LIFE ON WHEELS Scroll Down To Start 🙂🙂🙂 🙄

Got both new WAV an new chair and other than a few trips to the local town I have had no adventures. Today was different. This morning I drove my Power Chair into the car and was taken to another local destination. We went to Marquis Drive on Cannock Chase. Here there are a couple of flat, surfaced trails ideal for my chair. There are benches set by the trail should you need a rest. The surface is generally smooth although there is a bumpy bit and the odd pothole. The path is wide enough to accommodate the two way traffic of other chairs, push chairs, bikes, scooters and dog walkers.

As we headed back to the car stopped at the little cafe for refreshments. I stayed outside but am told I would get inside ok.

This was the first trip in about 2 years thanks to Covid 19, so this review may be a bit shaky! A trip out to a nearby nursery eased us back into the world gently.

The first thing that was really noticeable was the size of the carpark, huge, and there were plenty of disabled spaces. Some of the spaces were near to the entrance/exit. The ground was my first easy to wheel on surface of the day.

There are other shop on the site, not just the Garden centre, park further out and you pass them en route to the main building. We went in a couple and I don’t think I have ever seen isles so big. The layout was very wheelchair friendly with an easy surface to wheel on and wide automatic doors at the entrances. Turns out this wheelchair friendly theme extended intro the garden centre with both easy wheeling and wide aisles.

There was a disabled toilet which did not require a key, good layout with plenty of room. I didn’t notice a hoist but I did notice the emergence pull cord didn’t reach the floor, but was tied up.

My first excursion on my own with hearing was for a meal to celebrate a friends birthday and Christmas. It was at lunchtime, so not dark but very wet. The venue was Ye Olde Dun Cow in Colton, a place I had not visited before. It was torrential rain and a mad dash to get inside, my observation was not brilliant and I failed to note if there were disabled spaces, but I did note the car park was fairly large and the surface good for the wheelchair. There is a gentle, curvy slop in, I thing it is at the side of the building. Once inside there was no problem getting to our table, and I stayed in my chair as it fitted nicely to the table. The table positioning was great as it was behind a wall and quiet (nobody walking past) which was ideal for my hearing.

Staff I met were all cheerful and helpful and the food lovely, made even better by the fact Guinness was available.

Ye olde Dun Cow does not have a disabled toilet but there is a large area around the sinks, large enough for the wheelchair. The chair stayed outside and the cubicle entered using the walls for support. Grab rails would be a helpful addition here. Getting in and out of the toilets was challenging too as there are 2 doors at right angles which the wheelchair did not like and found a tight squeeze.

In August I did visit a new cafe, Tuppenhurst Barn, for coffee. It is an out of the way cafe, hence quiet. Disabled access is great, there is a large carpark just outside the entrance. There seemed to be no purposely marked disabled spaces but the surface was easy to wheel on. Once inside you turned right into the Barn, there was a very gentle slope to negotiate and pick a table. I stayed in my chair, which pulled nicely up to the table. After coffee and a scone (very nice) I went to investigate. The floor is wooden and no trouble self propelling, the big widow at the end looks out to more of the farm and there is a door leading to the outer seating area. I wheeled back to the entrance (needed a bit of help up the slope) and leaped into the toilet. No problems there, plenty of room for the chair, grab rails, the red emergency cord hung freely to the ground and there were clean hand towels for visitors as well as being very clean. Alas no hoist and you have to share with babies but never mind.