Top 6 accessible routes for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and prams
With a new all-terrain, electric mobility scooter in the Cotswolds Natural Landscape thanks to Mend Our Mountains support, we celebrate the rise in accessible outdoor routes with a top six across the UK.
A new all-terrain, electric mobility scooter is now available to use free of charge at Eastleach Downs Organic Farm in the Cotswolds thanks to the BMC Access & Conservation Trust's Mend Our Mountains funding, adding to a slowly increasing number of accessible routes and scooter hire schemes across the UK.
Eastleach Downs Organic Farm has a permissive path network with roughly 4 miles of permissive path around their beautiful, working countryside, making those expansive, valley views available to those with mobility issues. There are no gates or stiles en route, and the paths are as even as possibly but still bumpy in places. The new scooter will take this terrain in its stride and it’s great for those with a taste for adventure.
Helen Wade, Eastleach Downs Organic Farm Tenant Farmer (the farm is owned by The Ernest Cook Trust), said, "We created the paths so that people can learn about how we farm here, and we wanted everyone to feel welcome, to be inclusive. The mobility scooter is certainly proving its worth on the tracks."
And of course, wherever an all-terrain mobility scooter can scoot, an all-terrain wheelchair, buggy or pushchair can be pushed too, making this both an accessible and a family friendly outing for all generations. The farm hub and toilet are wheelchair-accessible too. Simply get in touch with Eastleach Downs Organic Farm to book the scooter.
Cotswolds National Landscape Grants and Access Officer, Nina Stubbington, says, “The new all-terrain mobility scooter is an excellent addition to the accessibility improvements that the team at Eastleach Downs Organic Farm have already made on-site. All of their education and accessibility upgrades are part of a not-for-profit branch of the farm, so that anyone can come and learn, enjoy the scenery and get some refreshments.”
Head of Access & Environment Cath Flitcroft says, “It’s fantastic to see more accessible routes and equipment being made available as part of the Mend Our Mountains campaign from the BMC Access & Conservation Trust. We are pleased to support this project, adding to a slowly increasing number of all-terrain wheelchair-, scooter- and pushchair-friendly adventures across the UK. This aligns well with our Outdoors For All manifesto that we presented to parliament earlier this year, which calls for increased access to the outdoors for minority and overlooked groups such as those with reduced mobility.”
TOP 6 ACCESSIBLE ROUTES
With help from Eastleach Downs Organic Farm and our friends at All Trails, where BMC members can enjoy a free 6-month subscription, we’ve compiled a top ten of accessible routes for you to enjoy. If you do any of these routes, don’t forget to email your photos to Summit, the quarterly BMC members’ magazine, for a chance to win a prize every issue.
4 miles
Book the free all-terrain electric scooter (thanks to BMC Mend Our Mountains funding support!) and enjoy four miles of bumpy but accessible trails around Eastleach Downs Organic Farm, passing pigs, woodland and native wildflower meadows.
2 Tall Trees Trail Circular, New Forest
3.2km
Spot roe deer, Douglas firs and redwoods on this short, well-paved circuit through the New Forest National Park near Brockenhurst, Hampshire with no gates and plenty of space for children to run amok.
3 Teversal Trail, Nottinghamshire
8.2km
An out and back route along the former Great Northern Railway line from the late 1880s, you’ll see plenty of native flora and fauna taking over the abandoned platforms and old railway bridges on this partially-paved route. Silverhill Wood (this walk's start/finish location) also has accessible routes if it has been dry, otherwise it can get quite muddy.
4 Dovestone Reservoir Loop, Peak District
4.3km
An accessible path around the reservoir makes this a great accessible route for the whole family, with peregrine falcons to be spotted at Ashway Gap. Note: self-propelled folk may need a push up the steeper hills.
5 Fewston Reservoir Circular, West Yorkshire
6.6km
A fantastic route all the way around the reservoir in the Nidderdale National Landscape (formerly AONB) near Otley. Although the path is wheelchair and pram friendly, there are some bumpy and muddy areas so be prepared for a push or two if you’re wheeling under your own steam.
6 Orrest Head from Windermere, Lake District
3.9km (with 100m elevation!)
Absolutely breathtaking views await you from the top of this 238m hill above the picturesque town of Windermere. Fully surfaced paths of Tarmac and gravel with no stiles, and steep gradients from 1:7 to 1:4 make this perfect for motorised scooters (with a full battery!). All-terrain scooters can be hired locally from Outdoor Mobility. There are also plenty of benches along the way for breaks.
What’s Mend Our Mountains?
Mend Our Mountains is an award-winning campaign from the BMC’s Access & Conservation Trust (ACT) which has raised a total of £1.4 million since its creation in 2016 to repair Britain’s hills and mountains. Since then over 50 miles of fragile footpath has been restored for future generations and 544 miles of upland has been repaired - the equivalent length of over 67,000 double decker buses!
Great Bradley Bridge was funded in the 2023 campaign. This year there are seven projects including:
1 Funding an Access Officer for the Cotswolds AONB
2 Supporting the Fix the Fells rangers in the Lake District
3 Restoring paths on Roseberry Topping, North York Moors
4 Making the footpath to Chanctonbury Ring, South Downs, more accessible
5 Replacing Cressbrook Mill footbridge, Peak District
6 Multiple Get Stuck In volunteer footpath repair events with the National Trust in the Lake District, Snowdonia and Peak District
7 Haytor Rocks almost 2,000m of footpath repairs in Dartmoor
Support Mend Our Mountains
Path repair is a surprisingly costly business. Working in remote locations with complex equipment and adverse weather conditions makes rebuilding trails an enormous and expensive challenge.
£5 buys a pair of work gloves
£50 buys five garden skips for moving soil
£250 fixes approximately one metre of footpath
£1000 flies ten bags of stone to an inaccessible mountain location
Did you know?
Simply becoming a BMC member supports BMC Access & Conservation Trust projects like this, plus you get all the benefits that membership offers, including these and many more:
£15 million Worldwide Combined Liability Insurance
£10,000 Personal Accident Insurance
Quarterly member-only magazine, Summit
15% off Cotswold Outdoor, Snow+Rock and Runners Need
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