Accessible Britain

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097 Lake District Scenic Drive THE NORTHWEST 116 Driving distance: 47 miles Approx time without stops: 1 hour 35 minutes This stunning drive takes you through some of the finest scenery in <strong>Britain</strong>, with several tempting opportunities to get out and do a bit of fell walking along the way. Starting at Cockermouth, a handsome market town on the northwestern edge of the Lake District, head south down the B5292. Three and a half miles down the road, a side road (the B5289) branches west to Loweswater, where a mile-long, fully accessible path leads from Maggie’s Bridge car park down to the lakeshore – the views from here across to the undulating slopes of Fellbarrow are lovely, and visitors with good mobility can continue through the lakeside woods. Back on the main route, continue south to the pretty village of Buttermere, where another smooth, accessible footpath awaits you, this one leading from the village car park to tranquil Lake Buttermere in just under a mile. As you head south from Buttermere, the scenery gets B5307 wilder CARLISLE and more dramatic at Kirkbampton A69 every turn, particularly as you drive over the 1167-feet-high Honister 43 Pass, hemmed Aikton A6 Scotby in by steep, craggy hillsides. Once over the pass the road loops north through Borrowdale Valley, treating you to classic Lakeland vistas in all A595 directions. Beyond, 42 you’ll skirt B5299 Cumwhinton Oulton M6 pretty Derwentwater before Dundraw arriving at Keswick, a busy Thursby town Dalston with many facilities and Wigton Wreay great views onto Skidaw. The next stage of the drive takes you south of Keswick down the Waverton B5299 A591, passing the flanks of Helvellyn, A596 the Lake B5305 District’s third-highest Gatesgill peak at 3117 feet. Red Dial Westnewton Rosley Soon you’ll come to Grasmere, a picturesque village that from Welton 1799 to 1808 was home to Ivegill William Wordsworth. Aspatria His Mealsgate house, Dove Cottage, is open to visitors Sebergham but is not wheelchair accessible, though the adjacent Wordsworth Museum (015394 35544, www.wordsworth. B5301 Caldbeck Ireby B5305 org.uk) – stacked Gilcrux with books, manuscripts and B5299 paintings Hesket – is served by ramps and lifts. Plumbland A595 Bothel Derwent Hutton COCKERMOUTH B5291 Mosedale A591 Roof Brigham A66 Mungrisdale Embleton Eaglesfield Bassenthwaite Skiddaw Blencathra 931m Lake 867m Dean Lorton A66 Whinlatter Mosser B5292 Pass Threlkeld A5091 Portinscale A5086 Braithwaite KESWICK Matterdale Lamplugh Newlands B5289 B5322 Dockray LOWESWATER B5289 Derwentwater CUMBRIAN Crummock Ullswater Water Grange Glenridding BUTTERMERE Helvellyn Ennerdale Buttermere 950m Water Thirlmere Wythburn Honister Stonethwaite Pillar pass A591 Fairfield 892m 873m 0 5 miles Great Gable 899m Scafell Pike 978m Hard Knott Pass Borrowdale CUMBRIA Old Man of Coniston 803m A593 High Street 811m A592 GRASMERE Rydal Langdale Rydal Water AMBLESIDE Skelwith Kentmere Barngates B5286 BROCKHOLE A593 High Hawkshead Wray A591 Coniston B5285 B5285 Bow Fell 902m Crinkle Crags 859m Torver A5084 Eden MOUNTAINS Coniston Water Esthwaite Water Newmarket Windermere Near Sawrey Windermere Bowness Crosthwaite
South of Grasmere you’ll pass the turning to another of Wordsworth’s homes, Rydal Mount (partially accessible; contact 015394 33002), before reaching Ambleside, a busy little town that makes a good lunch stop, with plenty of Blue Badge parking options. Alternatively, stay in your car for some dazzling views over Lake Windermere, just out of town. A couple of miles south of Ambleside, the Brockhole Lake District Visitor Centre (www.brockhole.co.uk), with its wonderful gardens, accessible footpaths and superb location on the shore of Lake Windermere, makes a good place to end your drive – see p.118 for more details. FOOD & DRINK aa In Ambleside, you’ll find delicious pizzas at Zeffirellis, on Compton Road (015394 33845, www.zeffirellis.com), and a great vegetarian menu at nearby Fellinis (015394 32487, www.fellinisambleside.com), on Church Street; both venues are fully accessible. The Lakeside Café at the Brockhole Visitor Centre is another choice spot for lunch. 