogging - well so Kaxe tells me anyway. No steps into bowl though there are double doors which when your loaded down with stuff can be a bit awkward 8/10
Bowlplex - Branksome Poole Car Park – a few spaces out the front and quite a few round the back of the bowl, but there is a dividing line that if you cross you enter parking allocated for the pub and they will apparently clamp you if you park in their spaces. There weren’t sufficient spaces for everyone who played in the tournament and leaving your car round the back didn’t exactly fill me with confidence. I half expected to come back and find it up on bricks and it stripped down. Do you know what pikeys do these days, they nick catalytic convertors from cars. Apparently they nick em for the titanium used in the casing. Insufficient parking for a tournament – 4/10 Bogs – They were much better then the last time I was here, when they were dark and very very dank. These were clean, bright and no nasty niffs – 8/10 Staff – Good recruitment policy ensured a plethora of lovely young ladies, though they lost marks because when my lanes wanted a simple 10 replaced, we had to wait ages. Then they re-spotted the 7 pin by mistake, then we waited ages again and I had to have a word with the guvnor Ben, but then they for a final kick in the nadgers they-spotted both the 7 and the 10. 3/10 Snack bar – this was ’manned’ by two of the lovely young ladies previously mentioned – I didn’t sample the culinary delights myself, but I believe the pizza was particularly popular, as that is all I could smell, which weren’t good because I was feeling poorly sick – There is also a Tesco just down the road. 8/10 Shag – Nasty shag, it was a bit busy. But I suppose a shag that tries hard is better than a lazy shag 5/10 Lanes – It’s a good surface down a Poole, and they put a different condition down and it gave everyone a test, and left some people scratching their heads, or in Corkys case his nuts. I know some people found the approaches quite sticky, but I liked them, though in the corners especially at the top end they were a bit stick, slid, stick, slid – when you would either want them one thing of the other. Also the top end the fans were working but they weren’t down the bottom end. I was freezing my plums off. 7/10 Bar – Yeah it had sky it had fruities and it had nice comfy seats and bar stools – you could sit in there quite comfortably and get wasted, can’t ya Oastsy ? – But it was just lacking some atmosphere or something – maybe because the tournament was going on up the other end of the bowl. 6/10 Overall – 41/70 – a decent centre that only let its self down on one occasion and its needs a better car park.
AMF Sheffield Firth Park
Car park - spaces for about 50 cars - though its a bit chaotic and there seems to spaces here there and every where. As for security - having a look at the local residents didn't really instill confidence in leaving my old jam jar here. They look the sort who would steal the gold from ya teeth if you left your mouth open long enough. 5/10 Overall - Firth Park is an Old centre and is struggling to compete in the modern world ! - it still has a good league programme and is still a great centre for the tournament / league player. 44/70 Lakeside Nuneaton
Car Park -Spaces right out the front and round the side - though at a big tournament like the nationals these are soon taken up, but because the bowl is on a sort of leisure complex there are other spaces available. Also for the wrinklies there are no stairs to lug you gear up. 7/10
Maldon Madison Heights Carpet - No shag ! the bowl was decked out with a wood floor - a filthy wood floor (well we were in Essex). I think the wood used to be the lanes from Harrow, but then it was pointed out that the lanes at Harrow were never that smooth. You need a shag, they are nicer to walk on and easier to clean - 0/10 Snack Bar - O.K - but it was outside the actual bowl. Healthy options as well as the usual crap. Plus there is also an 'all you can eat' Chinese Buffet - lets just say Quarry got his money's worth. I ordered a kiddies spag bol and it was a more then generous portion. No wonder there is so much childhood obesity if they are being served up with portions this big. 9/10 - Oh and for the seniors the tea and coffee is served in china mugs and if you ask them nicely they will mash up your food so its easier to swallow. Staff - The staff don't have a separate uniform so your not sure who works there or who is just lounging about behind control. Also I needed a 7 pin re-setting and it took ages and I had to chase it up. The long delay unsettled me and I missed it (wells that my excuse anyway) - 5/10 Car Park - Decent car park but because there's so much going on at this centre it gets rammed ! - so not enough spaces. Your presented with a few steps up to the entrance then back down from the entrance into the bowl, but old people, before you start moaning there is a sneaky side entrance for you. 5/10 Bar - Outside the bowling area, but it has loads of TV's with SKY, pool tables, fruities and quizzers. Though it can get busy and there was only 1 serving wench when I was there. 