Not premier league, but it’s adequate for sure

Review of Axe Play, Gloucester, UK

If you’d never been to another axe throwing venue, Axe Play would provide a perfectly adequate introduction to the sport. Essentially it’s a karting place that has added axe throwing lanes. Nothing wrong with that per se, but they probably over sell it with “Gloucestershire’s premier indoor axe throwing centre” 🙂

We were led through the karting area by our host and entered into a large square room. There was a spectator area all along the back wall, behind the four single-target axe throwing lanes. The artificial lighting and wall vinyl image of trees across the back wall gave it quite an airy feel. The ceiling was pretty low though. Not much over 8ft I’d guess. Fine for good throwing, but not much margin for error.

It was pleasantly decorated, with artificial grass and vines, and wood panelling behind the scaffold and wire lane caging. There were also benches and coffee tables in the spectator area, which was probably big enough for about 20 to mill about. You can order in some refreshments (pizza, chicken nuggets, et al), which could be good for a party.

Our host was keen, but I wasn’t sure how good his throwing was (it may have been great, but we were the only ones there and he didn’t really offer us much coaching). He gave us a fleeting safety brief, demo’d a one handed throw and then left us to it. We were fine, but I’m not sure how beginners would have managed.

There was only one axe type, a standard DIY store kindling hatchet. Nothing special, but sufficient. The boards were ok for planks. They were a bit splintered around the bull, even before we started, but otherwise fine.

The target was a simple bespoke three ring affair painted on the boards. They provided paper and pens for scoring. We booked the 40 mins session, and had a good competitive session. 40 mins would probably be enough for most people on just one target. Given that it was priced about the same as many other places charge for an hour, it was on the expensive side for the UK, particularly as there were no frills.

If you want a multi activity challenge, there’s always the option to combine with karting or archery in the same building.

We were happy with just the axe throwing. There are better (and cheaper) places nearby, so I couldn’t see myself going back, but If there wasn’t, it’s good enough to chuck axes around for forty minutes.

Disclaimer: “The Axe Inspector” receives no payment or benefit of any kind from either TheAxeThrower.com or from the venue, for this review. The review is the subjective opinion of one person (albeit as objective as possible) and we encourage throwers to try out the venue to make their own mind up.