In its heyday Canaston Bowl, an indoor off-shoot of Oakwood Theme Park, was a thriving bowling alley and home to the popular Crystal Maze game - but now what has been dubbed a prominent Pembrokeshire ‘blot on the landscape,’ is virtually no more as demolition works reach their conclusion.

A generation of Pembrokeshire people will remember the attraction near Narberth as a venue for birthday parties and school trips.

But the building, owned by Oakwood Theme Park, fell into a state of disrepair since closing at the end of 2011, with peeling paint work, overgrown bushes and a pot-holed car park.

Since then, the local eyesore has attracted a new breed of visitors, urban explorers keen to seek adventure and create nostalgia by entering the former tourist attraction.

Plant machinery moved on site in early February after a demolition notice was received by Pembrokeshire county Council, and works, by Merthyr Salvage Ltd have been continuing throughout the month.

One of those who has fond memories of the ‘bowl is Dyfed Shire Horse Farm spokesperson, and former Cardigan town mayor, Mark Cole, who used to live just a stone’s throw away at nearby Hungerford Farm.

“For those of an era and of a locale, this was home to the old Cross Hands pub and club where my father would attend dances and country and western evenings with many from near and far over many years, long before my memory took hold,” said Mark.

“In my era, it was Canaston Bowl. It was CC2000. It was of course, The Crystal Maze.”

Mark, who daily caught the school bus next to the site, has many happy memories of playing slot machines, celebrating birthdays, and playing 10-pin bowling at the local landmark before its dereliction.

“The last decade has seen it fall into awful, decrepit decay,” continued Mark.

“A blot on the landscape at a key junction that forms the main entrance way to the villages of Martletwy and Landshipping – the hinterland of my Cole ancestors and where I went to Sunday School.

“It was probably only right in the end that it came to this because the ghastly sight there on the crossroads opposite the turning towards Templeton, truly was a disgrace.”

As Mark pondered the pictures taken of the site by his cousin Patrick Jones, a former prospective Liberal-Democrat MP for the county, he wonders what will replace the ‘bowl.

“The past is a foreign land. The future, a story yet to be navigated,” he said.

“Goodbye ‘Canastan Bowl’, ‘CC2000’, ‘The Crystal Maze’ – you will always have a very dear place in my old Pembrokeshire heart.”

Local county councillor, Di Clements, has previously said she was pleased works were taking place.

“It’s been sad to see it left and deteriorate over the years, but I am glad that Oakwood is finally taking action,” she remarked.

“It is something that I have continually raised with the management and am keen to see the site put to better use, or at least tidied up.”

Currently no plans have been submitted for future use of the bowling alley site, but Cllr Clements said she hopes the site might be considered for affordable housing, although the area is not in the local development plan.

Oakwood manager Phil Verbinnin has declined to comment.