Sunday in the Yorkshire Dales in November

On the Sunday we visited Mother again and then booked ourselves a visit to "The Forbidden Corner" which is not far from Leyburn. At this time of year all the usual visitor attractions are closed but this is the one thing that was available on Sundays in the closed season.  I had seen the local tourist signposts to "The Forbidden Corner" lots of times but on my usual day trips there had not been the time to make a visit.  Today my curiosity was satisfied but Nicholas and I both want to have another, longer visit to this quirky spot.  Part maze, part treasure hunt, part scary with over ground and underground puzzles plus lovely views over the deer park it is well worth a visit if you are in this area.    

"The Forbidden Corner is a unique labyrinth of tunnels, chambers, follies and surprises created in a four acre garden in the heart of Tupgill Park and the Yorkshire Dales. The temple of the underworld, the eye of the needle, a huge pyramid made of translucent glass, paths and passages that lead nowhere, extraordinary statues - at every turn there are decisions to make and tricks to avoid." is the description form the leaflet.




Three innocents on their way to the entrance......
























Michie checking map of puzzles to be found and solved.




Marisa not keen......




















Once inside it was fun to find the clues and solve the puzzles and Marisa began to enjoy running round to explore.

I got into the spirit of things too but fell into a water trap.  I had dashed ahead to read a notice thinking it would provide a further clue when a jet of water hit me.....naturally Nicholas fell about laughing and had to try to set off the spray withour getting wet.

When we decided to explore the dark underground part Marisa was much less keen 

The flash on my camera has lit up the darkness as in reality it is much more spooky.  In the darkness there are noises and voices and scary scenes but after Nicholas told Marisa to keep her eyes closed we got on a bit faster.

Here we have Michie outside next to the glass pyramid but we have lost Nicholas and Marisa at this point.  I think we must have chosen a different door, in the room with six possible exits in the underground castle, to the one that Nicholas and Marisa had taken and then I got us hopelessly lost.

By the time we all met up again we were getting very hungry so we went into the restaurant for lunch and Marisa acquired a sword in the shop.  Regretfully we decided not go back into puzzle area as we needed to make a start on our journey back home but here we have Marisa trying out her new sword against imaginary monsters............