Attractive garden but deep gravel makes accessibility difficult.
2.5
2.5
Date of visit: September 2024
I am a carer or friend of a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets, hearing and moving around.
I use or have experience of: changing places toilet, disabled toilet, hearing aid or cochlear implant, walking aid, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Average
This free National Trust garden and orchard is in the middle of Melrose. There are many old varieties of apple trees along with a mulberry tree and other fruit trees.
Disabled Access In and Around
Average
The entrance and the garden are step free. A helpful previous review mentioned that improvements were being made to the paths in the garden. Sadly, the 'improvement' seems to have been to lay deep gravel. It was so deep in places that the wheels of the chair sank in so I had to tug them from the front to get moving. There is one paved area to the left of the entrance if you can make it over the gravel which is actually a bit less deep there. The grass in the orchard area is easier to wheel on than the gravel. There are some seats with armrests and backs and some picnic style tables and benches. I only saw one very low seat in the orchard area. Produce was for sale with an honesty box - mostly apples given the time of year.
Parking & Transport
Good
The garden does not have its own car park but is about a minute's walk/wheel from a public car park. There is also on street parking. The car park can get very busy.
Accessible Toilets
0There are no toilets at the garden. There are public toilets up the road a bit but it is a bit of a slope. The public toilet has a wall mounted rail but not a drop-down rail. It looks like there has been one at some time so hopefully will be replaced.
Additional Information
It is an attractive garden and worth a visit if you can cope with gravel. Maybe (giving the benefit of the doubt) it was newly laid and might bed down a bit. It would have been nice to see the apple trees labelled so we knew which were the old varieties but maybe there are worries about people taking cuttings or apples.
