3
Rough going on 'accessible' trail
I visited alone with my TravelScoot (a lightweight mobility scooter that gives a similar ride to a manual wheelchair).
The Blue Badge parking spaces are fairly close to the Information Centre, cafe and loos. You pay for parking by card at a machine before you leave (ANPR is in operation). Personally, I felt the parking was a rip-off at £10.50 for 2.5 hours!
There are accessible loos (radar key) and a Changing Place.
The cafe is wheelchair accessible, though a small lip at the entrance door floor required a bit of momentum for me to get over it.
After lunch, I went to the Info Centre, where I was told that the accessible trail was the Archer's Stroll (just over a mile long), which starts from the other side of the cafe. Setting off, I felt a little unsure how to navigate around the cafe, as this wasn't obvious to me. I then picked up the trail, which is well-marked with a black arrow on a white background.
The trail's terrain was variable. Some sections were quite smooth (highly compacted small chippings which have a thin blanket of rotted vegetation - clearly these are older sections that have bedded-in). These sections were a dream! Other parts were very rough as they had a lot of very large loose chippings, which made it an extremely bumpy ride. I certainly would not like to be pushing a wheelchair (or a child's pushchair, for that matter) along these sections, yet the trail is advertised on the forest's website as being suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Benches are dotted around, so it's nice to take a pause (and give your spine a rest from the bone-shaking path!).
I feel that the trail would best suit a mobility scooter/powered wheelchair with larger pneumatic wheels and very good suspension.
I visited midweek when it wasn't too busy. I imagine weekends would be crowded, as the forest hosts a great play area and access to a Go Ape high-ropes attraction.
I visited alone with my TravelScoot (a lightweight mobility scooter that gives a similar ride to a manual wheelchair).
The Blue Badge parking spaces are fairly close to the Information Centre, cafe and loos. You pay for parking by card at a machine before you leave (ANPR is in operation). Personally, I felt the parking was a rip-off at £10.50 for 2.5 hours!
There are accessible loos (radar key) and a Changing Place.
The cafe is wheelchair accessible, though a small lip at the entrance door floor required a bit of momentum for me to get over it.
After lunch, I went to the Info Centre, where I was told that the accessible trail was the Archer's Stroll (just over a mile long), which starts from the other side of the cafe. Setting off, I felt a little unsure how to navigate around the cafe, as this wasn't obvious to me. I then picked up the trail, which is well-marked with a black arrow on a white background.
The trail's terrain was variable. Some sections were quite smooth (highly compacted small chippings which have a thin blanket of rotted vegetation - clearly these are older sections that have bedded-in). These sections were a dream! Other parts were very rough as they had a lot of very large loose chippings, which made it an extremely bumpy ride. I certainly would not like to be pushing a wheelchair (or a child's pushchair, for that matter) along these sections, yet the trail is advertised on the forest's website as being suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Benches are dotted around, so it's nice to take a pause (and give your spine a rest from the bone-shaking path!).
I feel that the trail would best suit a mobility scooter/powered wheelchair with larger pneumatic wheels and very good suspension.
I visited midweek when it wasn't too busy. I imagine weekends would be crowded, as the forest hosts a great play area and access to a Go Ape high-ropes attraction.
For additional detailed accessibility information, please contact: info@forestryengland.uk
