Bamburgh Castle

The moment the car park attendant spotted my Blue Badge he directed me to the most convenient parking spot. As my son and I got out of the car he told us about the electric 'golf buggy' service that would take us up the hill to the castle. I use a walker which makes some of the castle inaccessible but there was a video available if the rooms I couldn't visit. All the attendants were really friendly and helpful, and when we'd seen enough one radioed for a buggy to take us back to the car park. I was really impressed - without this service my visit would have been impossible.

Bamburgh has done a lot of work on its website and in the castle itself to provide a good experience for disabled visitors. Between the read aloud on the website, the reduced price for disabled folk (free for one carer), the plentiful information on the website and the electric vehicles to carry you up to the main building, I managed to have a fantastic day. The staff were lovely.

Bamburgh Castle loomed before us and I did wonder how on earth I was going to get in. Once in the main carpark we were filtered off and made our way up a very narrow track. There was no room for passing and it is a good job they use radios to manage comings and goings. This must of been how they got up to the castle years ago, it is amazing a car fits through the gatehouse. Once at the top parking could not of been close and even without need of a wheelchair I didn't envy the walk up from the main carpark. It was an easy wheel to the main door, here was a sloping step/ramp which was tricky to negotiate (needed moe muscle). The first part of the castle was no problem and visitors were asked to move around in a clockwise way, to see everything. I was unable to venture further and shown a DVD of what I was missing. It appears that I miss a lot. Incidentally on looking out of Windows brings home how high it actually is and how close the sea is. Once the Castle was done we headed for the little coffee shop, well shed really. It was the old stables. Apparently this wasn't the main cafe as that was up some steps. There was a disabled toilet / baby change and unfortunately I was after one. There were grab rails and my wheelchair fitted insider. But it did not feel hygienic! Probably just me being picky(it also felt like going into a shed).