Travelling to Palma Mallorca with Hal we were interested to find out how accessible Stansted Airport was and the news is good – we were very impressed.
Special Assistance is located just inside the terminal building and the staff are welcoming and helpful. They accompanied us to check in (where there were a few perks for special travellers, such as free check in for hand luggage and no queues). Then they took us to security via the special assistance fast track which was super quick. Hal and his wheelchair were thoroughly searched, though I’m not a bit surprised as he is obviously a villain.
Isn’t it time for tea? We were booked on an 8pm flight so it was crucial that Hal had something to eat – he is extremely vocal when hungry and we wanted a peaceful flight. Roger spotted a Wetherspoons (it’s an instinctive thing) but it looked a bit full. We needn’t have worried. Scott and Julia went out of their way to accommodate us, cleared a table, brought us drinks and served Hal’s food, and did all they could to make us comfortable and relaxed. Hal scoffed his fish and chips with alacrity and my Gin Fizz was really rather good.
Getting onto the plane. This was no problem at all. Special assistance staff took us to the plane, a Heath Robinson contraption which delivers the food trolleys also delivered Hal. The worst bit was transferring Hal from his own wheelchair to the plane seat. However he survived the ordeal and apparently even enjoyed it. So for Hal it really is all about the journey!
Other useful things to know about Stansted Airport. There are two Changing Places toilets – one airside and one at arrivals. I cannot say how happy this makes me. We didn’t try them out but knowing that we can use them if we need to is great. And the car park buses are ramped and easily accessible. We travelled with Easyjet who tell me they transport 1400 disabled people each day, and they certainly did a good job looking after us.
For a manicure or pedicure and friendly chat, try Beauty at your Fingertips. Julie will come to your home and leave your hands and/or feet looking and feeling beautiful! Julie is well-qualified and keeps her skills up to date and the products she uses are wonderful! Thoroughly recommended!
Our first overnight stop was in Wark, Northumberland at the Battlesteads Inn. Actually, our very first stop was at Witton-le-Wear, County Durham,
Witton-le-Wear church
to take a photo of the church in which my great-great-grandmother got married in 1859, then a brief loo stop at the Wentworth leisure centre (very civilised!)
Battlesteads is officially a hotel and restaurant although it’s in effect a pub with rooms and very good it is too, being accessible, eco-aware and dog-friendly. We had a ground floor room with an adapted bathroom ie it had shower seat and grabrails and the room, although pretty compact had a couple of chairs. There were very nice biscuits and a bowl of fruit and they made it clear they were happy to provide fresh milk – I can’t imagine wanting a cuppa made with ‘plastic’ UHT milk!
Battlesteads Inn
The whole of the ground floor was accessible – a couple of tight turns but nothing my scooter couldn’t handle. The décor was traditional pub style but with lots of great railway posters on the walls, advertising local attractions.
Dinner was tasty, not gourmet but not stuff we’d cook at home, so fine by me! Breakfast was good too, we had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs but they did the full English and various other cooked options plus some ‘continental’ choices – ham and cheese, some fruit but not a great deal else. It was served in the conservatory, which was pleasant and would normally have a view of the garden but this was mainly taken up with gazebos for their forthcoming beer festival.
The staff were mainly Eastern European and were very pleasant and efficient. When we checked out it seemed to be the owners we were dealing with – they were local anyway and very jolly and friendly too.
The next day we headed through gorgeous, rolling scenery and made our way to Peebles and Cringletie House with a brief stop at Galashiels’ Tesco for a newspaper and also via a short detour to see the famous gates of Traquair House which were closed after a visit by Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 to only be reopened when there is a Stuart on the throne!
Cringletie House is a baronial castle which you would not expect to be
Cringletie House, near Peebles
accessible but it is! Getting to the ground floor involved a platform lift, other than that, it was all level or you used the normal lift to get to the first floor restaurant. For more details on this, see my review or look on Euan’s Guide.
The restaurant has fabulous views and the food was pretty good too – we had a late lunch then dinner later and both were good without being fabulous. The dinner included various ‘amuse-bouches’ which were actually better than the starter, but what with the jolly staff, the great view and a nice glass of wine, the whole experience was excellent!
