Our love affair with bowling

About Tenpin

At Tenpin, we are proud to be one of the largest ten pin bowling brands in the UK, offering a great day or night out for all. Ten Entertainment Group Plc, the parent company of Tenpin, was formed in 2017, but its owners have a long history in the sport which pre-dates this time. Tenpin Limited, which is a member of the Tenpin Bowling Proprietors Association, (TBPA) boasts no less than 53 ten pin bowling alleys across the UK, which, in total, offer more than 1,100 bowling lanes. We also introduced the UK’s first Hyperbowling experience in September 2019 in Edinburgh, to great fanfare, as part of a £500,000 refurbishment of the Fountain Park facility. The centre’s four Hyperbowling lanes were introduced to give customers a new way to bowl, particularly those who find it difficult to bowl straight, as the aim is to hit coloured lights on the bumper before striking the pins.

More than just a bowling alley

However, as you know, at Tenpin, we’re not just about 10-pin bowling. Our other activities include table tennis, air hockey, state-of-the-art arcades, karaoke, climbing walls, Houdini’s Escape Rooms, soft play and our Sector 7 laser tag arenas. We also have a great food and drink offering across our bowling alleys, including fully licensed bars, where you can also keep up to date with the latest from TNT and Sky Sports.

Diversifying into all of these different family-focused entertainment offerings has helped a visit to your local bowling alley remain as popular as ever. But where did the UK’s love affair with bowling all start?

Evidence of tenpin bowling in World War II

Sweden was the first country in Europe to offer a ten pin bowling experience in 1909, but the first evidence of the types of lanes we’re now used to seeing at bowling alleys in the UK came about during World War II. This is because they were introduced in US military bases in the UK, as the sport was extremely popular with Americans.

1950 onwards

At the end of the 1950s, two American manufacturers of tenpin machinery - AMF and Brunswick – realised they had essentially saturated the market for their products in America. So next, they decided to conquer the UK. In 1960, the first UK bowling alley opened in Stamford Hill. The Guardian recently republished an archive report of the news of its opening, where the sport was described as making “a great contribution to human happiness” and creating a “warm glow of euphoria” around “a streamlined, mechanised, modern version of the old English game of skittles”.

The governing body for the sport in the US, the American Bowling Congress (ABC) took an interest in the expansion into the UK market and helped British bowlers to set up their own governing body. In 1961, the British Tenpin Bowling Association was formed and the association’s first general secretary Maurice Glazer was eventually awarded an MBE for his services to the sport in the UK.

More than seventy years on, ten pin bowling still proves to be a great way to spend time with family and friends and enjoy a little bit of friendly competition.

Book your bowling alley experience at Tenpin today and see for yourself why it remains such a popular pastime.

History of Laser Tag

Adrenaline-fuelled Laser Tag sessions are still as popular today as they have ever been too.

Whether you’re playing on teams with friends, in an ‘every man for himself’ scenario or enjoying laser tag as part of a work night out or team building exercise, it’s a fun pastime and a great way to bring people together.

Our Sector 7 laser games offer our customers the ultimate gaming experience in an exciting laser arena.

Wearing a body pack and armed with a laser gun, combatants fight their way through swirling fog and the deep, dark landscape to attack their opponents.

But where did the UK’s love affair with laser tag all begin?

A more recent invention

It might sound fairly obvious to say, but laser tag is a much more recent invention than ten pin bowling, which evidence suggests early forms of the game date back more than 7000 years in Egypt, where rudimentary skittle-like toys were found buried with an Egyptian child.

Laser Tag has its roots in developments within US army training in the 1970s and 1980s. The technology now used in playing the game – the vests fitted with infrared transmitters - was used by soldiers training for battle.

In 1979, the first laser toy gun was marketed, with a Star Trek theme. This also incorporated infrared technology, consisting of lights and sensors, still used in laser tag arenas today.

Fast forward to 1984 and an inventor called George Carter III – inspired by a Star Wars movie he’d seen – opened the first laser tag centre in Dallas, Texas.

Laser Tag toys also became popular in 1986. These may have quickly declined in popularity, but it’s evident that laser tag arenas, which are continuously evolving to keep up with modern technology, are here to stay!

At Tenpin, our competitive and addictive Sector 7 Laser Tag arenas provide an incredible 4D experience.

Sector 7 Laser tag arenas can be found in the following Tenpin centres, where you can book your session today:

All our centres offer an experience your friends, family or colleagues will remember!

They are ideal for anyone looking for an adrenaline rush in a fully interactive area where you battle for the highest score!

It's time to talk tactics with your team and get ready to be immersed in fog and strobe lights. Put your vest on, grab your laser gun and get in the arena!

If you come to have your laser battles in the week, you can come as a team of up to 6 and play against other groups while you enjoy 30 minutes* of laser tag in the arena.

If you fancy the entire arena to yourself and want to come in a larger group, then use our weekend package*.

Book your Laser Tag or ten pin bowling experience today!

Book Now