6/10 Bogs - These are quite a way from the lanes and you have to climb a lot of stairs - so old people make sure you leave for a wee and soon as you feel the first tingle. We don't want any nasty puddles. Once in the bogs its all a bit cramped and the hand dryer is pathetic - its a gentle breeze of luke warm air, I would of dried my hands quicker if I blew on them myself - And I asked for a glass of tap water I was refused poor show ! 5/10 Lanes - First class playing surface, its a split bowl and you have Tom and Jerry masking units one side and the Flintstones the other. There's a big step to get on the approaches on the Flintstone side - so again old people be warned, we don't want you tripping over and breaking your hips, we know how brittle you are now. Good condition with everyone able to score, not many breakdowns, but there were pillars and some them were placed in funny positions especially on 21+22 where you have to walk round it to get on the approach. There is also no divined playing area and I think as result you pick up a lot of dust and crap from the wood floors and it make the approaches quite fast, so make sure you have your wire brush. 7/10 Overall 37/70 - - The mark don't do this bowl total justice. Its a good centre and it promotes league bowling and tournament bowling. - more centres like this please
Romford Rollerbowl |
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written by thurlbs on January 23, 2010
Excellent!! Top bombing Bash!
written by Paul Crippen on January 23, 2010
Bowled there in the Nationals last year thought then that it was a very good centre got a seniors doubles there Feb 21st hope it keeps up the good work.By the way anyone who's won a tournament at Aylesbury has got to be a top bowler!!
written by coffindodger on January 24, 2010
well done the bash. perhaps in light of the seniors visiting many of these top notch bowls now, the decent thing to do is have the coffindoger added bites and a helpful bash type lowdown on how far we got to walk from the car park. if its nice and warm how far is the nearest pub with cheap dinners.
written by Bert on January 24, 2010
Good work Bash/R. Nice to see it back.
written by thurlbs on January 24, 2010
Haha!! Coffin dodger friendly centres! How much is the tea?, how close can I park?, how many steps are there between the front door and the lanes?, how close is the nearest bingohall? How about a vending machine with Sanatogen & Ralgex in it?!
Good work coffindodger!! Haha!
written by Coffindodger on January 24, 2010
Thurlbs... bang on the nail so to speak. these things are all to be taken into consideration. its tough being old. so tough I forgotr the all important price of tea. A massive talking point amonst the top players in the senior events. You knowe the stuff. to milky, never a full cup, cups instead of mugs.... lane conditions who cares!
written by Castro on January 26, 2010
Who cares.
It's still a SG4C's.
Bash/R i'll do the report for Nuneaton and the nationals.
Tip top.
written by Stuart Watson on January 27, 2010
did i really see three screws stuck outta lane 1 at the foul line holding the wood down
off putting i guess more that a hindrance but that is a first for me
great write-up bash!
written by wacky on February 18, 2010
re Maldon, reason there are no carpets is cos they are all in our nightclubs, there is a 'secret shithouse' in the entrance to the chinese restaurant (local knowledge & all that)
written by corneilius augustus webb on February 18, 2010
I'M SLIGHTLY WORRIED YOU ASKED FOR A GLASS OF WATER IN THE BOGS - WAS THAT TO WASH THE OLD MAN AGAIN ?
written by coffindodger on February 19, 2010
china cups woohoo must have a seniors event there for that alone. I do forsee a problem with the centre being all wood. yup you guessed it seniors will need pointing in the right direction. good to see that the 5th best site in the counttry is making the effort to move up the list...
written by Mr Q on February 20, 2010
I like the centre reviews....and I concur that I did indeed get my moneys worth at Maldon! I also concur that roller bowl staff are tip top .... can see why cocker frequents them regular!
written by Porridge on May 06, 2010
the bar is great for getting wasted! and i tried to create an atmosphere...clearly wasnt making enough noise, ill try harder next time!!