Accessible Britain

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A Welsh male-voice choir at the Llangollen Eisteddfod Llangollen Eisteddfod WALES A good place to take in the scenery is the accessible riverside promenade, which incorporates a park with a children’s play area and plenty of seating. From here, you can often see the atmospheric trails of steam coming from the Llangollen Railway (01978 860979, www.llangollen-railway.co.uk), which operates from a handsome old station across the river. Shining locomotives pull beautifully restored coaches through the Dee Valley, as far as Carrog, some seven miles west, with a specially adapted coach for wheelchair users: note that it is essential to pre-book this carriage. The station has accessible toilets and wheelchair access to all platforms, plus limited disabled parking. Another nostalgic form of transport is on offer at Llangollen Wharf, up a steep hillside overlooking the town, where you can take a horse-drawn narrowboat along a pretty canal – see p.175 for full details. Mention should also be made of the Llangollen Eisteddfod (www.internationaleisteddfod.co.uk), a week-long international music and folk dance festival which takes place here every July. The festival has been going strong for over sixty years, and regularly attracts the biggest names in the music world – previous participants have included Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras and Nigel Kennedy, among others. It’s held in the town’s Royal International Pavilion, which has limited Blue Badge parking (best booked in advance) and dedicated wheelchair spaces and a hearing loop in the auditorium. There’s no easy way to get to Llangollen on public transport – unless you’re coming by bus from a nearby town, such as Wrexham – so most visitors end up driving here. There are several Blue Badge spaces in the central car park on Market Street (you need to pay to park here), which also has two RADAR key-accessible toilets. The compact town centre is fairly flat, and getting around is pretty straightforward; though some of the pavements are rather narrow, most now have regular drop kerbs. As well as the attractions mentioned above, there’s lots of fun to be had just pottering around, exploring the shops and enjoying the views. There are also some terrific places to visit a short drive away, including the breathtaking Horseshoe Pass, high in the mountains, and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (see p.175), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the Tourist Information Centre on Castle Street (01978 860828) for more information. 174
153–154 Llangollen Wharf and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Denbighshire Horse-drawn boats: Address: Wharf Hill, Llangollen LL20 8TA Web: www.horsedrawnboats.co.uk Tel: 01978 860702 Hours: daily 11am–4pm; trips every 30 minutes during school holidays, hourly at other times Dates: closed Nov–Easter Entry: prices start from [D]£6.50 [C]£6.50 [A]£6.50 [child]£3.50 [Fam]£17 Vale of Llangollen Canal Boat Trust: Address: The Old Wharf, Trevor Basin LL20 7TY Web: www.vlcbt.org. uk/ Tel: 01978 861450 Hours: private bookings only; from 9.30am, trips can last from 3hrs to full day Dates: closed Nov–Mar Entry: minimum donation of £85 per trip (up to twelve people) The Llangollen Canal offers an alluring combination of tranquillity and superb Welsh scenery. In 2009, an eleven-mile stretch of it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the two-hundred-year-old Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which carries the canal high over the River Dee. Over a thousand feet long and a dizzying 126 feet high, this is the tallest navigable aqueduct in the world. Those with a strong head for heights can walk across it – the footpath, protected on one side by a metal railing, is just about wide enough for a wheelchair, but note that there’s no barrier between the path and the narrow canal trough running alongside it. A less daunting prospect is to take a boat across the WALES Pontcysyllte Aqueduct 175
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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
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051 Haldon Forest Park, Devon Addre
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you can pre-book bikes with trailer
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Weymouth and Portland National Sail
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Octavia the octopus always draws a
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Trengwainton Garden THE SOUTHWEST p
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Lincoln Cathedral 059 Lincoln Cathe
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Ideas aa Animal sanctuaries Bolderw
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Holkham Hall Reserve: in summer you
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FOOD & DRINK aa The T&D café bar o
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a wheelchair, while benches provide
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Southwold Pier side and in all the
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Wicken Fen is one of Britain’s ol
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depending on what you most fancy se
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field Cavendish AM LE field Pentlow
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floor has a large step up to it, bu
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M6 M1 Barrow-in-Furness The West Mi
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A619 080 Peak District Scenic Drive
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a boat across it or admire it from
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084 RAF Museum Cosford, Shropshire
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Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museu
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FOOD & DRINK aa The on-site café i
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Severn Valley Railway Northwood), a
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091 Royal Shakespeare Company, Warw
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Hereford Cathedral FOOD & DRINK aa
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WWT Slimbridge mile. To take the wh
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M18 The Northwest MID LOTHIAN Berwi
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South of Grasmere you’ll pass the
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it’s a fairly steep hundred-yard
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103 Brockholes Nature Reserve, Lanc
Page 123 and 124: Southport Pier 105 Airkix Indoor Sk
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Page 127 and 128: installations in a converted docksi
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Page 133 and 134: smooth, solid surfaces, although it
Page 135 and 136: Designed by Sir Norman Foster, the
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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
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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
Page 167 and 168: provide a stunning backdrop to the
Page 169 and 170: yards away from the house are the t
Page 171 and 172: M6 Wales ISLE OF MAN Barrow-in-Furn
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Page 179 and 180: Celtic Quest Coasteering When swimm
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Page 183 and 184: some of the concrete surfaces insid
Page 185 and 186: 163 Wales Millennium Centre, Cardif
Page 187 and 188: Northern Ireland Oronsay Colonsay J
Page 189 and 190: mobility. If you want to visit the
Page 191 and 192: (June-Aug Sat & Sun & bank hols), a
Page 193 and 194: the lives of more than 1500 passeng
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Page 197 and 198: Ulster Museum Discovery Zones - nat
Page 199 and 200: Ideas aa Heritage Fountains Abbey (
Page 201 and 202: Useful contacts This chapter featur
Page 203 and 204: advice on available facilities for
Page 205 and 206: than state what is possible. Predic
Page 207: Credits Reviewers: Claire-Louise Ba
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Accessible Britain

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