Flat surfaces in Camden
Like many disabled friends I find it easier staying at home than trying to get anywhere on public transport. And certainly going almost anywhere seems hazardous without a devoted companion to open doors and make a fuss if I get stuck in an “accessible” toilet or between lift doors etc etc – the list is endless.
But I have suffered horribly from FOMO in the last year – Fear of Missing Out, most often over ruled by FOFO – Fear Of Falling Over – so when I heard a friend was holding a book launch in central London at a venue I know is accessible, I decided to be a bit braver than usual. I was especially keen as the book is called Killing Corbynism, and was written by our former parliamentary candidate Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt, who I know well.
Plus the place would be full of old friends who would happily pick me up if falling over took place. And we hadn’t seen a dear auntie in north London for nearly a year, and the weather looked good for scooting on London streets, and there was a tube strike…..
I can’t get on the tube anyhow with a mobility scooter and I haven’t tackled London buses yet but a friend offered to give us a lift and help the devoted companion put my scooter back together – it dismantles into five bits to pack into a car boot. But remembering how to mantle it again, can be a challenge.
So, we booked disabled assistance on trains there and back and checked on accessible toilets and cafes on my scooting journey from St Pancras to the Conway Hall in Holborn, where the launch was to be.
From the off things went well. At Broadstairs station a nice helper turned up with a portable ramp well before the train, got me into the right section and alerted the train manager who promised to get me off safely! Even the disabled toilet at Broadstairs Station was working and the scores of foreign students on a trip to Canterbury, smiled and tried to be helpful. Idyllic!
Same in St Pancras, helped off the train with a ramp, lifts worked, accessible loo not occupied – there’s only one and I didn’t know where the next would be so how long you have to wait is crucial.
Scooted through Bloomsbury in hot sunshine and met no other wheel user on the way, which is sort of evidence that London is a bit rubbish on accessibility, even though dropped kerbs seem to be more reliable than Thanet.
We stopped at The Brunswick Centre for coffee and to look at the newly improved access to the shops. There’s a weird flight of steps with a zigzag ramp built in which I’ve seen praised as an example of how steps and ramps can be combined. It’s another example of how I’d like to meet the architect and chuck him down his lovely steps. You can’t see where the ramp is – it’s all the same colour so the edge is invisible. At night it would disappear.
But in compensation, the accessible loo in Starbucks was brilliant – if you had your own loo paper….. Fortunately a scooter basket can be full of supplies of everything you don’t trust the world to provide any more.
The Conway Hall is accessible, has a lovely accessible loo and a door keeper who had to be persuaded to let me in early to use and then was so contrite he’d delayed me he went in with me….(He did go out again!) Lessons? Always ask what help people want and never stop a crip on her way to the loo.
Great meeting, great book, lovely to see auntie – who at 95 is fitter than me and still can’t believe I find it easier to take a flight to Tenerife than visit London. But I promised to try harder.
As it was warm and sunny the next day, we scooted and walked the two miles back to St Pancras, hampered by bins and A boards , and London changing faster than our ageing A to Z. Who put a huge Google building in Camden? I pictured them all working away answering all our silly questions individually. And it is full of people as Google have built a huge housing complex next to the offices for their workers.
St Pancras was busy but we got tea at Greggs and fortunately the accessible loo available – important as I’m scared to use the one on the train. How do I get there from the place I’m supposed to park the scooter without falling over across a swaying train with no grab rails?
Disabled help brilliant. Crowded train, two people with BIG suitcases in the spot I’m supposed to be. “There’s another wheelchair spot over there!” says the lady, determined not to move. But the disabled assistance, assisted them to move and I got my spot. Unfortunately there’s usually only one reasonably sized spot for wheelies and it’s also the train section for pushchairs and bikes. So getting out of your spot can be complicated.
But two train staff helped me and I went down the ramp backwards – so trepidatiously that when I finally landed the whole carriage applauded!
I felt like applauding myself for managing it all. But why is it so complicated? Why do we have to have ramps? Isn’t flat access everywhere a good aim? Wonderful as the all the help was on this trip, it could all have been dispensed with if designers and planners had a few disabled people to tell them if what they’re doing is a bit silly.
Things do seem to be improving so maybe I’ll try again soon. Watch this space.
Buy the book at https://www.incarnadineimprint.com/books/killing-corbynism/)