Making Scotland’s Gardens Accessible To Everyone
Scotland is home to some of the world’s most beautiful gardens but for visitors with mobility issues, enjoying these tranquil spaces can seem like a challenge.
Will there be suitable parking, are the toilets wide enough to take a wheelchair and will the paths be too uneven for anyone using a walking aid?In fact, many of Scotland’s most exciting gardens have all the essential facilities needed to ensure that every visitor can experience them at their best and now there’s a way to plan days out in advance using the Discover Scottish Gardens website, www.discoverscottishgardens.org
By using the Advanced Search tab, visitors can select for features such as wheelchair access, accessible parking, toilets and hearing loops. Using this tab will reveal wonderful places to visit, including Gordon Castle Walled Garden. When this was launched as a visitor attraction after restoration in 2013, accessibility was a priority and all of the paths are suitable for wheelchairs, walking aids and children’s buggies. The entire site is completely flat and even the café can be accessed without steps.
All of the paths are made from the same material, reducing problems for anyone with sight issues, and areas of planting, such as the herb border and pear tunnel, have also been positioned at a height where someone in a wheelchair can reach out and touch the flowers and foliage in order to enjoy a full sensory experience.
Floors Castle on the outskirts of Kelso has one of the finest Victorian kitchen gardens in the country, as well as herbaceous borders, glasshouses, a French-style parterre and extensive parkland. Using the castle’s page on the Discover Scottish Gardens website, visitors can download an accessibility statement providing them with in-depth information about path surfaces in different parts of the garden, the location of toilets and parking and how to use lift access to avoid steps.
Meanwhile Attadale Gardens in Wester Ross, with its magnificent views over Loch Carron towards the Isle of Skye, has a wheelchair for visitors who may need it, along with accessible parking and toilets. Attadale is renowned for its rhododendrons, sculptures and tranquil water gardens and while not every area of this sloping, historic garden is fully accessible, the owners have installed many benches to make it easier for visitors to get around.
Users of the Discover Scottish Gardens website can also search for children’s play facilities and for gardens that are dog-friendly, allowing everyone to enjoy a great day out.
