Hidden away on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Bolton is a restaurant with a difference.
Alongside an American-inspired smokehouse barbecue menu, Real Axe offers its customers the opportunity to chuck axes at a wooden target.
After opening at the back end of 2019, the business grew throughout lockdown due to social media and the reputation it gained for its takeout food.
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The spacious venue now hosts the likes of Frog and Bucket comedy nights, live music and club events, and has even applied for an extended licence to stay open until 2.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Despite branching out, its main selling point remains the quirky activity of axe throwing, so I went down on a Saturday evening to try my hand.
Instructor Ben briefly showed me the ropes of where to stand, the correct throwing technique and how not to injure anybody before letting me have a go for myself.
It has to be said that he made getting your axes to stick in the centre of the target look considerably easier than it actually proved to be.
It took me a good five minutes of solid throwing to get my first axe to stick, with a number of them bouncing off, missing completely or teasing me by falling off the target at the last minute.
I was part of a group of six, with four of those being complete strangers to me.
Despite this, Ben made sure that the ice was broken by pairing us all up as part of a mini competition.
Despite my less than stellar rate of actually getting the axes to successfully lodge themselves in the board, I managed to get the first bullseye of the night.
To add an extra bit of fanfare to proceedings, Ben rang the bell on the alley we were on.
At the end of the first round, first and second place faced off in the semi-final, along with those in third and fourth.
I came second but beat the leader to progress to the final.
Embarrassingly, in the final, none of the five axes that I threw hit the target. I must have used all my luck up in the previous round.
It was then time for food - and the smokehouse barbecue menu made my mouth water after building up one hell of an appetite with the axe-throwing.
I opted for the 'BBQ feast for 2' - wings, ribs, chopped brisket, pulled pork, a cheese and jalapeno sausage, burger buns, fries, slaw, pickles and pit beans - costing £32 or £16 each if you decide to split it.
After being told that the restaurant's pitmaster worked in the States for five years, I suddenly became even hungrier for the smorgasbord of food that I'd ordered.
Around 20 minutes after taking my seat at the table, it arrived, and my goodness, the smell was absolutely incredible.
The highlight had to be the ribs with the tender, saucy meat just falling off the bone - but having mountains of pulled pork and brisket, along with buns to make burgers, was also much appreciated.
The wings were huge, the fries were well seasoned and the pit beans were deliciously smoky.
Although the menu is dominated by meat, plant-based options do appear, with the likes of a Beyond burger and vegan hot dogs.
There are also a range of cocktails, as well as beers and soft drinks.
Axe throwing costs £24 per person in peak hours and £18 per person during off-peak times.
A whole lane (for eight people) can also be booked at peak times for £180 or £135 during off-peak.
For more details and to book, visit the Real Axe website.
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