098 Theatre by the Lake, Cumbria Address: Lakeside, Keswick CA12 5DJ Web: www.theatrebythelake.co.uk Tel: 01768 7 74411 Hours: performance days ticket office 9.30am until after the evening performance; non-performance days 9.30am–8pm (some parts of building close at 5pm) Dates: closed 25 Dec Entry: ticket prices vary depending on seat and production [C]free It may not be what you’d expect to find on the banks of Derwentwater, but Theatre by the Lake – a registered charity funded by Arts Council England – has succeeded brilliantly in bringing the dramatic arts to a part of the country more commonly associated with bracing walks and cloud-shrouded landscapes. You would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful setting, or such a relaxed atmosphere, at a theatre anywhere else in the country. The audience is made up of locals, people on holiday or a weekend break, plus a sprinkling of walkers still wearing their deerstalkers and brandishing sticks – not your usual metropolitan theatre crowd. Opened in 1999, and expanded since, the complex houses two stages: the large Main House which seats four hundred visitors, and the one-hundred-seater Studio. Each summer season the company produces a series of works, with an intelligently interlocking programme that enables visitors to comfortably see several different plays over the course of a long weekend. In addition, there’s a popular repertory programme running from May to November, and the theatre hosts a string of annual festivals, including literature, jazz and film. Reaching the venue is easy: there’s a huge council car park next to the theatre with a dozen or so disabled parking bays just outside the entrance, and a wheelchair is available to help with transfer inside. If organised in advance, auditorium seating can be removed to create wheelchair spaces. The facilities for disabled people are generally excellent, with lifts and accessible toilets on each floor. Pre-performance touch tours of the set can be booked, infra-red handsets for the hearing impaired can be borrowed from reception, and captioned and audio-described performances are scheduled for certain shows: see website for details. Assistance dogs are welcome in all areas of the building, and audio and large print versions of the programme can be requested. THE NORTHWEST 117
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THE ROUGH GUIDE to Accessible Brita
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Enjoy even more fun, family days ou
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Contents Click on any chapter to go
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About this book Designed to be good
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HERITAGE HIGHLIGHTS IWM Duxford (E.
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Brockholes Nature Reserve (Northwes
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London 001 The Roundhouse 002 Wembl
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It’s the colour of the pitch - su
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On the site of the London 2012 Olym
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LONDON ZSL London Zoo FOOD & DRINK
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The tour starts in the MCC Museum w
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LONDON Royal Opera House FOOD & DRI
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LONDON London Transport Museum ther
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Ideas aa Art and sculpture Tate St
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016 Westminster Abbey Address: 20 D
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hop-on/hop-off at any stop along th
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the Painted Hall and chapel. There
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023 Horniman Museum and Gardens Add
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024 Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire
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Parents of any disabled child will
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If you’d rather go sightseeing, h
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FOOD & DRINK aa The sizeable Studio
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In 1842, when the young Charles Dar
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grotto and birds of prey centre 10a
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populated by grazing sheep and the
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available on request, subject to av
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Beach: Address: The Estate Office,
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Emirates Spinnaker Tower THE SOUTHE
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043 Brunel’s SS Great Britain, Br
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and the tidal pools, as well as aro
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centre whose residents range from d
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Temple of Flora and Palladian Bridg
