The maze was next. Long time visitors will realise that we didn’t take the most logical route around the park, but it was a good chance to get my steps in.

This is another part of the park that is perilously close to the cliff edge. The maze was planted in 1963 so it’s quite remarkable that it’s still going after 62 years. I believe it is the last remaining attraction that hasn’t been relocated or removed since the 1960s and 1970s. At some point it will become a much smaller maze.

Next up was the Shipwrecked ride. My stomach can’t cope with this (relatively tame) ride, so Mrs Guru dutifully stepped in and got a wet bottom.

We finished the outing in the welcome shelter of the Hall of Mirrors. This actually filled more time than perhaps anything at the park that day. I’m a big fan of low-key fun at parks like Blackgang Chine. We enjoy the rides, but things like the Hall of Mirrors are perfect since there is no tension about which members of the family want to take part. There is also a significant amount of sniggering and chortling.

Tapnell Farm Park is an excellent time-filler. We've spent many hours bouncing on the bouncy pillow, pedalling round the go karts or zipping down the zip line whilst looking at the West Wight coastline.

Several new things have been added for the 2025 season, including these four:

The biggest new thing for 2025 is the Tower Slide, which is now in the play barn. You can pick from brown or black mats, depending on how fast you want to slide and you reach it by climbing up a series of cargo nets. I initially went for a brown sack, but realised my legs were too long for it and upgraded to the black sack.

For a long time, you could see the slide from the road in a storage area near to Tapnell Farm Park. The park had bought it from the Tower of London and were trying to figure out how to fit it into the rest of their attractions.

The barn's been redesigned with the bales of hay moving elsewhere and the slide taking up a big chunk of space at the far end.

I'm not sure if this is a permanent addition, but when we visited there was an inflatable obstacle course next to the Tower Slide.

Of course, I needed to test this out and can confirm that it was indeed a good lark. It's a good tantrum-avoidance option for younger children who aren't tall enough for the Tower Slide.

A few years ago, Tapnell Farm Park had a tower made out of ropes that was near to the go karts. I have fond memories of a Summer Shindig where we climbed up and took silhouetted photos as the sun set.

And so, I was delighted to see the rope tower has returned.

You won't be surprised to hear that I tested it out, and enjoyed the views from the top.

The Cow Putt is not new and it's also not open yet. You might question why I've included it in this guide.

However, the old minigolf course has gone and is currently being replaced with a new one. 

The old course was pretty decent but it had been around for a while and was getting a bit worn. It had quite a homemade look to it, whereas most of the other stuff at Tapnell Farm Park looks a bit slicker and more modern.

I had a good nosey at the chap working on it during our most recent visit. There was even a putter lying around, presumably so he could occasionally take test shots to see if it was just the right level of difficulty so that it would lead to family arguments.

I considered offering some advice about where to include banks, curves and tunnels but I thought he was probably quite busy. 

We had intentions to get a drink or an ice cream in the Beach Shack at Steephill Cove. In 2011, I had eaten a tea cake there whilst sitting outside in the sunshine and I wanted to recreate the moment.

The plans went a bit skew-whiff when we discovered that it closes on Wednesdays.

Luckily, the Cove café at Steephill Cove was open and they provided us with hot chocolates and coffees.

The sun shone and I had a moment that was perhaps superior to the teacake moment 14 years earlier.

We frequently jabber on about the fact that Isle of Wight residents on low incomes can get cheap ferry travel.

If this is news to you, take a look at our guide to low income discounts on the Isle of Wight ferry.

This a short blog to publicise a change to scheme, which - believe it or not - makes it available to more people. 

​I rather suspect that lots of people don't realise this discount is available to them.

All of the Isle of Wight ferry companies run some sort of cheap travel scheme for Islanders on low incomes - but they all take a different approach to eligibility and use a different name for it.

Wightlink call it the Discounted Fares Scheme. It is currently available to 'Islanders in receipt of Council Tax support and Housing Benefit' but will be opened up to 'Island residents receiving Universal Credit from Monday, 7 April 2025.'

Islanders on Universal Credit could already get a discount with Red Funnel but this makes it easier if you need to get to Portsmouth or Lymington.

The exact amount you save isn't published by Wightlink. My hunch is that you get a similar price to the Multilink discount. That's about £75 for a return journey on the car ferry. Don't quote me on that price, it's just a guess and I'd be pleased to hear from you if you use the scheme and can give us more details about how much you pay.

Red Funnel's similar scheme gets you the car ferry for about £61.

You need fill out a form on this page. The Isle of Wight Council will then assess whether you are eligible. Importantly, you don't need to do this every time you travel. They will check 'on a periodic basis' that you are still entitled to the discount.

Red Funnel and Hovertravel run their own schemes. One crusty old document I found suggested that 14,000 people are eligible to save money but it may well be more than that.

Here's a summary of the three schemes and how they work.