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Maye
Brosnan visited an old friend in London and found that British city’s
access lovely. I
flew from Cincinnati
to
London on Delta Airlines. The restrooms (as usual) were too small to
use. Anticipating this, I curbed my liquids before and during the
flight. I use a manual chair and was relieved that it survived the luggage
compartment intact. Upon arrival, an airline worker delivered it to the
cabin door where I transferred from the narrow skychair. Our
plane arrived at Gatwick Airport and
its accessible restroom was a welcome sight! Since Gatwick is outside of
London, I took an express train from the terminal to London’s Victoria
Station. Access to the train was step-free and a staff member escorted
me to a wheelchair space. Joy
was waiting for me at Victoria Station,
where she had scheduled one of London’s big black taxis, complete with
wheelchair ramps. The cab was easy for me to board, but Joy found it
awkward to climb inside with her crutches. After
we reached her flat in Knightsbridge, she and I visited a nearby pub. We
snacked on fish and chips and beer, and talked for hours. By the end of
the evening I was ready to collapse. Jet lag was setting in. I
slept in late the next day, and after a leisurely breakfast at Joy’s,
we headed for Harrod’s, the famous
department a few blocks away. I found the sidewalks smooth and curb cuts
were plentiful en route to this dazzling store. The first floor was filled
with lovely art objects far beyond my budget, but it was still fun to
tour this megalith of shopping. Their
Food Hall offers an astounding variety of cuisines. Where else can one
find 350 types of cheese or 150 types of bread? Visitors can also choose
from an amazing variety of fish, homemade pasta, sushi, and ethnic
foods, not to mention an ample array of exotic fruits and veggies. The
bakeries and candy departments are equally dazzling, but I bet that even
the air has calories there. Since
I’m a history nut, Joy’s friend, Kate, offered to drive us over to
see Westminster
Abbey, the burial place of kings, queens, and writers for
centuries. The abbey is located right across from Parliament
Square, and
Big Ben is also nearby.
I
chose to spend the next day, which was quite chilly with rain, in the British
Museum on Great Russell St. Fortunately, I brought my
hooded rain poncho, which I wore over a warm jacket.. I arrived by taxi and would have felt intimidated by
the many steps leading up to the stately building, if Joy hadn’t
assured me that there was an outside lift to the left of the stairs at
the main entrance. I rang the bell for assistance, and a guard appeared.
Soon I was rolling through an enormous gallery filled with massive
Egyptian stone carvings. This
museum is largely a repository of treasures captured from those days
when the sun never set on the British Empire. The treasures included the
Elgin marbles from Greece, Egyptian mummies, the Rosetta stone, Roman
statues, along with many Medieval and Renaissance treasures. The list is
endless. Prehistoric artifacts, Shakespeare folios, and even a
handwritten Lennon and McCartney song were all handsomely displayed. I
spent the entire day wandering through the many galleries. Then I went a
bit crazy shopping in their bookshop, but what’s a credit card for?
Accessible restrooms are located by the restaurant at the end of Room 2.
As
you can see, I crammed a lot of sightseeing into that week. Here are
some access notes on other places I visited. The National Gallery at Trafalger Square has a tremendous European painting collection that includes Rembrandt, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Cezanne, and Van Gogh. Wheelchair entrances are available at the Salisbury Wing and Orange Street. The free floor map shows where the lifts are located. The first floor has an accessible unisex restroom and snack bar. Since
the Tower of London’s buildings
are hundreds of years old, I wasn’t expecting a great deal of access.
The cobblestone paths there were jarring to say the least, but a look at
the famous Crown Jewels (viewed from an accessible moving walkway) was
worth the effort. An accessible restroom is on the premises. The
Changing of the Guards occurs at 11:10 a.m. in the courtyard
of Buckingham Palace. As the crowd
was quite large, I found viewing this event in a wheelchair extremely
difficult. London
is a bibliophile’s dream—especially the stretch of road from
Trafalgar Square to the Tottenham Court Road. Old and new, expensive and
cheap, they’re all here. The access to many of these shops was flat or
with only one step. Unfortunately, the upper and lower floors could only
be reached by stairs. My
last evening in London, Joy and I went to see the musical “Cats.”
Since many of London’s theaters are quite old, it’s good to check
access before buying tickets. That was easy to do. Joy contacted
Artsline
London’s Information & Advice Service for Disabled People on Arts
& Entertainment. They have a large database describing
access to cinemas theaters, museums, etc. "Cats"
was playing at the New London Theatre
on Drury Lane, WC2 Box
Office Tel: 0171 405 0072 They
had a wheelchair space and an accompanying seat for Joy available, and
we were instructed to arrive 30 minutes before the performance. Our
excellent seats were very close to the stage (four rows back). Although
I covered a great deal of London in seven short days, I am far from
satiated. Whoever said, “If you’re tired of London, you’re tired
of life” had it absolutely right. Resources Tripscope,
the Courtyard, Evelyn Road, Chiswick W45JL Dial-A-Cab
(Tel: 0171 253-5000) is a good source to book cabs with ramps. Holiday Care Service, 2nd Floor, Imperial Buildings, Victoria Road,
Horley, Surrey,
England RH6 7PZ is a good source for accessible hotel info. Excellent guidebook for London and its environs. RADAR (The Royal Association for Disability And Rehabilitation) Offers travel guides for the UK and Europe. Everybody's Hotel Directory Editor's note: For another view of London, see Norman Cooper's excellent London article in our Travel Archives section.
Global Access Disabled Travel
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Joy
had to work the rest of the week, so I had to figure out my own tourist
schedule during the daytime. The tube’s (subway) inaccessibility, was
out of the question, so if I couldn’t roll somewhere under my own
power, I used the taxis with ramps.