Blue Badge Style rounds up the top 10 accessible UK pub, restaurants and holidays for this Bank Holiday Monday and May half term for Disability Horizons:
Something For the Weekend/Week
Here at BBS Towers we’re eagerly awaiting the Bank Holiday weekend so that we can escape to the countryside and away from our tyrant of a leader Fiona, who’s had us locked in for days. With that in mind we’ve got a wish list of where we’d like to go for to wash away the city and get some fresh air, in style.
Near to London is The Fox at Willian deep in the Hertfordshire countryside. It’s an award winning pub and fine dining restaurant located in a picturesque village of Willian near Letchworth. It won Gastro Pub of the Year 2104 and was awarded a place on the Budweiser Budvar Top 50 Gastropub Awards 2015. Part of the group that owns The White Horse at Brancaster (see below), it’s a picturesque country pub with friendly staff, good beer and excellent food in an airy and spacious dining area. It’s very much a country gastro with a nice mixture of high quality classic pub grub (fish and chips etc) and fancier dishes (e.g. Pan fried gilt head bream, rosemary and white bean puree, artichoke, sun blushed tomato and mange tout fricassee, seared scallop). There’s been a lot of praise for the pub’s food and general ambience, which makes it worth a trip. The access at The Fox is good too. The building is fully wheelchair accessible and they have a fully equipped disabled toilet. They also have disabled parking at the rear of pub. We gave them 2.5 BBS Ticks (out of a max. of 3, for style, access & facilities).
As mentioned above, The White Horse at Brancaster on the North Norfolk coast is another great pub with stunning views of the North Sea, somewhere that will definitely blow away the cobwebs. Serving beautiful fresh seafood, it’s both disabled friendly and accommodated dogs in the bar! Everywhere is accessible including the terrace and there’s a disabled toilet. It’s also close to the very trendy Burnham Market – known as ‘Little Chelsea’. Hunter wellies abound and the shopping is an interesting collection of high class boutiques and seaside paraphernalia. They also got 2.5BBS Ticks.
Further in land and north, is The Pipe & Glass Inn, E. Yorkshire, where for a change, a Michelin Award has gone to a place that’s not only accessible, it’s also got a disabled toilet. I say this because there are a number of Michelin Starred restaurants that have scant regard for someone with a disability. It won ‘2012 Michelin Eating Out in Pubs Guide – Pub of the Year’ and has had a Michelin star since 2010. It is also the Good Pub Guide’s National Dining Pub of the Year for 2015.
The former coaching inn stands on the site of the original gatehouse to Dalton Park on the beautiful Dalton Estate, with parts of the current building dating back to the 17th century. The food sounds great such as the “Roast rump of lamb with barley, beer and broad bean risotto, spring vegetables, mutton belly fritter, nettle and mint sauce” and it’s not too expensive. They also have a vegetarian menu – again unusual for a pub. 2.5. BBS Ticks.
Further west you may want to try Aiden Byrne’s Church Green pub in Lymm, Cheshire. He won the fish course in The Great British Menu 2013 for Comic Relief. He served ‘A Culinary Joke’ which was a reworked prawn cocktail under a red nose of a passion fruit sphere…
Jay Rayner of The Observer said “He is, without doubt, one of the new stars of Britain’s food world.” He was the youngest chef at 22 to win a Michelin Star. The Church Green menu looks good with dishes such as ‘Corn fed chicken, truffle macaroni, glazed shallot, hazelnut sauce, poached egg’ and their Sunday roast dinners are booked well in advance. With regard to accessibility they have a side door with a permanent ramp (the main door has steps), their tables accommodate wheelchairs and there’s a fully equipped disabled toilet. another 2.5 BBS Ticks maybe even 3.
If you travel further north then The Punch Bowl, Cumbria, is the place to visit. Located in the Lake District at Crosthwaite, it’s been awarded the “Cumbria Dining Pub of the Year” for 2015 & 2016. It’s positioned in the heart of the Lyth Valley, with spectacular views of the countryside from its terrace garden. The food sounds lovely and is very reasonably priced at £6.95 for a starter of ‘twice baked mature cheddar souffle’ and £17.95 for ‘saddle of rabbit with a crayfish mousse’. However, access is tricky as the inn element of the venue is pretty much out of bounds for the less able. They told us that because it’s an old building there is just no space for a lift so there are no disabled hotel rooms. The restaurant is a bit more accessible. They have a disabled toilet in the bar area and there are two tables in that section of the building which could be used for a party with a wheelchair user (or users). Alternatively, it is possible to get into the main restaurant area through the back door but then, to go to the toilet you have to go back outside and round to the front door again. The same goes for getting from the terrace to the toilet. Perhaps you should only go on a sunny day?? They got 2 BBS Ticks.
