WINDING through twisting pathways surrounded by towering stacks of corn, the sound of breathless families laughing can be heard.

They are exploring the latest feature of a family-run farm in Aldham.

In their quest to find new ways to make their farms more accessible and friendly to the public, Emily and Guy French have spent months preparing corn mazes for gleeful visitors to negotiate.

The huge hedges of maize were planted at their Aldham and Basildon farms earlier this year, with routes painstakingly cut through by Mr French himself.

The sides of the maze now tower well over six feet high, offering an immersive and difficult journey from the entrance to the finish.

Mrs French, 30, said the idea stemmed from their smaller-scale maize trail, opened last year.

Visitors can stop by at the farm, which specialises in growing pumpkins, and pick their own produce and let their children blow off some steam.

“The reason we decided to do this was we had a pumpkin patch which opened for the first time in 2015 and did really well,” said Mrs French.

“We were expecting people to be here for ten minutes, choose their pumpkin and then leave.

“But we had kids running around playing on hay bales and parents who were pleased to be able to get out somewhere green and nice.

“That’s when I realised, Guy and I are both from a farming background, we are used to spending a lot of time outdoors.

“We had parents who live in flats without gardens, saying ‘I wish you had something like this in the summer’.

“That is what sowed the seed.

“We knew how to grow the maze from when we did the maize trail.

“We did it because we want children to have the luxury of being outside and experiencing the outdoors in a fun way.

“We also try to teach children.

“Dotted around the maze are different facts about maize, games that help the children learn more.

“We also have potato and sunflower seed picking.”

Around half of all UK farms use some form of diversified activity to boost business.

But Mrs French says many methods are much more traditional than opening up attractions like mazes.

“Diversification definitely has become more popular but I wouldn’t say by putting on events like this,” she said.

“I think because Guy and I are fairly young we have these more modern ideas of what we can do that is new.

“Because we supply the Co-op with pumpkins, they did a piece on inspirational women in farming and I was lucky enough to be one of them.

“Through that I saw people doing secondary things rather than farming.

“Rather than selling ingredients they were making the sausages and pies and selling them home made.”

She added: “We are never complacent.

“We are trying to look at new things we can do to attract people to the farms.

“I am thinking of one new idea a year.

“It does make us proud when we open up the maze, which has taken so long to plan and bring to life, and see people enjoying themselves and children running around.”

The Aldham maze was planted in late April and had to be watered in due to a lack of rainfall.

It was opened on August 3 after months of hard work growing the maize and cutting the pathways.

Mr French started Foxes Farm Produce on his own in 2007, growing general vegetables to sell to nearby wholesale markets, but he eventually found his pumpkins were getting the best results.

He met Emily in 2009 at a farmer’s club. Until late 2015, Mrs French juggled her work on the farms with a job in Human Resources.

She took up her farm work full-time and secured a deal with Co-op for the pumpkins.

“Doing the two jobs became too much,” she said.

“Focusing solely on the farms meant I could make contact with Co-op.

“They have been brilliant to work with, really good at supporting farms.

“We won their newcomer of the year award earlier this year, it was such a shock as we only found out at the ceremony.”

Fox Farm Produce grows thousands of pumpkins annually and each year plant thousands of Christmas trees to sell over the festive period.

The company primarily supply wholesale outlets and retailers, but have “pick your own” pumpkin patches at their farms in Basildon and Aldham.

Mrs French is unaware of any other farm-based mazes in Essex and said she is always looking ahead to the next project.

“I think it is quite unique,” she said.

“We want to try to do different things. We are not trying to be the biggest farms in Essex by any means, after all it is literally just us two working away.

“What we try to do is use all of the land we have available.

“I think we are in a good position.

“Some farms rely on subsidies and payments, we have never had to.

“Our main risk really is the weather.”

As well as the maze, the two farms host a field of fun, which includes hula hoops, bean bag games, space hoppers, an obstacle course and a bale mountain.

The maize maze and other attractions are open at the farm in Green Lane, Aldham, until Monday, August 28, from Thursdays to Sundays.

Visitors are welcome between 10am and 5pm, with last entry at 4pm.

A family ticket costs £20, adults enter for £6 and a child’s ticket costs £5.