London darts bar craze targets Kettering ten pin bowling alley with new games tech
and live on Freeview channel 276
Major refurbishment of a popular Kettering leisure destination by a town company has brought a London darts bar craze to the town.
Thunderbowl in Rockingham Road has partnered with Bowling Vision on a major refurbishment to offer the latest in ‘competitive socialising’.
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Hide AdAs well as pirate-themed bowling alleys complete with new screens and pin machines, automation has been introduced to the humble darts game.
With competitive games all the rage, reinvestment in the Kettering-supplied equipment has been drawing in the players.
Co-owner Clair Rowland said: “We have reinvested over the years adding various activities to the site and upgrading equipment in the centre.
"The darts are a great addition enabling all age groups to come together and spend quality time together with even more to do at the site.”
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Hide AdClair and Martin Rowland have been running Thunderbowl since 2005.
Working with local bowling distributor, Bowling Vision, they’ve replaced all their bowling alley machinery with latest pinsetters and in a new, cutting-edge scoring system with games options operated with new touchscreens.
Jack Trend, owner of Bowling Vision, has been working with Thunderbowl to supply and install the new energy efficient, high-tech systems.
He said: “It’s been very well received. The people of Kettering can try out the new darts craze.
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Hide Ad"People are choosing experiences now and this place is fantastic because it’s got it all – darts, an arcade, crazy golf, escape rooms and bowling.”
The interactive darts is a ‘teched-up’ version of the traditional pub game.
Players can compete in darts-based games with a smart board automatically detecting where the dart lands and feeding the scoring information through to the large TV screen.
Jack added: “Business is going really well for us and since the pandemic there’s been a lot of pent up demand for social activities.
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Hide Ad"In the 1980s there was a time when for 14 years there were no new bowling alleys being built, now there’s a competitive socialising centre being opened at the rate of one a week whether that’s bowling, golf escape rooms, axe throwing or a darts bar.
"There’s something for everyone from the age of three to 93.”