Ever since I first dabbled into the world of Crazy Golf at Alton Towers, I have been hooked. There…read moreis just something about a group of adults with miniature putters and different coloured plastic balls walking around on fake grass that both amuses and entertains me greatly. When putting together a Weekly Yelp on fun things to do in the city, I spotted Mohamade A's review of this place and bookmarked it for something new to do on a Sunday. After a mad Friday night and busy Saturday, I just wanted to get out of house and do something fun (but not too intensive). Mini golf seemed to be the perfect low energy, silly activity for me and Dan to enjoy. First thing to note, Star City can be accessed by bus but offers plentiful free parking if you plan on driving. I haven't been here in a few years and was surprised to see quite a few newer businesses here (including at least a couple of independents). Adventure Island is at the front of the building and easy to spot with it's clear signage. As we had to get to the supermarket before it closed (ROCK'N'ROLL), we opted to do 18 holes instead of the full course. There are two different courses to choose from and you can do one for £6.45, the full 36 for £10.95 or there are combo deals for bowling and lazer tag as well. We decided on the "Lost Hut Trail" and off we went! Thus proceeded 45 minutes of frustration, fun and giggles around the course. In retrospect, we wish we had done both or opted for the "Hidden Cove" course (which boasts a volcano in the middle), but we will be back to try this at some point. It's of note that the venue has a bar (for golf/beer times) and does a 2-4-1 offer on a Wednesday. It would make a fun place for a date or a birthday party. Yeah, it's not high brow entertainment... but if you want to challenge someone to a duel - there are worse ways than with a miniture putter and a brightly coloured plastic ball. Recommended.

Since we always go bowling when in star city, we decided to try something else. We had amazing time…read morehere withgroup of friends. We thought it was going to be empty since it didn't look like anyone was going in or out by the entrance. We were suprised it was full of people. From couples to families. So many different crazy courses to keep you entertained and competitive till the end.

I went to watch the F1 movie I'm a huge fan of F1 and I took my niece with me who also loves F1 the…read moreperson who directs you were to go sent us to the wrong cinema we were already few minutes late and the movie was playing we assumed it had started so we sat down and watched not realising that we had been sent to the wrong movie and it was half way through already . This ruined the movie for me as we only realised at the end we were sent to the wrong one .

Affectionately referred to by some as 'Stab City' (doesn't take a wild imagination to guess why)…read morethis is a kind of a shell of an entertainment venue. Yes, the Vue cinema is fine and has loads of screens - so whilst it gets busy you can normally see whichever film you want without feeling rammed into the last seats. The restaurants are all chains - and very bland ones at that. There used to be a fairly decent Mexican, but even that has now gone and been replaced by a KFC/Nandos/McDs/delete as appropriate. There's a casino, but I have no interest in that, and there's a bowling alley / amusement arcade which is always rammed with tweens. When it was first built, there was a climbing centre spanning the interior dome of the atrium, and they installed a dry ice slope to sledge down alongside the escalators.. there was also shops to keep people entertained, but slowly and surely these have all closed down. Now it's just a large vacuous space with chain restaurants, a chain cinema, and a gaudy casino skirting the edges. I go to Star City on the very rare occurrence they're showing a film I want to see that isn't on elsewhere, or if I manage to score free tickets via showfilmfirst or a similar offer. Otherwise, there's nothing for me in the entire 'entertainment' establishment.

Wyndley Leisure Centre is a fabulous facility in the heart of Sutton Coldfield. The centre is very…read morewell equipped and with a diary full the latest in fitness and leisure activities. A bit a history for you; Wyndley was opened in 1970 and is the largest leisure centre of its kind in the Birmingham area, it has been developed over the years and boasts a list of facilities second to none including: A heated main swimming pool, 25m deep for diving practise, 1, 3 and 5 metre diving boards. There's also separate shallow teaching pool. There's a 400m Athletic Track with eight lanes available for casual use each day from 9.00am. There are five pitches for a game of 5-a-side. In the sports hall there are squash and badminton courts £6.45 for 40 minutes, which I think is a little expensive, there's a dance studio and of course, a well equipped gym. A Creche welcomes children aged 5 and under. There's a large car park, at the barrier you will asked to take a ticket but this can be redeemed at the reception after your visit so parking is secure and free. My advice is to book courts early on-line or over the telephone to avoid disappointment as they get very busy. All round very well run leisure centre, well done Birmingham City Council.

