I'm glad I had a power chair
3.5
3.5
Date of visit: October 2022
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Good
Whilst having a wee break in Peebles, my wife thought the it would be nice to have a visit to Dawyck Botanic Gardens. If being honest, I knew nothing about them before this visit, nor that they were connected to the Botanic gardens in Edinburgh
Disabled Access In and Around
0Disabled access to the reception area was good, once reached from parking. In the cafe, we had to move chairs to reach a vacant table. Exiting the building to the gardens was really good with a powered door. There was a number of seats throughout the garden for anyone requiring them
Parking & Transport
Good
I may have missed the signage, but we did find the disabled parking bays. We then had to go back a bit to get on the path upto the main building. My scoring is based on that disabled parking did exist. I do not know if this venue can be reached by public transport.
Accessible Toilets
Good
I did not need to use these but my wife told me they were clearly signed.
Staff
Excellent
The person who we saw in reception was really helpful, pointing out the wheelchair route through the gardens Other than this lady (and the cafe) we did not have any other interactions with staff. The wheelchair route was suitable for my powered chair, although I was a bit vary of going on some parts of it.
Additional Information
I’m not really into gardens (my wife is) but I have to admit I was very impressed by the number of really large trees and colours of them (bushes in the garden were also very colourful). To a ‘non gardener’ such as myself I found the little information boards in front of tress etc., really informative. (although I would have preferred a lager font size) I also enjoyed picking out the sculptures mentioned in the guide and was very interested in seeing and learning about the Dynamo house. To summarise, we did enjoy our visit to Dawyck Gardens. I realise the wheelchair route restricted what my wife could have seen, but we were still able to get a feel for these wonderful garden. Certainly if we are in the area again, we would consider visiting again.
