£1 Bowling at Concordia Leisure Centre, Cramlington

Around once every 6 weeks or so, Concordia Leisure Centre in Cramlington will announce their fantastic £1 bowling offer. This ten pin bowling deal must be one of the cheapest family days out in the North East. The deal is not available all of the time (it's announced via Facebook when it is available) and the deals usually last for one week at a time from Monday/Tuesday-Friday 10am-6pm/7pm on selected dates. Keep an eye on the Concordia Facebook page here for announcements of when they are next running the deal, I will also post in my Uk Days Out Facebook Group if you'd like to join here.

£1 Bowling at Concordia - How To Book 

Once you've spotted the announcement on the Concordia Facebook page, you can call 01670 622200 to book. When the deal is running, bowling is £1 per person per game during the times specified (normally Mon-Fri of the deal week from 10am-7pm). Full payment will be taken at the time of booking over the phone. Up to 6 people can play per lane and the price includes shoe hire. Alternatively, you can pop into Concordia and book at the Strike Bowling Reception upstairs. I'd try and book as soon as you spot the deal announcement as the £1 slots fill up really quickly and are super popular.

£1 Bowling at Concordia - What's It Like? 

We tried this deal for the first time in May and I was really impressed. The bowling alley feels modern and there were plenty of balls to choose from - more than any other bowling alley I've tried in fact. The lanes were super easy to set up and I liked that you could choose for certain players to have the bumpers up and others to have the bumpers down and it was all automatically taken care of. You can even change your mind and sometimes have the bumpers up/sometimes have them down halfway through the game. Like most Ten Pin Bowling, you get 10 rounds each. The staff were lovely and friendly and the music was good (modern pop songs you could sing along to).

The kids loved the selfie function the bowling computer screens had too. Each player takes three selfies with the in-built camera and your faces are put up on the big screen next to your name. Between rounds, your selfies are made into little animations which really cracked us up - especially the one where Jack was a pirate and grandma turned into his parrot. Sometimes I find the kids getting a little bored during games if there are a few players but these little animations really kept their interest and were a really nice addition. The computer had lots of other functions too including the ability to link up to your Facebook account and in-depth player analysis and stats.

There are bowling frames on each alley for younger children/those unable to lift a ball and a wheelchair user was in the lane next to us and seemed to have no issues with accessibility (there's also a lift up to the first floor).

£1 Bowling at Concordia - Food & Drink 

Strike Bowling at Concordia has its own bar and cafe. On the day of our visit, the cafe stopped serving food at 5pm so if you'd like something to eat, I'd double check that day's closing times. You can take your drink to the bowling alley or enjoy in the bar area afterwards. Drinks prices are reasonable. Here's a snapshot (correct May 2019):

• Glass of wine £3.50 
• Bottle of wine £12 
• Spirits and mixer £2.50 
• Slush £2 
• Pint of Carling £3 
• Pint of Cider £3.50 
• Pint of Guiness £3.50 
• Fizzy Pop £1.80 
• Cordial £1.30 
• Kids Cup Drink 50p 
• Simply Fruit £1 

Food prices are very reasonable too with kids meals being £3.95, Pizzas available from £3.50, toasties £3.50 and jacket potatoes £4. Burgers, Hot Dogs and Salads are available too.

£1 Bowling at Concordia - What Else Is There To Do? 

There's a pool table, table football and air hockey between the bar and bowling alley available for a small charge. There's also plenty of seating to enjoy a drink before or after your game. 

In Concordia itself, there's also a swimming pool, soft play area, library and climbing walls. We always like to team a game of bowling up with a trip to McDonald's next door (this particular McDonald's also has a soft play area). There are plenty of restaurants in Manor Walks and a Vue Cinema (£4.99 per ticket at all times) and Seven Oaks Park across the road is lovely too. You can read more about what there is to do with kids in Cramlington here. 

Remember to keep an eye on the Concordia Facebook Page for an announcement of the next dates this deal is valid - it's not available all of the time and only available during selected periods. I'll post details in my UK Days Out Facebook group when I spot them.

For £5 for the 5 of us to bowl and £6 for three slushes for the kids, we had a brilliant night out for £11 and I'd highly recommend as an after school treat. Our game lasted around 45 minutes with 5 people playing (and selfie time).

If you'd like to bowl without taking advantage of this deal, you can book online here (you can't currently book online for the £1 deal). 

Let me know if you've tried this deal or if you fancy it!