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What an a-maze-ing idea

Katherine Vine
4/ 7/2008

WANNABE Indiana Joneses can enjoy their own a-maze-ing adventure this summer thanks to an attraction inspired by the big-screen return of the cult hero.

Altrincham’s Redhouse Farm is gearing up to the opening of a maze made entirely out of… maize.

The farm attraction, which has been growing since 2001, will be open to the public from Saturday, July 12 until Saturday September 7.

Covering six acres, roughly the size of six football pitches, it was the brainchild of Jonathan Hewitt, who started working at the farm in 2001, and whose official job title there is director of fun and chaos!

This year Jonathan laid out the maze like an Aztec pyramid in honour of the new Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom the Crystal Skull.

In the movie Indy has to solve puzzles and follow clues that lead him to a huge Aztec temple inside a pyramid.

The Dr Jones-themed maze contains separate clues for adults and children leading to items inside the maze, and prizes for those who succeed.

Each year the maze is based on a different subject. In its first year, 2002, it took the shape of the Manchester Commonwealth Games’ logo.

Jonathan said: "It was a wonderful start, and we had around 17,000 visitors that year."

Of the maze’s origins, Jonathan says: "A few of my friends around the country had similar businesses, and I knew someone who had been doing it for about three years.

"I went to see it, saw how successful it had been, and decided this was something we could bring to Manchester – we are currently the only maize maze in Greater Manchester."

The maize is planted in May, and a few weeks later the design is marked out. Jonathan said: "We actually send the design to some building surveyors, who lay it out using a GPS system.

"It is a bit like a giant dot to dot, really, – we use canes to make it out and can have up to 1,400 canes. Then we start hoeing down the maize to form the pathways while it is still nice and low.

"It is a really nice process – it’s my therapy!"

Other activities available this summer at Redhouse Farm, on Redhouse Lane, Dunham Massey, include a barrel train, pedal carts, a straw mountain, mini tractors and mini diggers for children and adults alike to ride.

On Sunday, August 24 the farm will hold a fundraising day in aid of Harry and Jock’s Appeal, which supports families of poorly and terminally ill children at Wythenshawe Hospital.