Judy Haynes, who runs No 10 B&B in Great Bedwyn, also runs the Bedwyn Footpaths Group and has been instrumental in our Walkers are Welcome accreditation for the Vale of Pewsey.
The Vale of Pewsey Walkers are Welcome group is very keen to find accessible walking routes – it is a bit of a challenge as we are quite a hilly area with the downs to north and south and much of the valley is farmed, so the surface across fields can be an issue at certain times of the year.
But actually, before we started finding suitable routes, we soon realised that we really needed to understand what is required for an accessible ramble. So Judy got in contact with the Disabled Ramblers, a national charity (disabledramblers.co.uk), to see if we could join them for a ramble and to find out their needs and how they organise their walks.
Paula from Disabled Ramblers invited us to join the group at Avebury (just west of Marlborough and part of the Stonehenge & Avebury World Heritage Site) for one of their National Rambles and so, on a sunny October day, we met at Avebury car park and were immediately amazed by their equipment.
They have a trailer that contains four mobility scooters and once they are unpacked, becomes an accessible loo! The four mobility scooters are available for people to borrow for the day. A smaller trailer is towed along the route with the necessary components of the portable loo in case anyone needs it on the way round. Genius!
Once everyone had gathered, we were given a briefing for the walk. There are three categories of walk which represent increasing measures of challenge, but the extent of the challenge relates to the type of mobility vehicle used. These grades then translate into the type of mobility vehicle that should be used on the ramble. The level of the Avebury walk was 3+ (the hardest category they do) which is for users of heavy duty and powerful scooters or buggies and means the terrain at times could be uneven or steep.
We all set off, scooters, buggies and walkers, and enjoyed stunning scenery, beautiful views and a lot of banter and chat. We stopped for tea and cake at Silbury Hill and were able to set up the portaloo tent when we stopped again by the Avebury stones for our lunch.
We rambled over paths, grass, uneven surfaces and quite a few muddy and wet bits – the scooters were amazingly agile.
It was a fabulous day out with a lovely group of people. What a wonderful organisation the Disabled Ramblers is. This charity organises rambles across the country and so members tour the country following the walk locations and staying for a couple of days or longer depending on the schedule of walks. If you are interested in joining or donating, then just contact Paula at paula@disabledramblers.co.uk.
We will be working with Disabled Ramblers to identify suitable routes for their walks in the Vale of Pewsey, so watch this space!
