Wednesday, 1 August 2018

Gunby Hall - Day out with Dad

So on Monday Dad and I went to visit a National Trust place in Lincolnshire called Gunby Hall. It wasn't actually that far away and only took about 45 minutes in the car which was nice and manageable. 

We arrived around 12.30pm and sat in the courtyard and had our packed lunch. We had nice weather for the day - not too hot but not too cold and no rain.

We got a map of the wheelchair accessible route round the garden and so after lunch we set off round the gardens and there was lots of beautiful flowers in bloom.

We then stopped off at the tea rooms and sat outside and had a coffee and cake.

Next we headed into the house. This wasn't wheelchair accessible so I used my crutches and there where seats dotted around to sit on and rest.

In the first room we entered there was someone playing the piano which was lovely to listen to (see video). We wondered round and unlike most National Trust properties all the items in the house belonged to the house. We wondered round and peered in the various rooms and I enjoyed looked at the titles of the books dotted around on shelves and in the library and also spotting William Morris wallpaper and other wallpaper designs (textile design geek here).

It wasn't 100% wheelchair friendly as most of the paths where gravel and I had to rely upon Dad pushing me. Some of the paths where also a little narrow, but I have a narrow wheelchair so we managed okay there was also some mini steps that where marked as grass ramps on the map but they wasn't any so at times Dad struggled especially with the tip guard being so low on my wheelchair (which needs looking at) but we did manage it. So if you're a wheelchair user I would recommend that you'll need someone with you if you're in a manual chair, it may be easier in an electric wheelchair, but that depends on your chair and I've never used one and you'd need a narrow-ish scooter too to get round some of the path but I'd say it is possible. But all-in-all it was a pleasant wander round and I'd say in terms of accessibility it depends on whether you can walk around as it's not huge and it depends on your wheelchair/scooter.
There was also a church to visit but that wasn't part of the National Trust and we didn't take a visit to that. 
They also go guided tours of the gardens which tells you about the gardens and grounds and the plants there, but we didn't go on one.

It wasn't full day out which was nice as it wasn't too tiring. I was in a some pain from walking round the house but unfortunately due to the nature of of old houses which are often listed buildings which the National Trust look after they are not built for wheelchair accessibility unfortunately which makes it hard when you're like me an enjoy visiting places like the National Trust.

All-in-all it was a lovely afternoon out and somewhere I'd recommend visiting.