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Kielder by scooter!
Sep. 22nd, 2008 10:08 pmYesterday we went to Kielder, even though the weather here wasn't very good, in spite of the forecasters' promises, hoping that it would be better there and we were not disappointed!
The weather here was gloomy and overcast, not to mention chilly, but by the time we got to the Angler's Arms in Kielder village, we had blue skies and sunshine, which was a lovely change. I was so glad we went anyway.
We had a pub lunch, steak and kidney pie for me and John, mine with vegetables and roast spuds, his with chips, and a double cheeseburger and chips for Charles who ate the bun without suffering any after effects! The portions were so huge that by the time we'd finished, we had no room for pudding, or even coffee, so I thought that at £19 that was pretty good value.
Afterwards we spent a lot of time driving between various points along the reservoir trying to find out where the track with wheelchair access was; there was nothing about it on their web-site, or in any of the literature we found at Kielder itself and if it hadn't been for the fact that my psychologist had told me about it, I would have thought I'd misunderstood, but finally I found a young man who seemed delighted to find someone who wanted to know about it and gave me maps and a leaflet and directions as to how to get onto the track.
Sadly, the "all access" track isn't really very suitable for the kind of leccy scooter I have, which is really meant for cities and pavements and which has a very low ground clearance. The path was made of gravel and small rocks and it sometimes made progress rather difficult, but the worst problem was the combination of the track surface and the gradients. Several times the scooter ground to a halt and I had to get off and get Charles to help me push it. Part of the problem was certainly my weight, but the other problem was that the motor was having difficulty dealing with the surface/gradient problem. When the gradients were downhill, I also felt rather worried about whether it would run away with me, but it didn't, it was just the uphill gradients; I was also a trifle worried about the adverse cambers going downhill, but managed to stay upright.
Finally we came to a place where the gradient was so steep that we decided it would be foolish to carry on, so we turned back.
Having said all that, it was lovely being able to go for a "walk" again along a forest path in all that peace and quiet. We saw no-one else on the way out and only a couple of people on the return journey. We couldn't even hear the traffic on the main road, and heard nothing but the clink of a rope against the mast of a sailing dinghy, and the slop of the water against the bank.
It was really warm, too and on the outward journey we saw an adder! I'd never seen one before and probably wouldn't have seen that one if eagle-eyed Charles hadn't spotted it. We took some photographs and watched it until it slithered away, then carried on. Charles also saw a peacock butterfly, although I had to reverse too far to be able to see it before it flew away and he forgot to to take a photograph. Later we both saw a lizard, but it dashed into a tiny cave and hid there, so we had no chance to take a picture.
On the way back, we saw the adder again! This time it was pursuing a smaller snake, which was either a slow worm or a grass snake, but fortunately for its future, the second snake disappeared while the adder froze, hoping not to attract our attention. It was so thrilling to see!
I think that I shall contact the department of Northumberland Water which administers Kielder and suggest they might like to provide a few "All Terrain" disability scooters with better ground clearance which people like me could rent for a day or half a day.
I shall have to try to save up to buy one for myself, maybe a second-hand one. There's no way I could ever afford a Tramper, but I expect that there's something cheaper which is almost as good.
We all had a lovely day and I'm so glad we didn't wait till today. In fact we couldn't have gone today anyway, because I suddenly remembered I had a dental appointment.
I finally had a letter from the Pensions People on Saturday with an appointment for this coming Friday. I already had a work session with Caroline booked, but I didn't dare try to re-arrange the pensions appointment since it had taken so long to hear from them. Fortunately Caroline doesn't mind if I rearrange appointments.
Let's hope they can help me fill in the disability living allowance application form and help us decide whether we're eligible for pension credit and council tax rebate.
( Adder picture here )
The weather here was gloomy and overcast, not to mention chilly, but by the time we got to the Angler's Arms in Kielder village, we had blue skies and sunshine, which was a lovely change. I was so glad we went anyway.
We had a pub lunch, steak and kidney pie for me and John, mine with vegetables and roast spuds, his with chips, and a double cheeseburger and chips for Charles who ate the bun without suffering any after effects! The portions were so huge that by the time we'd finished, we had no room for pudding, or even coffee, so I thought that at £19 that was pretty good value.
Afterwards we spent a lot of time driving between various points along the reservoir trying to find out where the track with wheelchair access was; there was nothing about it on their web-site, or in any of the literature we found at Kielder itself and if it hadn't been for the fact that my psychologist had told me about it, I would have thought I'd misunderstood, but finally I found a young man who seemed delighted to find someone who wanted to know about it and gave me maps and a leaflet and directions as to how to get onto the track.
Sadly, the "all access" track isn't really very suitable for the kind of leccy scooter I have, which is really meant for cities and pavements and which has a very low ground clearance. The path was made of gravel and small rocks and it sometimes made progress rather difficult, but the worst problem was the combination of the track surface and the gradients. Several times the scooter ground to a halt and I had to get off and get Charles to help me push it. Part of the problem was certainly my weight, but the other problem was that the motor was having difficulty dealing with the surface/gradient problem. When the gradients were downhill, I also felt rather worried about whether it would run away with me, but it didn't, it was just the uphill gradients; I was also a trifle worried about the adverse cambers going downhill, but managed to stay upright.
Finally we came to a place where the gradient was so steep that we decided it would be foolish to carry on, so we turned back.
Having said all that, it was lovely being able to go for a "walk" again along a forest path in all that peace and quiet. We saw no-one else on the way out and only a couple of people on the return journey. We couldn't even hear the traffic on the main road, and heard nothing but the clink of a rope against the mast of a sailing dinghy, and the slop of the water against the bank.
It was really warm, too and on the outward journey we saw an adder! I'd never seen one before and probably wouldn't have seen that one if eagle-eyed Charles hadn't spotted it. We took some photographs and watched it until it slithered away, then carried on. Charles also saw a peacock butterfly, although I had to reverse too far to be able to see it before it flew away and he forgot to to take a photograph. Later we both saw a lizard, but it dashed into a tiny cave and hid there, so we had no chance to take a picture.
On the way back, we saw the adder again! This time it was pursuing a smaller snake, which was either a slow worm or a grass snake, but fortunately for its future, the second snake disappeared while the adder froze, hoping not to attract our attention. It was so thrilling to see!
I think that I shall contact the department of Northumberland Water which administers Kielder and suggest they might like to provide a few "All Terrain" disability scooters with better ground clearance which people like me could rent for a day or half a day.
I shall have to try to save up to buy one for myself, maybe a second-hand one. There's no way I could ever afford a Tramper, but I expect that there's something cheaper which is almost as good.
We all had a lovely day and I'm so glad we didn't wait till today. In fact we couldn't have gone today anyway, because I suddenly remembered I had a dental appointment.
I finally had a letter from the Pensions People on Saturday with an appointment for this coming Friday. I already had a work session with Caroline booked, but I didn't dare try to re-arrange the pensions appointment since it had taken so long to hear from them. Fortunately Caroline doesn't mind if I rearrange appointments.
Let's hope they can help me fill in the disability living allowance application form and help us decide whether we're eligible for pension credit and council tax rebate.
( Adder picture here )