Since Serco has taken over there is a noticeable drop in the hygiene levels. The ladies changing…read morerooms, both the swimming pool and gym area, are filthy. The toilets in both areas are filthy and not cleaned throughout the day considering the long hours they are opened. The floor in the changing area of the swimming pool is covered in hair and I once came across faeces on the cubicle wall. Coming from the showers one has to navigate the dirty, muddy hair ridden floor - There is mud prints and hair all over the floor. The cubicles are filthy. An area of the floor in the locker area of the swimming pool is sunken, so dirty stagnant water collects and remains until the end of the day normally around 9pm when it is hosed down by a Life Guard. There appears to be no cleaners - The sanitary conditions are appalling. Before Serco took over these areas were cleaned.

As a keen swimmer, I've always longed for somewhere that allows me to have a swimming only…read moremembership and access to a steam room, and yet I've never found anywhere that offers this. Personally, I'm not interested in using the gym; sweaty, horrible places full of grunting, depressed looking people, rather like 80's rock clubs (at least until the Jack Daniels kicked in). Anyway, I digress... Undeterred in my pursuit of a swimming only membership and determined that my days of being a human apple in a life size game of apple bobbing, which is how it feels to use the local council pool when half of Birmingham has the same idea, I managed to find a local venue that offered just what I wanted. North Solihull Sports Centre is part of Parkwood Leisure, and they offer something called Swim 23. Simply put, for £23 a month, you can use the huge pool (so huge you need hawk like eyesight to see the far end), the steam room, sauna and (drum roll please) Jacuzzi. Well, I was impressed, and went along just over a week ago to take a cheeky look and see if it was for me. Okay, I knew it was (they had me at steam room) but it's good to play a little bit hard to get! I went for the first time on Monday, and really enjoyed it. Okay, it's not a spa. The changing rooms are unisex but the showers are in cubicles, and they have plenty of them. The steam room whilst small and deliciously hot, the Jacuzzi the same, and just because I was like a kid in a brand new sweet shop, I ventures into the sauna too. With friendly staff and decent enough facilities for a very affordable price, I am delighted with my new membership! They also have a gym, and run lots of different classes. There's plenty of parking, oh, and a cafe (which I've yet to explore). It's a decent place with good facilities, and affordable memberships.

Visited this centre about a year back…read more. Chemsley Wood in general is a deprived area of Solihull (that's not be snobby) in parts but for the facility and the customers that go in there are generally friendly. For the pool I will say it probably has one of the best up to date pools in Birmingham and Solihull. The gym is big saw it but never used it, the site is run by Parkwood Leisure which also run Tudor Grange Leisure Centre which is a bigger facility. I like the pool, I don't know how much it accommodate for lane swimming so best to check with the site yourself, one thing you need to be aware is their deep end is very deep like 3.0m. and the deep end is in the middle of the pool which I find quite strange. I once had a go trying to get to the bottom of their pool I managed it but i ended up coming back up in the lane area haha. Must of travelled far. It looks like since Parkwood took over it has been refurbished a lot, so it is very nice, it has a big sports hall which i assume is popular with badminton etc. Their memberships don't come cheap its like £39 a month I was a member once at tudor grange where i'm paying £10 less than that with Birmingham Community Leisure Trust and some of their sites have big gyms as big as this one, so Parkwood maybe want to work on their pricing strategy. Also within the Solihull area their ain't enough public pool as there are 2... Tudor Grange and this one, plus a load of private ones at probably silly prices, so maybe Parkwood and Solihull Council want to look at building atleast 2 more around the Solihull area maybe in Marston Green and maybe one in the posher areas so they ain't enough in my opinion.