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Camping, caravans, motorhomes and getting out and about in Dorset

The Maize Maze

Attraction:

The Great Dorset Maize Maze

 

ADDRESS:

Rodden Farm

Rodden

Weymouth

Dorset

DT3 4JE

 

Tel: 01305 871281

 

E-mail: paul@greatdorsetmaizemaze.co.uk

 

Web: www.greatdorsetmaizemaze.co.uk

 

Attraction Type (summertime only): School holiday fun in the sun.  Perfect antidote to classroom fatigue!  Burn calories and boost your IQ!

For rustic farmyard fun in the sun, the Great Dorset Maize Maze cannot be beaten.  This is a calorie-burning IQ-boosting family day out that kids love.

 

The focal point of the attraction is a great labyrinth cut in a maize field in one of the most beautiful parts of rural Dorset - hence the name Great Dorset Maize Maze!

 

The whole thing is literally and metaphorically just made for the school holidays and lets kids do things they wouldn’t normally be allowed to, like wander through fields of crops and messing about in farm buildings.

 

The maze itself changes every year, as it must because each autumn the maize crop is harvested and made into animal feed.  This also means that every year a new challenge emerges from the soils of Rodden Farm to test the navigational skills of even the most intrepid maze explorer.  

 

Sat Nav won’t get you out of this one!

 

Listen to the safety briefing before you go into the maze and don’t forget to take a flag.  And if you are in a group, don’t split up!  You might think that any fool can find their way around a field in Dorset.  If you do, it will probably be your downfall!

 

Wandering around a mile or so of interlinking paths cut through maize that’s well-above head height is quite disorienting.  Which is bad enough if all you want to do is get out, but when you’re trying to find clues that will lead you to your ultimate prize, it can be mind-bending!

 

The Maize Maze is not a five-minute scamper through the corn.  It takes time.  It is true that some years it takes more time than others, but do not expect to waltz into the maize and waltz straight out again.  You could be in the maze itself for an hour or more and it can be hot...so either take water with you or make use of the refreshment hut in the middle of the maze, assuming you can find it!

 

If you do get lost - and many do - raise you flag in the air and wave it.  One of the Maze Masters will come to your aid.

 

The main thing is, the Maize Maze is lots of fun and good exercise too.  You will rapidly find that the common quest to find all the clues and decode their meaning is infectious and absorbs everyone young and not so!

 

Every now and then you’ll find yourself emerging from the jungle of green onto an overhead walkway.  These are great for several reasons.  First they allow much needed reorientation.  Secondly they provide a great view of the surrounding countryside and the maize crop (although not the maze labyrinth).   Thirdly because they allow you to watch the endless procession of coloured flags moving backwards and forwards through the green foliage desperately trying to find clues you’ve already ticked-off or hinting deliciously at those you’ve yet to find!!!

 

In short the Great Dorset Maize Maze does what it says on the tin, but it also does a whole lot more.

 

Once you’ve done the maze, or before you go in, there is a host of other puzzles and activities to indulge in and enjoy, from table top games, a pets corner/animal farm, bouncy slide and lots of smaller mazes.  There are also pedal-cars, large and small, and a variety of indoor activities if the weather isn’t perfect.

 

Do not expect polished perfection, this is, for the rest of the year a working farm.  But then how many kids do you know who are interested in polish?

 

Rodden Farm is the sort of place where kids can play and have fun because there’s no electronic wizardry to distract them.  They are left to play by exploring and using what’s around them and what’s around them is a lot.  And with one or two exceptions everything is included in the entry fee.

 

You can even buy a family season ticket, which means “locals” use the attraction a lot.  One reason may be that what’s on offer here appeals to children and childhood across generations.  Imagine the best bits of every fete and fair you’ve ever been to all rolled into one and make it available every day!  Then add the most fun you ever had messing around in your friend’s Dad’s garage (aren’t they always bigger) and make it 100 times larger.  It’s almost as if someone has made a list of the best bits of childhood and stuck them all together.

 

This isn’t Thorpe Park or Alton Towers.  There are no roller-coasters or white-knuckle rides.  This is serious messing about, grubby-kneed fun!  The sort of thing that was once every child’s right.  It’s “Stig of the Dump” meets “The Famous Five”.

 

Parents and Grandparents love watching their kids enjoying the same active and simple childhood pleasures and excitement they enjoyed themselves.  The lay out of the park helps them to do this.  The huge enclosed play area slopes away gently from the coffee shop and refreshments area, allowing Mums and Dads to enjoy a good coffee or an excellent pork and apple roll whilst still having a good view of whatever mayhem their brood may be up to!

 

Go for an hour or two and stay all day.  Take a picnic or use the delicious outdoor catering.  The kids will love you for it and you can almost guarantee that they won’t want to leave.  When they do they’ll sleep like logs, whatever their age.

 

Beautiful countryside, fresh air and energetic fun in the sun.  It’s what school holidays were made for!

 

Oh, and by the way, the answer to this year’s code is.............<PAGE ERROR>