Visitors will be Bowled over by garden centre's new £8m leisure complex

An exciting new £8 million leisure complex on the outskirts of Preston is now in full bloom.
Guy Topping, owner of The Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.Guy Topping, owner of The Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.
Guy Topping, owner of The Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.

Barton Grange’s Flower Bowl, offering a host of attractions - including a curling rink, ten pin bowling alley, crazy golf course and cinema - has opened to the public.

Some 250,000 people annually are expected to visit the attraction at the Brock garden centre on the A6 near Garstang

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Guy Topping, who is managing director of Barton Grange Garden Centre and project manager of the Flower Bowl, said: “It’s been hectic, really busy, we’re very happy with it.”

Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.
Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.

He added: “We’ve been working on the plan for about six years.

“We just wanted to add some leisure to the garden centre that will appeal to our core garden centre customers, so we came up with the mix we have.”

He said “probably a quarter of a million visitors a year” are expected through the doors.

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“We’ve been pleased with the way it’s been received. We’ve had some great feedback,” he said.

Curling rink at The Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.Curling rink at The Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.
Curling rink at The Flower Bowl, a new entertainment centre has opened with a curing rink, ten pin bowling, three-screen cinema, indoor crazy golf and other attractions at Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston.

It is envisaged that the large, single-storey building, which has an undulating grass roof to give a natural appearance, will have sheep grazing on top of it.

The roof will have perimeter fencing so that the sheep don’t fall off!

There will also be access via a staircase on the rear of the building for the sheep to use when the weather turns or they just want to come down into the sheltered pen at the back of the site.

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It also hosts only the second purpose-built curling rink in England.

It has four ice sheets, to be used by club curlers, social curlers and hopefully school groups, with the potential to become a centre of excellence.

In addition the complex features a cinema with three screens, showing a variety of classic films, recent releases and live events.

Ten pin bowling, with eight bowling lanes, two of which are in a private room, can be booked for parties.

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There are also two golf simulators which use the latest technology to offer the virtual experience of playing some of the best golf courses around the world, plus a crazy golf course with some unique challenges.

The Flower Bowl, which is creating more than 80 jobs, is open seven days a week, from 9.30am to 10.30pm.