Fascinating little gem in the heart of the Cotswold.
4
4
Date of visit: May 2016
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Good
Wonderful tiny museum telling the story of mechanical music machines from the 18th to 20th century.Guided tours with demonstrations of exquisite music boxes through barrel organs, early phonographs and gramophones to precursors of juke boxes and 'live' performances by Gershwin and Rachmaninov using original piano rolls. Quirky , inspirational and enjoyable .
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
Made a real effort to make an old small town property accessible. Level access with gentle ramp into museum. Might be awkward for large powerchairs but my Ottobock B400 was fine and negotiated the corners easily. Gentle ramps between the 2 display rooms in the museum , but again width might be more challenging for a large chair.Space is at a premium with some of the very large mechanical instruments . No problem with one or maybe 2 chairs in a room with others , but don't suggest any more at any one time!
Parking & Transport
Average
No onsite parking but easy parking around the corner from the museum. Quiet day so might be harder when busy. Buses from Cheltenham stop close to museum but not sure if all are wheelchair accessible.
Accessible Toilets
Average
Access into the loo is not wide enough for a powerchair to get through the door easily but about to start work to widen doorway and refurbish to a better specification . Standard height loo and one grab rail and again these facilities going to be upgraded imminently.
Staff
Excellent
Friendly , helpful and knowledgeable and keen to make their museum as accessible as possible. Our guided tour was led by Sally , whose friendliness , enthusiasm and passion made the tour utterly enjoyable .
Additional Information
This fascinating collection of music history was brought alive by so many of the exhibits being played and gave us a really enjoyable insight into musical technology before we knew there was any!. A great way to spend an afternoon , some glorious musical sounds , amazing craftsmanship and a collection of gems that more than deserve their preservation and demonstration. Well worth going to see.
