London darts bar craze targets Kettering ten pin bowling alley with new games tech

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’.

As 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.”

Clair 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.

"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.

"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.”