RHS Garden Bridgewater

A friend bought me membership of the RHS for Christmas and I had never been before. I arranged to borrow a mobility scooter via an online booking. They take a £5 returnable donation when you pick up the scooter, any donations given via this route go towards maintenance of the mobility equipment. I was shown how to drive the scooter ( really straight forward). I was able to access most of the garden on the scooter, we found only one path with steps and this was well sign posted. There were disabled toilets that were very well maintained both at the entrance and along the route. The paths were well maintained and mostly level or only small inclines. The cafe, garden centre and shop were easily navigable with my rollator.

Our first visit here and was really pleased that every thing was so accessible in wheel chair. My husband said the disabled toilets had hoists and showers in the toilets. Outside the paths around the gardens were accessible. There are mobility scooters and wheelchairs available for hire also but advisable to book in advance. We did use the cafe but sat outside under the shelter as it was really busy inside. We would recommend and will visit again.

This is a fairly new garden, so some areas are still under development. What is there already is very much worth seeing. We went to eat in The Stables, which is quite a walk but my husband pushed me in the wheelchair. The stable area is cobbled and slightly tricky but it was also possible to sit outside it on level ground. We ate inside and had lovely stone-baked pizza. We looked round the vast walled garden. Lots of lovely things to see, including herbs, spring bulbs and blossoming trees. The paths are fairly smooth bonded gravel or paved. Lots of benches. We didn't try to get to the woodland areas, but steps were marked on the map so if we had, we would have been able to avoid those. The cafe in the visitor centre has a decked area outside, as well as indoor level seating area. There is also a garden centre. This is a great place to visit whether disabled or not, and it will be good to return in different seasons. Best on a nice day though. Not much shelter outdoors if irains. It's fantastic to see how much the RHS has considered the needs of disabled people.