Maize Mazes at Millets Farm Centre

Followers of this blog may remember that we went to Millets Farm for a Pick Your Own afternoon in June where we heard about the Maize Maze that was being grown.  Sous Chef J was delighted to be invited to try out their Alice in Wonderland themed maze today.  We left home in bright sunshine but as we approached Frilford, the cloud thickened and, by the time we arrived, rain was falling.  As this is pretty typical of a British summer's day, we grabbed our waterproofs and headed into the maze area.  In view of the activity required in maze navigation, the camera was my responsibility for the outing... Sous Chef J would be too busy!

Having had a quick briefing on the mazes from Helen and Hallane (there were three maize ones to choose from), Sous Chef J was keen to lead the way around the "Mad Hatters Tea Table".  

Here the aim was to find all the stamp points and add items to the tea table picture in the Maze Game Card.  


The stamps were easy to use although, in the rain, the card did become a little soggy. 




Having completed our mission in good time, Sous Chef J chose to head off to the Fortune Maze where much fun was had... and coloured fingers were then matched to a chart (there are 120 combinations).  This revealed Sous Chef J has a generous personality, which is very accurate.

Next, it was onto the Cat Call, which was based in a woody area, and was based on the Cheshire Cat.  On the Maze Game Card, you record each cat's face and answer a question. 

Then we moved swiftly onto the Jewel Rush which took place in a wooden fort style maze.  Every so often there were jewels to be found and recorded on the Maze Game Card... so that an answer was revealed after all clues had been spotted.

Finally, we made use of a dry spell in the weather to head into the Wonderland Maze.  Again Sous Chef J was leading the way... and he was ready to wave his flag in case we become seriously lost!




Luckily, we did not and, in fact, we easily found the snake maze and go-kart track (which is new for this year).

By this point, Sous Chef J was starting to slow down, so we headed off to the car for our Gluten Free picnic... although it was nicely supplemented with this lovely meringue provided by Millets Farm Shop.

After lunch we made use of our Pick Your Own voucher and went into the poly tunnels in search of strawberries.  Wow... what a lot of fruit there was still on the plants... the farm clearly has a great method of ensuring the fruit is pickable for the maximum length of time.

Finally, we headed into the shop and had a look to see what Gluten Free goodies they had.  There were quite a few to choose from which was a pleasant find!

We didn't check out the restaurant, play area, farm zoo, walks or garden centre on this visit but there is plenty to fill your time if you want a full day out. 

The Maize Maze entry is by way of a purchased wrist band and this is valid for the whole day - and to get value for money, we'd certainly recommend you make full use of the admission cost by visiting the whole site and popping back into the maize mazes more than once.  The mazes stretch over 10 acres so there is a lot of walking to do - wear sturdy shoes, the ground is uneven and, sadly, the site is not ideal for wheelchair users (although on drier days it should be passable with assistance) also dogs are not allowed.  

Now, what shall we do with these lovely strawberries?!