Areas And Sections Within The Maze
Strength (Pandora's Cave)
Many yards of maze represent strength, muscle, energy, fitness, power. Everything to do with bodybuilding, Hercules, Thor, record-breaking achievements, stamina, the impossible.
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At The Centre: The "Skep"
At the centre of the maze there stands a two storey building rather like an old fashioned skep bee-hive.
Around the outside runs a spiral corridor lined with pipes that act as wind-flutes. Breeze, wind and draughts catch the pipes and the notes produced vary according to the water levels and the paths taken. Siphons alter the water-levels in the pipes according to a pre-determined sequence.
Rain and overflow-drips strike taught drum skins, sheet metal and an assortment of glass plates to produce rhythm and percussion.
Strings tuned by adjustable weights vibrate against sounding boards.
Architectural Illusion
A three dimensional architectural illusion and puzzle stands adjacent to the "skep".
Floors appear to rise when they slope gently down, windows appear to look out to the East when they face South South-East, corridors appear to narrow when they widen.
Three floors tall with passages and spiral staircases that meander up, down and vanish into peculiar corners, the building is unforgettable.
Flumes
Inside the 'skep' are several dry flumes.
Guests surf the flumes by sitting inside a giant 'slipper'.
The base of the slipper is fitted with an array of neodymium magnets, the flume is fitted with electromagnets.
As the electromagnets are adjusted, the slipper swings and swerves along an invisible route. There are four styles to choose, Gentle, Brave, Wild and Extreme.
The sides and tops of the flumes are set with sequins, crystals and mirrors, light is reflected to create bright, dancing, ever changing patterns.
One of the flumes has words of encouragement and motivation.
Catacombs
Beneath the maze there is a second underground labyrinth of passages, some dripping with water, others old and dry.
Crypts with skulls and skeletons surprise the unwary, gratings cover 'bottomless' wells.
Lights flicker and go out.
Shadowy figures appear and vanish as shadows are cast against the crumbling stone, wood or plastered walls.
An exact replica of the walls above, many sections are closed off to reduce the chance of becoming completely lost.
The Gozian Egg
Underground, beneath the flume at the centre, there is a near-anechoic chamber. The walls are lined with colourful, richly patterned tufts of wool, silk and cotton.
In the middle of the chamber there stands an egg.
Within the shell's surface coloured liquids rise, flow and sink (like a 1970's disco oil-slide) to form constantly changing patterns.
The Lumisonic High Backed Healing Chair
Inside the egg a chair glitters with sequins.
The chair has a half-moon back that rises to form a scallop-shell canopy.
Behind the shoulder eight bells hover in hollows, suspended by magnets.
The chair is initially ice cold.
Where one's fingers naturally rest on the arm-rests, there is a hollow in which are four strings for each hand. When a string is plucked, a bell rings. Each bell plays a different note.
To either side of one's face there is a revolving stained-glass window. Light shines through from oil lamps set in mirror-backed housings each topped with an onion-twirl (like a Russian church).
After a few moments, as the chair warms from body-heat, a fine, high 'Pan-Pipe' note plays followed shortly by others. Water trickles and gurgles inside the chair, it flows and stops as chambers fill up. The musical notes change with the movement of the water. By plucking the strings a musical interaction is created.
click to see the original notes here
Dom Peardene
The maze is in the grounds of Dom Peardene "The Total Escape Park", a sprawling mansion-house with numerous corridors, passages, reception halls, dining areas and accommodation.
Seven Towers
Each part of the maze has a tower. Each tower is entirely unique.
(1) In the "Battlefield Trenches" the tower is a mix of castle, pill-box, gun battery and ruin. Embedded in the walls are "fossilised weapons" and the scars of war alongside tapestries and murals that celebrate victory and heroism but morn loss and betrayal.
(2) The "Whirlpool" tower has at its centre a deep well with water that rushes down from pipes in the rim. Windows have spirals of prisms that create optical illusions and light refractions. The walls are embedded with curios that are strange to touch and weird to look at.
(3) The "Mirrors" tower is built largely of glass blocks, many of which have embedded shapes and items. Lenses and mirrors allow one to see people in the furthest part of the tower provided one looks in exactly the right direction.
(4) The "Ages Of Life" tower has steps of different shapes and sizes, ascending from old stone to the most modern and light materials. The walls are patterned with many alcoves and shelves. Photographs of people are grouped according to similarity of shape regardless of heritage.
(5) The "Healers" tower has walls of different textures and materials. Tiny chambers serve as refuges to gaze down at the maze below surrounded by herbs, or flowers, or crystals, or whatever.
(6) The "Abyss" 'tower' is inverted, it descends down into the ground, far down, with three narrow, unlit tall passages. At the end is a rectangular chamber far from the crowds and bustle.
(7) The "Pandora's" tower is infuriating. Ladders open out into fresh air, stairs lead to masked figurines, rooms are made to appear larger or smaller than they really are. Ascent is via hatches and crooked, twisted narrow barely passable passageways.
- Dom Peardene -
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Children's "Paradise Garden": click here
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