If you’re wanting to go somewhere that isn’t too far into the frozen North The Pony & Trap and The Salt & Malt are a pub and cafe near Bristol you should visit. We put them together as they are both run by Josh Eggleton. The Pony & Trap is in Chew Magna and won a Michelin star in 2011 which has been maintained. They actually have information on access on their website and there are 4 steps down to the restaurant in the 200-year-old building. However, in the front (Pub) part, it is accessible and they have tables for disabled diners. There’s no disabled toilet but they promised one in Oct 2014 – still not got one!! As a result, they only got 2 BBS Ticks.
Josh came a close second in the BBC’s Great British Menu SW heat, with some well presented dishes that sounded delicious – “Rations on the Home Front” (deep fried pigs head fritters and chilled pea soup topped with pork crackling and crispy pancetta, served with little jars of pickled vegetables) and “Normandy rabbit” (doughboys, rabbit faggots, stuffed rabbit saddle, salt-baked carrots, chargrilled broccoli and rabbit broth), served in a helmet.
The sister café Salt & Malt by Chew Valley lake has to be visited as it’s 10 minutes by car from The Pony & Trap and has a disabled toilet – so you need to keep your legs crossed!! It’s also a must as it’s a ‘Fish cafe, tearoom & takeaway in a beautiful waterside setting’. Everything is handmade on site with fish delivered each day from Cornwall. They also offer a gluten free fish & chip menu, as well as fresh mussels, squid, crab and line caught fish dishes. Handmade burgers and bangers are also sourced locally. Salt & Malt cafe is accessible throughout and has a fully equipped accessible toilet. They have 2.5 BBS Ticks.
Another south west coast restaurant/bar that we particularly love is Ben Tunnicliffe Restaurant at Sennen Cove, Cornwall, a dog walker and surfer hangout. The terrace overlooking Sennen Cove is a great place to feel good breathing in the sea air. It’s fully accessible, has great seafood and a good disabled toilet. There’s also a huge car park nearby and often a live band in the restaurant.The staff are very friendly and helpful and they have 2.5 BBSTicks (maybe 3 when we‘re feeling generous).
Not forgetting the rest of the UK we’ve reviewed many places in Wales, Scotland and Ireland but here are just three:
Bryn William’s at Porth Eirias in Colwyn Bay on the North Wales coast has only recently opened and is run by Bryn Williams one of Britain’s top chefs who regularly appears on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and has worked with Marco Pierre White and Michel Roux. This café/bar/restaurant is a big open space with informal dining. They have flat access throughout and a disabled toilet. Their ethos is you ‘can do what you like’. They serve breakfast, small grazing plates or a full dinner menu and all a few minutes from the beach. Sounds lovely and another 2.5 BBS Ticks.
Our Scottish pick is The Kitchin on the Leith waterfront in Edinburgh. This is Tom Kitchin’s restaurant where dining “is relaxed but welcoming with the food in focus.” This restaurant opened in 2006 and serves “modern British cuisine influenced by French cooking techniques.” He is another young winner of a Michelin star and was voted the best restaurant in Scotland in 2012!! The sister pub Scran & Scallie in Stockbridge in Edinburgh is also worth a visit. With regard to access at the Kitchin, there are no steps into the restaurant or anywhere inside, there are cobbles near the front door but they’ve never been a big problem for visitors according to the lady we spoke to (she’s obviously never walked in heels or with a stick). There is space to move around and some tables are more accessible than others, so let them know if you’re visiting. They also have a disabled toilet with grab bars! Another 2.5 BBS Ticks.
Last but not least is The Old Schoolhouse Inn at Newtownards just outside Belfast, N. Ireland. It sits beside beside the beautiful scenery of Strangford Lough and serves locally sourced food and seafood in a ‘light and imaginative way’. A newly refurbished building, it’s a winner in the accessibility stakes as it has flat access and a disabled toilet… they sounded bemused that we should even ask such a question! Will Brown the chef has worked with Marco Pierre White and they won a Michelin Bib Gourmand 2014, 2015 & 2016. Regarded as one of the best restaurants in N. Ireland you can submerse yourself in the beautiful countryside and then eat its produce! A final 2.5 BBS Ticks.
We hope this has encouraged you to go out and indulge this Bank Holiday week, without worrying about the accessibility of the Great British countryside – as long as you pick one of these recommendations. Contact The Team if you know somewhere stylish and accessible…………..Did you spot the mistake?? It’s the top 11!!