21/06/2009

Issued by: York Maze

York farmer and maze builder Tom Pearcy is looking to the Moon this year for inspiration for his York Maze design.  To mark the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landings, the giant 30-acre field of maize will be cut out in the shape of an Astronaut on the surface of the Moon. Previous designs have included the Statue of Liberty, The Starship Enterprise and the Flying Scotsman locomotive.

Says Tom Pearcy, "Each year I try to choose a maze design which is both topical and makes a great aerial image. Marking the 40th anniversary of manned flights to the Moon is my personal tribute to the endeavour and bravery of those lunar pioneers."

Continuing the space theme, Tom Pearcy is using the latest GPS satellite technology to plot out the maze shape, and is this week cutting out the Astronaut design from the 1.5 million maze plants in the 30 acre field.

Says Tom Pearcy, "By the end of this week the hard work in planting and laboriously marking and cutting out the 10km of pathways will have been done, now we just let nature go to work and grow the maize plants. By the time the maze opens on 18 July they should be approaching 2m tall."     

York Maze opens to the public on Saturday 18 July and will be open every day until Sunday 6 September 2009.

ENDS