Page 65 and 66: 051 Haldon Forest Park, Devon Addre
Page 67 and 68: you can pre-book bikes with trailer
Page 69 and 70: Weymouth and Portland National Sail
Page 71 and 72: Octavia the octopus always draws a
Page 73 and 74: Trengwainton Garden THE SOUTHWEST p
Page 75 and 76: Lincoln Cathedral 059 Lincoln Cathe
Page 77 and 78: Ideas aa Animal sanctuaries Bolderw
Page 79 and 80: Holkham Hall Reserve: in summer you
Page 81 and 82: FOOD & DRINK aa The T&D café bar o
Page 83 and 84: a wheelchair, while benches provide
Page 85 and 86: Southwold Pier side and in all the
Page 87 and 88: Wicken Fen is one of Britain’s ol
Page 89 and 90: depending on what you most fancy se
Page 91 and 92: field Cavendish AM LE field Pentlow
Page 93 and 94: floor has a large step up to it, bu
Page 95 and 96: M6 M1 Barrow-in-Furness The West Mi
Page 97 and 98: A619 080 Peak District Scenic Drive
Page 99 and 100: a boat across it or admire it from
Page 101 and 102: 084 RAF Museum Cosford, Shropshire
Page 103 and 104: Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museu
Page 105 and 106: FOOD & DRINK aa The on-site café i
Page 107 and 108: Severn Valley Railway Northwood), a
Page 109 and 110: 091 Royal Shakespeare Company, Warw
Page 111 and 112: Hereford Cathedral FOOD & DRINK aa
Page 113 and 114: WWT Slimbridge mile. To take the wh
Page 115: M18 The Northwest MID LOTHIAN Berwi
Page 119 and 120: it’s a fairly steep hundred-yard
Page 121 and 122: 103 Brockholes Nature Reserve, Lanc
Page 123 and 124: Southport Pier 105 Airkix Indoor Sk
Page 125 and 126: the whole site (even the sewer syst
Page 127 and 128: installations in a converted docksi
Page 129 and 130: Anderton Boat Lift Blue Badge holde
Page 131 and 132: M18 The Northeast and Yorkshire 113
Page 133 and 134: smooth, solid surfaces, although it
Page 135 and 136: Designed by Sir Norman Foster, the
Page 137 and 138: fully accessible bus, with a wheelc
Page 139 and 140: efreshments, call in at the friendl
Page 141 and 142: Betty’s Tea Rooms, Harrogate If y
Page 143 and 144: Roundhay Park of here sits The Mans
Page 145 and 146: (book in advance). The museum has a
Page 147 and 148: Yorkshire Wildlife Park 128 Magna S
Page 149 and 150: Families are particularly well serv
Page 151 and 152: 130 Callanish Standing Stones, West
Page 153 and 154: Fort George (twenty degrees) onto t
Page 155 and 156: which you can reserve in advance. A
Page 157 and 158: Sitting in the heart of the Cairngo
Page 159 and 160: St Andrews itself isn’t easily ac
Page 161 and 162: (with a disabled toilet) about a hu
Page 163 and 164: all but the most limited hand funct
Page 165 and 166: 143 Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh Addres
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provide a stunning backdrop to the
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yards away from the house are the t
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M6 Wales ISLE OF MAN Barrow-in-Furn
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Electric Mountain landscape of Snow
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153-154 Llangollen Wharf and Pontcy
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Benar, turn off the A496 just befor
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Celtic Quest Coasteering When swimm
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159 Garwnant Forest Visitor Centre,
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some of the concrete surfaces insid
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163 Wales Millennium Centre, Cardif
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Northern Ireland Oronsay Colonsay J
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mobility. If you want to visit the
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(June-Aug Sat & Sun & bank hols), a
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the lives of more than 1500 passeng
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Grand Opera House, Belfast with dis
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Ulster Museum Discovery Zones - nat
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Ideas aa Heritage Fountains Abbey (
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Useful contacts This chapter featur
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advice on available facilities for
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than state what is possible. Predic
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Credits Reviewers: Claire-Louise Ba
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Accessible Britain

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