Breakfast again was ‘good in parts’ – I ordered scrambled egg and while what I had was perfectly nice, it was much more akin to an omelette. Pete’s full breakfast was suitably filling!
The room, Traquair, a junior suite, was spacious and pleasant and we had fun playing with the ‘rise and recline’ chairs! The bathroom was spacious with a walk-in shower, grabrails etc and lovely toiletries. There seems to be a trend away from little bottles of toiletries – all the places we stayed had large bottles of very good shower gel etc that you use but leave in place – much greener than all those small plastic bottles.
The grounds look lovely – it was a bit chilly to explore but they looked good from inside!
Next day we headed for Oban to stock up before heading for our base for the next week at Benderloch. I’d already checked out that Oban had a supermarket, (with accessible loo – top marks, Tesco for your very good loos!) so we did our shop and made our way to Benderloch. We’d checked on
Port Selma Lodges
Streetview how to get to the place we were staying, so found the lane we needed to follow off the main road without too much hassle and there were the two wooden lodges, Port Selma Lodges, created by Jan and Willie Orr a
few years ago to accommodate both disabled and non-disabled guests in some style! They look good on the website but even better in reality – really high quality and in beautiful condition. Willie and Jan had heard the car so came to meet us – just as well as we had no ‘phone signal! – and showed us in. They told us everything we
View from Port Selma Lodges
needed to know and answered our questions about accessible things to do and made it clear they were there to help if we needed anything. There was a ‘welcome pack’ of a bottle of wine, cheese and oatcakes, local fudge, chocolates, milk in the fridge and tea and coffee supplies as well as fresh flowers!
Port Selma Lodges
The weather was rather drizzly at the start of the week – we looked at it as a good excuse to chill out and have a break from driving. On the Monday we ventured out to check out the local stretch of the Oban to Fort William cycle
Cycle path near Benderloch
track and as if by magic, the sun came out just as we got out of the car! From the carpark you could go in two directions for a fairly short distance before the (beautifully smooth!) track joined the road so we pootled along admiring the wild flowers then came to a viewing point with a great view of the sea. We back tracked and came upon an information board near the carpark explaining how the track was part of a disused railway line. You could follow it for miles but in places it is right next to the road or actually joins the road so we left that to the many cyclists who were following it – some complete with back packs, camping gear, the works!
We didn’t do a great deal during the week – drove around and took in the lovely scenery mainly, including the view of Castle Stalker – even in the
Castle Stalker
drizzle, it’s one of the most fabulous settings imaginable for a castle (it was used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, apparently!) and visited Dunstaffnage Castle (the sun obligingly came out again as we arrived!) which has a terrific setting by the harbour and we also did a gorgeous drive along the side of Loch Etive. Our return from that was blocked by some stubborn cows until a lorry driver who came along advised driving at them rapidly! We let him do that and we followed him through – it worked! We got a chance to try out the lodge’s verandah one splendidly sunny afternoon and watched the swallows flying in and out to their nests above the French windows.
Loch Etive
The week went all too fast then it was time to move on to the next adventure. We decided to take a different route to our next destination and went via Loch Lomond. The drive there via Inveraray and Loch Fyne was through absolutely beautiful scenery. Once we were at Loch Lomond, this being a sunny Saturday, you could see how it is a popular daytrip from Glasgow – the traffic going the opposite way to us was really heavy! Next it was motorways to get us around Glasgow, then we found our way to New Lanark, home of New Lanark Mill Hotel, mainly associated with Robert Owen, an enlightened factory owner in the style of Titus Salt or the Rowntrees, which is now a World Heritage Site, with a visitor centre and hotel.
There was a wedding going on when we arrived and it was sunny which
New Lanark Mills
added to the atmosphere – I can imagine in rainy weather it might look a little bleak to some, but generally the effect was charming. Who could resist somewhere with an ‘Institute for the formation of character’? After checking in someone came to our room to explain the emergency evacuation procedure which was an interesting touch – never experienced that before in a hotel.
After having some lunch, we explored the site with its great views of the Falls of Clyde and later had dinner in the restaurant which has quite an imaginative menu and was jolly good.
