October 7th 2013. Day one of Mental Health Resilience Week. It’s just after 9.00 am and Kay, Judy and the rest of the labyrinth team assemble on ‘The Oval’ and begin marking out the seed pattern which will form the heart of our sand labyrinth.
10.15 am. The seed pattern and other preparations are complete, and we begin the process of marking the lines, using rope and tether, plus plastic lemonade bottles to pour the sand. The kiln-dried sand is very fine and we find our lines must be very generous if they are not to trickle down through the grass!
Numerous refills of sand are required before the labyrinth is complete.
11.30 am. We are still putting the finishing touches when our first visitors arrive – a group of students from a nearby college.
12.30. The Addenbrooke’s Choir have sung and VIP guest Mary Archer makes her way to the labyrinth to experience the calming effects of a labyrinth walk for herself.
5.30 pm As dusk falls, the labyrinth is lit with 200 tea lights. We use measuring sticks as spacers to get an even effect. The magic begins!
A bird’s eye view of the labyrinth – from the top of the staff car park.
7pm: Brightly shining LED tea lights line the pathways.
7.15 pm: Addenbrooke’s night scene with labyrinth. (Photo: Jan Sellers)
Kay's Pathway: a labyrinth journey 