Quixotic: In which Demi goes where it is forbidden...

A few weeks ago, in a final bid to take advantage of the "summer" weather (really, UK, it was atrocious this year. Get your act together!), I took a trip up the A1 to a wacky and brilliantly British tourist attraction called 'The Forbidden Corner'. Anywhere that describes itself as 'The Strangest Place In The World!' is worth a visit, in my eyes.

The place is the brainchild of a man who clearly had too much money, and decided to build a folly in his grounds - a project which stretched over years, and became more and more adventurous and, well, bizarre. There's the more typical mazes, herb gardens and castle-like structures to explore. But there's also a Roman temple which leads to hell, a tunnel that narrows so gradually that you wonder how you can no longer fit though the other end (unless, like me, you force yourself through and bang your head) and all sorts of strange things sticking out of walls.

Additionally, I almost deafened several people when I climbed the stairs, squeezed between the legs to peer through the window... only to discover it was a mirror, and scare the living daylights out of myself (and others, from the sudden noise)

It's all very Alice in Wonderland. What we found most crazy was the lack of a coherent map. When we handed over our tickets and were given our 'map' in return, we figured it would be a pretty straight-forward route.

Oh no.

Instead, the 'map' is filled with pictures of all the many, many weird and wonderful features scattered throughout the acres of land - but with no route. Some are hidden, some are easy to find. But there are dozens of them! And even worse, there is very little indication of the area around the features, as the pictures are so tightly cropped and overlaid, so you can't even track them down logically using your environment. Bewildered, we struck out into the forest, where we laughed, shrieked (well, I did anyway) and on several occasions got soaked by hidden spurts of water (again, mostly me) as we attempted to track everything down.

We failed, unfortunately, even after hours spent there. Every time we thought we'd explored everywhere, we uncovered a new area we'd missed - until we unwittingly found ourselves on the path towards the exit, and unable to return to spot the last few things. Dammit! I am therefore determined to visit again, and tick everything off this time! So if you're ever heading towards the Yorkshire Dales, I would certainly recommend a detour (it's pretty remote) and a visit! xo.

Disclaimer: Both of us were 21 years old. You do not need to be a child to enjoy this place. Just a sense of adventure and plenty of energy!