Wistow Maze 2015

With me on maternity leave and Luke working from home, we’ve spent a lot of time cooped up at home lately. Consequently, I’ve been getting a bit fed up and desperate to get out of the house. This weekend we promised ourselves a day out so, having spent all of Saturday doing the house and garden, our reward was a lovely day out on Sunday. A walk in the fresh air was just what I needed!

We decided to head to Wistow rural centre and maze. I used to live in Leicester and I had visited before in winter, but as it was summer there was the added bonus of the rather spectacular maze to navigate.

The maze is open July-September (after which it’s cut down for animal feed) and covers 8 acres. Each year it has a different design, this year it’s a sporting theme.

We paid (£6.50 for adults, £5.50 for children, under 2s free) and bought a bottle of water, just in case we got horribly lost, before heading over to the maze. The entrance fee also gives access to the ‘Activity Funyard’ outside the entrance of the maze. Here there are loads of puzzles and activities for children, and a few handily placed benches for the less energetic members of the family.

With our handy map and quiz sheet to hand, we set off on the 3 miles of paths to find the 12 question boards hidden in the maze.

Unlike most of our walks, Luke took control of navigation and we soon got our bearings.

Once you had found and answered all of the questions, it was then time to cross the bridge (there is also pushchair and wheelchair access) and head to the middle of the maze.

Here there are picnic benches if you need a rest, plus a quick exit if you need to escape. Helpfully you get your hand stamped so can come in and out as many times as necessary. (I rather ruefully remembered the last time I got my hand stamped was to get into a club). Here there is also the key needed to decipher your answers and find the missing word. Once this is completed you can fill in your quiz sheet and post in the competition box (fingers crossed!) The quiz is more aimed at children, but while we wait for baby to grow up and be able to join in, we had just as much fun doing it as the kids running around.

After successfully finding our way out, we walked over the road to the rural centre. Here there are some lovely shops, a café, toilets and a very useful baby change. We had a mooch around the garden centre and deli/farm shop before heading home to a roast dinner.

All in all, a perfect Sunday and just the tonic I needed.