Accessible Britain

are twelve wheelchair spaces, with excellent visibility, and accessible toilets on every level.
Tickets for visitors with disabilities (and their carers) are charged at a reduced tariff of £16 –
best booked ahead. Front row seats are available at every performance for those with visual
or hearing impairments – email access@rsc.org.uk for introductory notes on CD for each
production. Touch tours for those with vision impairments are available free of charge. For
more information, visit www.rsc.org.uk/access
FOOD & DRINK aa The Rooftop Restaurant & Bar serves delicious freshly-prepared food
in a spacious and sophisticated dining room with wonderful views – the fixed-price
pre-theatre menus are good value, with two courses for £19.50 or three courses for
£24.50. Otherwise, there’s the more casual Riverside Café, serving snacks and light
meals overlooking the River Avon.
092 Hereford Cathedral and Mappa Mundi,
Herefordshire
Address: 5 College Cloister, Cathedral Close, Hereford HR1 2NG Web: www.herefordcathedral.org Tel:
01432 374202 Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, Nov–Mar closes at 4pm; open for services outside these
hours Dates: no closures Entry: [D]£5 [C]free [A]£6 [5–16s]£5 [Con]£5 [Fam]£8–14
THE WEST MIDLANDS AND WEST COUNTRY
Beautifully sited on the banks of the River Wye, this ancient Norman cathedral is well
worth a visit. Note that it is still very much a “working” cathedral, with three daily acts
of worship – check ahead if you want to catch or avoid a service.
Inside, there is much to admire, from the superb stained-glass windows to the
vibrantly painted shrine of St Ethelbert, to whom the cathedral is dedicated. Standing
out from everything else however, are two unique features: the sensational Mappa
Mundi and the extraordinary Chained Library. The Mappa Mundi is the largest
surviving medieval map of the world, dating from around 1300. Drawn on a single
calfskin, it shows Jerusalem at the centre of the world, and is decorated with numerous
fascinating images of historical and Biblical events, as well as plants, animals and
mythological creatures. The Chained Library consists of several early seventeenthcentury
bookcases bearing over two hundred medieval manuscripts, all attached to the
bookcases by chains, rods and locks.
The exhibition area housing the library and Mappa Mundi has level entry through a
push-button door and plenty of space. Visitors with visual impairments are very well
catered for with a tactile reproduction of parts of the Mappa Mundi and accompanying
audio descriptions, a Braille map of the cathedral, and a Braille guide available from the
reception desk. The rest of the cathedral is largely accessible to wheelchair users, except
the lower crypt and the tower; portable ramps can be used to access the altar and other
raised areas. There’s one spacious disabled toilet (which requires a RADAR key, available
in the café) outside, off the Chapter House Garden. There are two Blue Badge parking bays
in the cathedral grounds (phone ahead), with additional bays on Broad Street, a couple of
hundred yards away.
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