Accessible Britain

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LONDON Discover: Children’s Story Centre Access around the centre is excellent: there is a step-free entrance, a lift to the Story Studio, a ramp into the Story Garden and an accessible toilet with grab-rails. The staff members are extremely welcoming and – because of their experience with a special educational needs club and community work – very comfortable with children of all abilities. There are four disabled parking bays at the back of Discover, accessed via Bridge Road, that are usually free at weekends. The Stratford Centre car park is close by, but charges the full rate for disabled drivers. The nearest station is now Stratford High Street on the newly extended DLR and is only a couple of minutes from Discover. Alternatively Stratford station – on the DLR, Jubilee, Central and London Overground lines – is a ten-minute walk away and provides a good public transport option as it is completely accessible. FOOD & DRINK aa The open café space, near the entrance to the building, sells sandwiches cakes and ice creams. If you bring a picnic, you can eat outside while you watch the children play and slide down a monster’s tongue – it is not often that happens! 008 Lord’s Cricket Ground Address: Marylebone Cricket Club, London NW8 8QN Web: www.lords.org Tel: ticket office 020 74321000; tour 020 76168595 Hours: tours hourly 10am–3pm; call for information Dates: check website for match dates; no tours on or immediately before major matches. Entry: tour [D]£15 [C]free [A]£18 [5–15s]£11 [Con]£12 [Fam]£49 Lord’s Cricket Ground is the place where every batsman dreams of scoring a hundred runs, and where every cricket fan wants to see it happen. Tickets for international matches sell out months in advance, but there’s an easier way to access the venue: on a behind-the-scenes tour (lasting 1hr 40min), where you’ll get to see many of the sport’s famous relics, including the legendary Ashes Urn. 20
The tour starts in the MCC Museum where – as well as the famous trophy – a collection of paintings, photos and memorabilia celebrates four hundred years of cricketing history. You’ll also take in the Long Room, through which players make their way to and from the ground, and the dressing rooms, where the famous Honours Boards record the names of players who score a Lord’s century or take five wickets in an innings. Another highlight is the futuristic Media Centre, which offers an unrivalled view of the ground. Finally, like every modern tour, this one ends in the gift shop. Most areas visited on the tour can be accessed without any problem, though the upper floor of the museum is reached by stairs only – if you ask, someone will bring down a replica of the Ashes Urn and tell its story. For those attending a match, there are three wheelchair enclosures, only one of which is covered; there’s also an induction loop within the Grand Stand, and audio commentary is provided via headsets available from stewards. There are six accessible toilets around the ground; ask a steward for a RADAR key. There’s no car park, but set-down and pick-up passes are available from Club Facilities (020 76168653), and the venue is served by wheelchair-accessible buses. FOOD & DRINK aa Restaurants and bars throughout the ground cater to every palate and wallet. Particularly recommended are the outstanding bacon or roast beef rolls available from the bar behind the Warner stand. LONDON 009 Spitalfields Market Address: Brushfield Street E1 6AA Web: www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com; www.spitalfields.co.uk Tel: 020 73752963; Old Spitalfields Market 020 72478556 Hours: markets Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 9am–5pm; shops & restaurants open daily, times vary Dates: closed 25 Dec Entry: free Spitalfields Market – which has been around in one form or another since the thirteenth century – sits under a glorious vaulted Victorian roof in London’s fashionable East End. You can come simply to soak up the atmosphere, but with so much to taste, try on and check out, few can resist the temptation to join in the bustling bargain-hunting for long. The market building – which underwent a major refurbishment in 2003 – offers an appealing blend of historical charm and contemporary chic. There’s a changing rota of traders throughout the week: antiques and vintage goods on Thursdays; fashion, arts and crafts on Fridays; and on Sundays, a lively mixture of anything and everything, from textiles to gluten-free cakes and freshly harvested oysters. Based around the perimeter of the building, and open every day of the week, are funky art and design shops, some well-known chain restaurants and other independent or family-run cafés selling delicious international foods. Just over fifty yards from the market entrance on Brushfield Street is a Blue Badge bay with a three-hour limit. Handily though, Blue Badge holders can pay and display on single and double yellow lines for an unlimited time throughout the borough of Tower Hamlets. The main market area has excellent level access throughout, and the only problems you might face are step-entry to some of the shops and cafés, and busy passages between stalls at peak time – Sundays in particular can get crammed, so 21
Page 1 and 2: THE ROUGH GUIDE to Accessible Brita
Page 3 and 4: Enjoy even more fun, family days ou
Page 5 and 6: Contents Click on any chapter to go
Page 7 and 8: About this book Designed to be good
Page 9 and 10: HERITAGE HIGHLIGHTS IWM Duxford (E.
Page 11 and 12: Brockholes Nature Reserve (Northwes
Page 13 and 14: London 001 The Roundhouse 002 Wembl
Page 15 and 16: It’s the colour of the pitch - su
Page 17 and 18: On the site of the London 2012 Olym
Page 19: LONDON ZSL London Zoo FOOD & DRINK
Page 23 and 24: LONDON Royal Opera House FOOD & DRI
Page 25 and 26: LONDON London Transport Museum ther
Page 27 and 28: Ideas aa Art and sculpture Tate St
Page 29 and 30: 016 Westminster Abbey Address: 20 D
Page 31 and 32: hop-on/hop-off at any stop along th
Page 33 and 34: the Painted Hall and chapel. There
Page 35 and 36: 023 Horniman Museum and Gardens Add
Page 37 and 38: 024 Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire
Page 39 and 40: Parents of any disabled child will
Page 41 and 42: If you’d rather go sightseeing, h
Page 43 and 44: FOOD & DRINK aa The sizeable Studio
Page 45 and 46: In 1842, when the young Charles Dar
Page 47 and 48: grotto and birds of prey centre 10a
Page 49 and 50: populated by grazing sheep and the
Page 51 and 52: available on request, subject to av
Page 53 and 54: Beach: Address: The Estate Office,
Page 55 and 56: Emirates Spinnaker Tower THE SOUTHE
Page 57 and 58: 043 Brunel’s SS Great Britain, Br
Page 59 and 60: and the tidal pools, as well as aro
Page 61 and 62: centre whose residents range from d
Page 63 and 64: 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
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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
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Southport Pier 105 Airkix Indoor Sk
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the whole site (even the sewer syst
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installations in a converted docksi
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Anderton Boat Lift Blue Badge holde
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M18 The Northeast and Yorkshire 113
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smooth, solid surfaces, although it
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Designed by Sir Norman Foster, the
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fully accessible bus, with a wheelc
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efreshments, call in at the friendl
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Betty’s Tea Rooms, Harrogate If y
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Roundhay Park of here sits The Mans
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(book in advance). The museum has a
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Yorkshire Wildlife Park 128 Magna S
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Families are particularly well serv
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130 Callanish Standing Stones, West
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Fort George (twenty degrees) onto t
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which you can reserve in advance. A
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Sitting in the heart of the Cairngo
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St Andrews itself isn’t easily ac
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(with a disabled toilet) about a hu
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all but the most limited hand funct
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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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