An upmarket and charismatic establishment, the Ham Yard Hotel has a traditional wooden ten pin bowling alley in its basement. It costs £20 an hour for adults and £10 an hour for kids to use one of the four lanes, which are complete with electronic scoring monitors that flash up garish cartoons and images when you hit a strike, spare or split. Although the alley can suffer a few technical glitches, the friendly and numerous staff will often allow you a bit of extra time. Drinks are pricey at £6 for a beer and £9 for a glass of wine, but the Ham Yard Hotel is both more intimate and smarter than your average ten pin bowling centre. For some strange reason, you can only book one week ahead. 8/10