New Lanark Mill Hotel
It was really interesting how elements of the mill buildings are incorporated into the hotel and restaurant. The rooms are actually a bit bland, but the bathroom had a solid iron post, part of the original fabric, and there were iron braces in the vaulted ceiling, plus there are gorgeous photos everywhere of the mill at all times of year. It’s all easily accessible, and again, the staff were all very good about accommodating you – no fuss made, for example, when we preferred to sit at a different table to the one they directed us to a breakfast, which, as I’ve said before, is just how it should be. Here’s my full review and my Euan’s Guide review.
From there we headed back to York and were surprised it only took four hours!
Breezy Knees is a garden, nursery and café at Stockton on the Forest near York which I had heard of a while ago but was somewhat put off by the silly name. However, we’d been told it was good so thought we would go and – wow! It’s lovely!
Breezy Knees, near York
The café seems to be quite a draw judging by the numbers of people –we didn’t sample it so I can’t comment! – but the gardens are extensive enough that it didn’t feel remotely crowded despite the numbers.
Breezy Knees, near York
The different areas are separated by fences or hedges and you can visit gardens for different times of the year plus the beautifully scented rose garden, the shade garden, rock garden, cottage garden and many more, including fountains and ponds.
Breezy Knees, near York
The paths are mainly tarmac or fine gravel, some are rougher gravel and some are grass – this was a bit bumpy for comfort but we didn’t have to go that way, we could have back tracked and stayed on the smoother paths. There are also plenty of benches.
It’s all accessible apart from a couple of sections, which the staff explained and marked on the map for us but there was plenty to see anyway. The café is accessible too – also lots of the seating is outside and there is an accessible loo, although this was a little tight for the scooter I was using which is 50cm wide There is ample parking with some reserved for blue badge holders.
Breezy Knees, near York
I can definitely see us going for a return visit – you can get a season ticket which would make it worthwhile if you planned to visit four or more times a year.
We stayed one night at New Lanark Mills on our way back from Scotland to home but it’s worth spending more time here as it’s not just a hotel but a World Heritage site with a visitor centre and plenty to see.
New Lanark Mills
The hotel is in one of the old mill buildings and the rooms incorporate original features which add a bit of character to the otherwise fairly bland bedrooms. They are comfy enough and have good views and gorgeous photos of the site, which is by the Clyde and its waterfalls. We had booked an accessible room, so the bathroom was wetroom style with shower seat and grabrails. After we checked in, someone appeared to explain the emergency evacuation procedure, which I have never experienced before, but it was good to know.
There was a wedding going on but that didn’t impinge on our stay other than some guests’ children bashing on the piano rather tediously during dinner!
Dinner was very good as was breakfast with plenty of choices – better on the cooked stuff than the continental, as ever.
New Lanark Mills
Staff were really pleasant and helpful and the whole place is accessible, if a little uneven outside. There was a speed hump with a notice by it asking people not to park by it as it had a gap so wheelchair users could get by, but guess what? White van parked right in the gap! Managed to get over the hump anyway and the van had gone by the time we came back from seeing the falls, the millrace and other features. It doesn’t affect entry to the hotel. Inside there was a bar (rather loud radio) and lounge (sunny and pleasant) as well as the restaurant and it’s all very easy to get about – they’ve obviously put some thought into access issues and staff were happy to let you sit wherever suited you best.
Although that’s not what we did as we were on our way to Scotland but I would recommend the Battlesteads Inn near Hexham to anyone.
Battlesteads Inn
Our room was compact but comfortable with a couple of chairs, fresh fruit, decent biscuits and they were happy to provide fresh milk. We had requested an accessible room, so the bathroom had a shower seat and grabrails, although it was slightly awkward to negotiate the bathroom door. Only other niggle is that the bed was a bit squashy. They also have larger rooms – ‘luxury lodges,’ which are wheelchair accessible but my scooter would not have coped with the entrance. Obviously, everyone’s needs are different – some people need room to manoeuvre, I prefer a more compact room as I can move around it on foot.
The whole ground floor of the inn is brilliantly accessible and the staff – a mixture of local and eastern European – are very efficient and friendly and took everything in their stride.
