Both the South Devon Railway, Buckfastleigh and the Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, have facilities for disabled people , the details of which cab be found on their respective websites as listed below:

South Devon Railway

All our stations are suitable for access by disabled people who are warmly welcomed.

There is plenty of car parking at Buckfastleigh. Our trains have disabled access and reserved spaces for wheelchair users.

Buckfastleigh station is the best starting point for your journey as we have easy, flat access and parking very close to the platform.

Our station at Totnes is only accessible via a footpath link and is some 464 yards from the nearest parking at Totnes National Rail station.

Please note that our dining trains do not have reserved spaces for wheelchair using passengers and the doors of the dining train carriages are narrower than the width of standard wheelchairs. However, we would urge you to contact us so we can help meet your specific requirements.

Museum of the Great Western Railway (STEAM)

STEAM is fully accessible – with lifts and ramps giving wheelchair and pushchair access throughout the museum. Disabled toilet facilities are also available.

The displays have many features designed to meet the needs of people with special needs.

We are pleased to provide the following facilities and services:

• An experience of sights, sounds, smell and touch
• Free admission to carers or helpers assisting a disabled visitor
• Free loan of wheelchair or motorised scooter
• Fully accessible toilets, fitted with call point
• Personal guiding scheme for unaccompanied disabled visitors (booking required)
• Subtitled video and large print information panels throughout STEAM
• Low-level counters at the Ticket Desk, Shop and Cafe
• Induction loop system at the Ticket Desk
• Easy to read signage
• Guide, hearing and companion dogs welcome (dog bowls available)
• Automatic entrance doors
• Adult changing room
• Free parking for disabled visitors is available within 25 metres of STEAM. Disabled visitors can be dropped off outside the museum entrance. There is level access to STEAM from all car parking areas.

Share this on:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Tourism for All have recently updated some of their publications for disabled holiday makers. The new publications include a 30 page “Activity and Special Interest Holidays” and 12 page “Transport” guides.

The Activity and Special Interest Holidays publication gives information and advice regarding:

• Organisations providing activity holidays
• Multi-Activity Centres
• Water based activity holidays
• Special interest holidays
• Accommodation with activities available nearby
• Useful contacts

The Transport publication is a great resource for people wanting to know more about:

• Travel by Rail
• Travel by Car
• Travel by Air
• Travel by Coach
• London Transport
• National Travel Associations
• National Voluntary Organisations offering assistance

To order your copy of the new publications as well as any of the older ones simply visit the Tourism for All publications page.

Share this on:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

The Bure Valley Railway runs almost al year round from Aylsham to Wroxham in Norfolk and has to be a great way to see the area. When I first found this through the VisitNorfolk website I was slightly cynical in thinking that there wouldn’t be any facilities for disabled people. However, after a few clicks and a little bit of exploring I found the Disabled Access information page and was pleasantly surprised to find that not only are both of the stations accessible but also the Bure Valley Railway has 6 adapted carriages that can take up to 4 manual wheelchairs each!

The Bure Valley Railway also work with Broads Tours so that people can take the train and then an hour and a half long river boat trip before going back to Aylsham by train. What’s more, the Broads Tours boat also have facilities for disabled people including access statements for each of the boats!

For me this looks like a great day out for all the family and shows that companies are not just providing facilities but are also trying to give us the information that we need in order to make informed decisions about whether an attraction is suitable for our individual requirements.

Share this on:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

OK, so it’s not quite Glastonbury, but this weekend (4th – 6th September) the small town of Bingley, just outside Bradford, West Yorkshire, hosts it’s very own music festival (BML). The line up includes well known bands such as The Undertones, Doves, Editors and Calvin Harris as well as local bands that have competed for the right to play at BML.On the Essential Information page of the BML website they state:

“There is a viewing area for disabled people at the side of the event arena. Guide Dogs for the blind and/or deaf are the only animals allowed on the Festival site. Parking for disabled blue badge holders is available at Myrtle Park Primary School, Beech Street. (Follow signs) Please note: Disabled parking spaces are limited and are available on a first come first served basis.

We offer a free carer ticket to anyone who accompanies a wheelchair user or someone who cannot attend the festival without assistance. These tickets are only available from Bradford Theatres Box Office on 01274 436000.”

Information regarding getting to the event can also be found on the BML website and those requiring assistance on trains should remember to book in advance.

For information regarding accommodation providers with varying levels of facilities for people with disabilities please check the OpenBritain search facility.

I hope to see you all there, I know I will be….

Share this on:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

After the Equal Adventue Festival 09 I had to get to London for the following day, there were really only two options; fly or a train. The problem with flying was that I would have to leave the festival early and then also pay for an overnight hotel in the capital, neither time nor budgets allowed for this so I looked into the Caledonian Sleeper Train provided by Scott Rail which would not only get me to London in time for my meeting but also give me a place to sleep on the Sunday night.

After looking through the access information on their website and decided to take the plunge…

I have to admit that I was very pleasently surprised by the Sleeper Train, the berth was farily spacious, the adapted WC and buffet car were right next door and the staff were friendly and helpful.

The wheelchair accessible berth

The adapted WC

The trip was much more comfortable than I expected, I slept really well, the conductor brought me breakfast in bed at 8.00am and I was in London Euston by 9.15am. It was the perfect way to travel from rural Scotland to the hussle and bussle on the big smoke and so very easy.

Just for fun, below is a short video clip of the Scottish countryside flying by the window of my berth on the Caledonian Sleeper, enjoy…

Share this on:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Please note that the OpenBritain launch date is the 1st September 2009, please come and visit us again to see the full completed site. In the meantime, here’s some OpenBritain News!

I recently attended the Equal Adventure Festival in Scotland on behalf of OpenBritain and part of the adventure was catching a train from Leeds to Aviemore.I prebooked a one way train ticket to Aviemore and assistance at Leeds City Train Station which cost £69.85 with my Disabled Persons Railcard.

When my departure date came around I arrived at Leeds about 15 minutes before the train was due to leave and boarded without a hitch.The space for wheelchair users on the train is clearly marked and comfirtable including a small table, plug socket and an emergency intercom to be able to speak directly with the driver.

The next part of the adventure was when I arrived at Edinburgh Train Station to find that of the lifts wasn’t in operation due to refurbishment work. I was quickly and effectively loaded and onto a platform vehicle with tank-like tracks for decending the staircase.

The whole experience was great fun and the staff at ScotRail were appropriately trained, helpful and respectful of my dignity. Shortly afterwards I continued my journey to Aviemore without incident where I was met by one of the team from Equal Adventure.

Below: A video of the Edinburgh Station stair descent.

Share this on:

Powered by Bookmarkify™