'Pocket of countryside' with spectacular maze, beautiful courtyard and independent brewery

A "pocket of countryside" located just an hour from Manchester boasts a spectacular maze, a beautiful courtyard and an independent brewery. I took a midweek visit to the historic village of Brimstage in Wirral, which is worth the trip whether you're a family group or looking for something different.

Brimstage, steeped in history and surrounded by countryside, is situated a few minutes from J4 of the M53 and certainly has a lot to offer.

Off Brimstage Road, behind a beautiful courtyard, a farmer's field has been transformed into a spectacular maze that can only be described as a "kid's dream." Located on Brimstage Farm, the idea was started two decades ago by the Gregory family, who are now in their third generation of farming.

Day to day, work on site is a "proper family effort," with owner Rob Gregory at the helm, son Sam as manager and daughter Libby as supervisor. This year, millions of corn kernels were planted to create the maze that welcomes tonnes of families every summer, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Supervisor Jo Bennet said: "The site has been here for 20 years and it's family-run, Rob my partner is the owner. The Gregory family are third generation farmers.

"They had a farm in Cheshire and started the maze there which worked really well, then the family relocated to Wirral. They farm cattle and do arable farming.

"Each year the maze has grown and grown and they've added a little more. Quite a lot of investment has to go into it every year because it sits untouched in the winter.

"Last year we had massive challenge with rainfall. But the maze itself is planted in April and now some of it's verging on about eight-foot tall. There's a saying that if it's knee-high by the 4th of July it's going to be ok. Each