To look at it from the outside Warrington’s LA Bowl isn’t overly impressive, in fact it looks like a unit on an industrial estate. This is perhaps due to the fact it is a unit on an industrial estate. Once you walk in the rather unassuming doors to main foyer it looks pretty much as it always has for as long as I can remember, a little run down, a bit cheap and tacky, but not enough to be off putting, adding character to the place.

Personally, I like LA Bowl more then the more up market bowling places
- It’s an excuse to let your hair down and have some real fun, everyone there was buzzing and it was really busy. We even bumped into a couple of friends out on a works night out, so clearly it’s the place to be this week. Adding to the atmosphere is the DJ who while totally unable to mix tracks was entertaining from a cheese point of view and played all the classic school disco type tracks.

By the time we got to our second game or there abouts it all gets even more exciting when with a countdown from the DJ signaling it’s time for Star Light Bowling! Okay, they just turn some lights off and add some UV lights, but it just adds to the craziness so when you’re there, it’s Ace.

Three games of bowling down – Of which I came second to last in each I think (I did get a couple of strikes towards the end, but each time only managed to hit one pin in the following throw) – we moved out to take full advantage of the other attractions on offer – Arcade games and dodgems! Shooting things on Time Crisis (I think) was fun, but the dodgems was perhaps the highlight of the night there was only four of us buzzing around so you got some real movement going on and could get some quality crashes happening.

Over all, for the start of a night out it was great fun, only cost £10 for three games, drinks were fairly reasonably priced though not anything to get excited about there and the dodgems was the best £2 I’ve spent this month.

Or so I thought.

As it turns out, on Sunday we spent all evening drinking in one the of the countries most unique venues, The Philharmonic Dining Rooms on Hope Street: Home to the UK’s only Grade Two Listed Gent’s Toilets (Apparently)

The BBC have even gone to the effort of putting together a panoramic view of the famous loos! Women are permitted to visit the gents as part of organized tours too, so clearly people are going out of their way to visit this place, and we just happened to end up there.

It’s not often you can pass off an evening of banter in the pub with friends as a cultural experience. It was also a really comfortable place to chill out, with a nice selection of Ales, didn’t seem overly pricey, and the sample of food (Potato Wedges with bacon and Cheese, and some onion rings) we had to peck at was tasty.

So all in all, well worth a visit if you happen to be in the area.