The good,the bad and the .....

This blog is about recent experiences with different organisations and businesses so, let's start with

THE GOOD

MOTABILITY.

This charity supplied the WAV. They are as professional as it gets.If you have the opportunity to use them I am confident you will be very satisfied.

ALLIED MOBILITY

Are the WAVconverters, helpful every step of  the way. I had a problem getting the powerchair up the ramp and into the WAV when it was wet. Allied solved it by providing self adhesive pads, similar to  coarse sandpaper which stick to the ramp and give the tyres extra grip.


METROLINK

The Manchester tram system is ideal for the wheelchair traveller. The platforms have level access with the trams and there are bays on each tram for disabled passengers to stay in their wheelchairs or powerchairs and enjoy the panoramic views.
Please note,there are no toilet facilities on board.


GORDON RIGG GARDEN CENTRES

Have level access throughout and disabled facilities on each floor with lift access. Try their award winning bistro.Great value !






WETHERSPOONS

In my experience most sites have level access with good disabled facilities and the staff are very helpful.You will need a R.A.D.A.R. key to gain access to the loo.






TENPIN BOWL ROCHDALE

Under new management.They are very accommodating to the disabled and have recently installed new disabled toilets on the ground floor. There is ramp access to the bowling area which allows you to use a bowling frame instead of having to hurtle yourself down the lane!

THE BAD

LLOYDS PHARMACY

My local chemist  (attached to the doctor's surgery which is level throughout) has a large step into the shop and a door you need a battering ram to open! This pharmacy has plenty of room outside for a ramp but I am told they don't think one is necessary!!
Odd when you realise they promote a full range of mobility aids in their brochure.

KINGSWAY HOTEL
Ladies toilet doubles up as the disabled toilet - need I say more!
Except SAM SMITHS get into the 21st century.

MILNROW BALTI
 Pleasant disabled washroom but the hand drier didn't work and no alternative offered. Like many eating places,front of house gets the money spent on it and the basic requirements get overlooked.

THE HEYWOOD
Big pub with big rooms but no disabled toilet, despite recent refurbishment

THE.....?

RUCHI  INDIAN RESTAURANT
I phoned to book a table and asked the usual questions such as; do you have a disabled toilet? I was assured they had and, yes, it was on the ground floor. We duly arrived, no sign of the loo, so I asked the waiter who said they did not have such a facility! We decided to chance it, but later the inevitable happened! So I asked another waiter who led me to a door at the far end of the bar area and asked me to wait while they cleared a space??? When he opened this door it was full of mop, buckets,  staff coats and old junk.There was no washbasin but through the melee I found the toilet.Then, to my amazement, stored on the floor next to the toilet pan were bottles of water and soft drinks alongside cartons of fruit juice. As Peter Kay would say "What's all that about?"

                                          ____________________________

We recently spent a few days in Harrogate which is a favourite of ours. We were looking in the window of a shop called ZUULUU. I could not get in because there  was a large step, however the manageress saw us and asked if we would like to look around and promptly produced a homemade chipboard ramp and placed it in front of the step. How enterprising and inexpensive. Other shop owners please take note.