Mike Laycock visits a North Yorkshire folly which has been rated the best of the 20th century.

After spending half an hour at the Forbidden Corner, you half expect Harry Potter to come flying round the corner on a broomstick. Like Hogwarts, it's spooky, surreal and funny, and you never quite know what is going to happen next.

It's fun (and wet) enough wandering around the beautiful gardens, where innocent-looking statues suddenly pee on you without warning, fountains squirt at you as you cross stepping stones and, if you've so far managed to stay dry, waterfalls soak you from above.

With a leaflet full of rhymes and puzzles to guide you round, you also come across a maze, a pyramid of translucent glass and bears carved out of wood, as well as tremendous views across the Wensleydale countryside.

But it's when you enter the "underworld" that the Forbidden Corner really comes into its own.

It has to be said that the labyrinth of passageways and chambers is not be an ideal place for those of a nervous or claustrophobic disposition, or for very young children.

It is very dark and narrow in places, you are assailed by creepy music and other strange noises, and there are more monsters and skeletons than in a horror film.

But for older and braver kids, and adults as well, that is what makes it such fun.

You open one door and you come face to face with a skull with red glowing eyes. You open another and come across a giant animatronic cat, trying to catch an equally outsized mouse.

At one point, the floor revolves slowly beneath your feet and you have a choice of seven doors to open.

I would say Forbidden Corner is well worth the hour's drive from York. But you don't need to take my word for it. It has been described as the best children's attraction in North Yorkshire, while an organization known as the "Folly Fellowship" has given it the ultimate accolade by naming it the best European folly of the 20th century.

Its growing fame means it has become a magnet attracting people from far and wide, and that can mean some of the underground passages becoming a little crowded.

But the numbers are controlled by a rule insisting that visitors must book in advance, with a maximum quota set for any one hour.

Fact file

The Forbidden Corner, Tupgill Park Estate, Coverham, Middleham, Leyburn.

Open daily until October 31, and then Sundays until Christmas.

Admission: Adults: £6.50, senior citizens £5.50, children £4.50. Family: £21.

To book, call 01969 640638.

Updated: 16:06 Friday, October 01, 2004