What do you get when you mix a strange fantasy world and the North Yorkshire countryside? CATHERINE BRUCE finds out at Forbidden Corner.

DEEP in the heart of the countryside, unsuspecting visitors can meet sleeping giants, crawl through giant skulls and get soaked by smiling stones.

Don't worry, I haven't been lying out in the sun for too long, (I wish) I've simply visited Forbidden Corner.

About an hour's drive from York, The Forbidden Corner, near Middleham, is a complicated labyrinth with surprises around every corner. There can't be anywhere else in the world where one minute you can walk past a cluster of wooden bears playing Poker and the next discover a pyramid made of glass.

My boyfriend Pete and I were lucky as we picked a beautiful sunny day to visit the maze. There is so much potential to get wet - statues that pee on you, waterfalls that gush on trusting tourist's heads and stepping stones which must be crossed with extreme care - that visiting on a cold, wet day must be fairly miserable.

Many parts of Forbidden Corner resemble a gorgeous country garden with expanses of well-kept grass, colourful flowers and attractive water features. But it is so much more than a nice walk.

Every few yards there is a surreal spectacle, a puzzling riddle or a mysterious door. And watch out, once many of these doors close behind you, there is no going back.

But the real highlight is not what is going on above the ground but beneath it. Many of the doors led to dark, winding, underground passages, which would be more at home in a Harry Potter book than a North Yorkshire visitor attraction.

The creepy music, which accompanied our journey through the 'underworld' reduced Pete and I to excited children. But a word of warning, while older children seemed to relish the sinister dark staircases, skeletons, pretend mice and monsters which lurk in every crevice, some smaller children seemed absolutely terrified.

The Forbidden Corner is a fantastic place to forget your stresses and worries and concentrate on having some good old-fashioned fun.

One point to note: visitors to the Corner need to book an entry time in advance. But this system does ensure there aren't too many people cramming through the narrow doors and passageways at once.

We spent two hours at the Corner, but after we left we were convinced there had still been more to see.

Updated: 08:51 Saturday, June 07, 2003