I'M bowled over that a sport I loved has returned to Leigh after a 30 year gap.

A Leigh Superbowl ten pin alley has opened at the former fire station and Shipley's bingo site in Windermere Road. And about time too.

Our previous alley near Leigh bridge, which opened in the Sixties, was a roaring success and a great meeting place for the town's teenagers, who if they couldn't afford the extortionate cost of the game at the time 3s 6d (17p) and 6p (2p) for shoe hire frequented the coffee bar and played the pin-ball machines and juke boxes. On only 10 bob (50p) a week pocket money playing was a costly hobby at the time.

I was fortunate in that later on I became the Alley Cat who collected and wrote up the results of matches, so many times I was lucky enough to have free games in working hours!

Many stars appearing at the Garrick at the time used to pop in, but just watching the skilful match players flatten the pins was an amazing experience.

This time round Leigh's new entertainment venue promises to show us the game as older fans have never seen it before with extreme bowling nights with top DJs and where players will glow in the dark.

For those who haven't set foot in a centre since the old one was skittled the scoring is now done by computer so there's no need to use the old brain box to work out the complicated scoring system.

I hope people will support the game now that it has made a welcome return, not only for me, but I am sure the thousands of us who loved the old Leigh alley and were sad to see it go to make way for a superstore.