A-maized Again!

Europe’s largest maize maze is back and it’s even better than last year, all set out with some special assistance from a KOREC supplied Trimble TDC650 handheld GNSS.

Europe’s largest maize maze is back and it’s even better than last year, all set out with some special assistance from a KOREC supplied Trimble TDC650 handheld GNSS.

If there’s one thing that we can rely on from Tom Pearcy, Maze Master at York Maze, it’s a fantastic theme for this annual attraction. Over the years, we’ve been delighted to help him out with the loan of various high-accuracy Trimble GPS systems for setting out the intricated designs. Our favourite? Well, it’s a toss-up between ‘40 years of Star Wars’ and ‘90 years of Lego play’.

So, what have we got for this year? Here’s a clue:

I’m the scariest creature in the deep dark wood, with my terrible tusks and my terrible claws!

Yes, the theme for 2024 is 25 years of The Gruffalo, and as ever it covers over 5km of pathways cut into the 15-acre field. Tom chose the theme because “…I used to love reading The Gruffalo to my children, it is something that appeals to grown-ups too. My design celebrating 25 Years of The Gruffalo has been cut out using Trimble GPS technology supplied by KOREC to plot the pathways. It is nerve-wracking because I can’t tell if I’ve made a mistake and put a path in the wrong place until July when the maize plants are fully grown and the final image is revealed.”

A couple of years ago, Tom revealed exactly how the maize magic happens and why the Trimble TDC650 is helpful.         

“We’ve come a long way since our first creation in 2002. Back then our mazes were based on just lines and circles drawn onto graph paper and in the field, we used sticks and strings to set out the design, a time-consuming exercise which could take two weeks or more.

Today the process is much more straightforward. Our theme is designed in a basic drawing package and then uploaded onto our Trimble handheld GNSS. We then go out into the maize field and effectively create the biggest dot to dot in the world!

Using the map on the handheld, I plot out the design amongst the 6” high maize plants, marking the points as I go, whilst a cultivator follows on behind.

The TDC650 has been great for mapping out the maze, it holds its accuracy all day long, and it didn’t lose its connection for the whole time we used it, something the previous models could be prone to. The accuracy allows us to create ever more complex mazes, that look truly amazing from the sky!”

York Maze is open for visitors to explore from Saturday 15 July to Monday 2 September 2024 when the crop will be harvested. Book tickets here.

If you’d like to learn more about the Trimble mapping systems, call our KOREC Mapping Team on UK: +44 (0) 345 603 1214 or Ireland +353 (0) 1456 4702