The food was good, without being ‘gastro’, but plenty of choice and a definite cut above ‘pub grub.’ Breakfast was good too, plenty of cooked choices, not so good on the continental, although there was ham and cheese, served in the conservatory with a view of the garden, although this was largely taken up with gazebos for their forthcoming beer festival.
Definitely a comfortable, friendly place that I would recommend and visit again.
The BBC programme ‘Trust Me I’m a Doctor’ the other day conducted some interesting experiments into whether it was possible to benefit from three types of non-strenuous exercise, potentially useful for people who can’t do much exercise for whatever reason. One involved having hot baths, but the ones that really interested me (we don’t have a bath and hot baths make me tired anyway!) were about the benefits of passive
Passive stretching
stretching (lowers blood sugar level, improves heart rate and energy expenditure) and that it is possible to improve muscle strength and thickness by thinking about doing exercise. They weren’t huge trials but you can read about the results if you follow the above links. I’m always willing to try different therapies (acupuncture and hyperbaric oxygen treatment amongst others!) so I think I’ll give this a serious go. We shall see!
Limitlesstravel.org is a website dedicated to providing clear information about access, whether that is physical access or other issues such as hearing loops, use of sign-language or the family-friendliness of venues and attractions – all in London and fairly central as far as I could see but all the main ones are there, with user-reviews as well as general information.
For each attraction, you can see if wheelchair hire is available, if assistance dogs are allowed, if there is a hearing loop and various other details which would help you decide whether to visit or not. The hotels list if there is a shower seat, raisable beds, grab rails, emergency cord, adjoining room and lots of other details, which, again, make the difference as to whether or not you would give them your business.
You can search for a specific attraction or filter for different types of access or search on the map.
Looking at some of the press coverage on its own site, some refer to it as a guide to London, others as a guide to the world, so presumably they intend to expand as it does appear to only be London for now, unless I’m missing something, but it is definitely worth exploring this site if it’s London you’re heading for and need access information on hotels or attractions.
We’ve been going to Mama Mia’s on Gillygate for years and it’s always good – food freshly made, staff friendly, buzzy atmosphere – we’ve even been treated to late-night liqueurs on occasion! In some restaurants it’s difficult to find something you want on the menu, here it’s difficult to choose because they all sound good – pizza, pasta, meat and fish dishes and the specials nearly always include fabulous fresh mussels!
Now then, access. On our latest visit, we got the cab to pull up right outside but even though we had booked a table near the door it was still a bit of a struggle, so after our meal my partner left the rest of us to chat while he popped home for my scooter as I realised the step at the entrance was only an inch or so high. I don’t think I could have scootered in although a wheelchair would be fine (and the loo is accessible and the furniture all moveable) but scooting out was fine – so easy that I practically ran into our car! All fine in the end! Have a look on Streetview if you don’t know Gillygate. You have to pull up outside – there is no parking, so you need to plan a bit.
For the more agile, there is a lovely patio garden out the back next to the city walls.
I definitely recommend this friendly, accessible restaurant.
It was voted the best view in Britain – well, I’m always going to prefer the dales to anything else but the view from Sutton Bank is pretty darn good as views go!
We went first to the visitor centre expecting that they would have a leaflet with a map on it but instead a very helpful chap drew us a map and explained where to go. Odd that they didn’t have printed maps – maybe they had run out. The website gives you detailed access details.
There is ample parking and a café within the visitor centre and toilets out in the courtyard including a Radar-key operated accessible one which wasn’t the cleanest but was OK. First time I’ve used my Radar key – at least it confirms that it works!
Anyway, the paths are good – just had a bit of a steep camber in places so you need to keep to the middle but I suppose that’s to help them drain. There’s a circular route of about a kilometre which takes you to the (accessible) viewing point with a chart telling you what you are looking at – all the way to the dales! We stopped to have a picnic there – it was a gorgeous day if a little hazy – and it wasn’t particularly busy although no doubt it’s busier at weekends. You can go on a longer route which takes you to the White Horse – I’m sure we’ll be back to do that another day.
accessibilityreviews 