Any bowling buff will tell you that there are two types of bowling in this country. Ten-pin bowling, the ghastly Americanized import, is by far the most popular among Londoners and the generally disrespectful Youth Of Today. Crown Green Bowling is a far more serene, (elderly) gentlemanly pursuit complete with its own rules and rituals.
London’s ten pin bowlers are spoiled rotten. As it’s now a trendy pastime shot through with irony, there are plenty of old, large basements converted into pristine bowling alleys designed to look retro. There’s no chavs in tracksuits on speed around here: the All Star Lanes franchises (Map 4, 30, 91) are heaving with immaculately dressed trendos and hen/stag nights drunkenly bowling and singing in the karaoke booths. However, at a peak rate of £8.95 per person per game (your average game is a mere 10 minutes) and an off-peak rate of a laughably similar £6.95 per game, you’ll have to access whether it’s worth blowing the rent money on one night of fun. Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes (Map 4) does the American chic thing a bit better and its lanes are £39 an hour, which works out cheaper in a group. They also host cool gigs and DJs occasionally.
For families and the penniless, London has plenty of more ‘traditional’ British bowling lanes. By this, of course, we mean cavernous warehouses with pumping chart music, scary underage drinkers and sticky air hockey tables. Try the classic Rowans (Map 62) which at its priciest is a mere £5.20 per person per game or Queens Ice & Bowl (Map 30) which has also has an ice rink to cool off those skittle blues.
And what of Green Bowling? Well, being an outdoor pursuit in Britain, it’s safe to say it is primarily a summer affair. When the sun is out you’ll find bowling greens in all the major parks; Hyde Park offers lanes for £7.50 an hour.
After suffering at the hands of boho and cheapo ten-pin bowling facilities you may find that there can be no better way to waste an afternoon than to sit around a bowling green in Finsbury Park with a beer in hand, laughing at your idiot friends’ attempts to hit the ‘jack.’ Maybe those elderly gentlemen are on to something…