Small but beautiful botanic garden
3.5
3.5
Date of visit: July 2018
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Good
On arrival the car park has one Disabled parking bay; it's a small carpark though. (Their website states there are several disabled parking bays, so not sure where the other ones are!) It's a very short distance to the entrance kiosk. The staff are inside (and were very friendly) and deal with you through a window which is too high for someone using a wheelchair to access. They may have a solution for that but we didn't need to find out as I was standing and able to deal with the transaction for my son who is the wheelchair user. They offer free carer entry. The paths through the gardens that we explored are a fine gravel; I had no issues pushing the chair on these paths. However I could see some areas that weren't pathed so it isn't 100% accessible by wheelchair. There is a summer house near the entrance in which they have a small shop but this had a stepped entrance so I had the leave the chair outside while nipped in for a quick look. There is a small cafe next to the entrance too, we didn't eat there. It looked small but not too cramped with tables and I would have ventured in there had we needed to. We spent quite a bit of time in the Glasshouses. These are tight! In several places we had to reverse back out as there was no space to turn around in dead-end rooms. There are small signs saying not to touch the plants as some are poisonous, but everything is within very easy reach so if you are taking someone who likes, or wants to explore the feel of the plants this might be a problem. We also paid to visit the butterfly house. It is literally a room full of butterflies. Access is level but there is a plastic door hanging at each end that needs to be pulled aside and is tricky if you are on your own. The member of staff was friendly enough but made no effort to make sure we got in and out ok. There is one accessible toilet at the entrance, behind the café but the entrance is very tight and I struggled to get the chair in and out without lifting the back to get round the corner. In summary a pretty place to wander around but not much effort has been made for disabled people.
Disabled Access In and Around
Poor
Saw very little signage. Flats paths through main areas but not throughout entire gardens. Summerhouse garden shop has step entrance and glasshouses very narrow.
Parking & Transport
Average
Parked in the one disabled bay that we could see in the carpark directly outside the entrance
Accessible Toilets
Poor
Looking was easy to find being cafe but very narrow entrance and difficult to get in with a wheelchair. Reasonable cleanliness.
Staff
Good
Very friendly lady on entrance but slightly let down by flustered and frosty woman in butterfly house who made no effort to help us get in and out.
Additional Information
To be fair it's difficult to see how the glasshouse access could be improved as they are very old. Paths could be made accessible throughout the gardens and a ramp to the garden shop would be an easy solution.
