Wheelchair Friendly UK Venues

[Jof]

Are there any other wheelchair users on here who can advise on the suitability of various venues for wheelchairs? My only experiences so far are:-
Oulton Park - Poor - there is a disabled parking/viewing area with a plastic cubicle toilet (not clean). Sadly the area is gravelled so self propelled chair users will struggle. The large tarmaced paddock area is good with accessible, clean toilets. Unfortunately, the access roads are also gravelled so hazardous for wheelchairs.

Three Sisters - Poor - disabled parking within the venue but you have to struggle through gravel to get to somewhere you can see anything. There is a disabled viewing area but it is up a steepish ramp so self-propellors might struggle. The disabled toilet is accessed accross a gravelled area and up a steep ramp - you will need to get someone to help you if you need to go the loo. The paddock area is mostly tarmac.

If anyone can advise on other venues' suitability, I would be grateful. Anywhere you don't have to negotiate gravel would be marvellous!
Thanks,
Jo

[grantp]

Jo,

Donington Park seems to have a policy of allowing blue badge vehicles access to the outer parts of the circuit. I don't know whether this applies to all events or just those with smaller predicted attendances. You would need to check with them. I think very large vehicles (a coach party for example) may not be viable but most others are. There were quite a few making use of the option at the BTCC meeting. I assume there is some sort of arrangement to let the veicale in through the paddock area.

That said, once out of the vehicle the tracks are gravel and the banks are grass and not very wheelchair friendly in many places. However if you are in a vehicle he should be able to get to several good locations directly.

There is a rather well located and recently constructed exclusive (by the looks of it) viewing location set well up he the hillside near the Old Hairpin. I think you should be able get a vehicle quite close and there are ramps to the platform. It has a great sound system for the commentary and is not too far from the Starkey's Bar and Toilets buildings. Iirc at the BTCC a temporary portaloo had been installed on the platform.

From memory Silverstone would be pretty good as well. That said Silverstone always seems to me to be a place that you you can easily move around but to do so you have to travel large distances. Donington seems a little more compact and it helps that so far when moving around the circuit you can pretty much stay within viewing range of any track action. However with the natural rise and fall of the land it is not somewhere I would want to try to spend a day moving around in wheelchair in the absence of a vehicle or, perhaps, a helper or two.

I hope this is helpful to you.

[gary396]

Croft Circuit may be worth a try - there is a raised veiwing area which is marked up for disabled access with cars alongside the track and (I think) disabled toilet faciliies. This particular area gives a good view of large parts of the circuit. They have it marked on their circuit info page as follows: http://www.croftcircuit.co.uk/cirfac.pdf

Hope this helps. Gary

[Steven Humphrey]

Rockingham has great facilities, being relatively new. There's wheelchair platforms on the open grandstands, with ramped access and the main grandstand has lifts and (I think) special areas for wheelchairs. Plus the spectator areas are very compact, relatively flat and all tarmac.

[Adam43]

I agree with the above. Silverstone has some good viewing areas for wheelchair users; still miles from the track, but that is normal for Silverstone Rockingham is relatively good too.

Anglesey has just been done up. Is this any good? I've been in the paddock and pitlane, but never ventured round the edge.

[SWCRacing]

Not a wheelchair user myself, but my late wife was.

Agree with the comment above about Silverstone, and I think Snetterton has a wheelchair accessible viewing area by the Russell chicane. Also, every 4th picnic table outside Tyrells restuarent and in the grassed areas in the paddock is wheelchair friendly

[Ian Sowman]

Cadwell has a disabled viewing area too I noticed last time I was there, between Park and Chris.

[Jof]

Thank you very much for all your helpful advice. I am really scared of going somewhere and finding I can't move away from the car because of gravel or get to a disabled loo because of ludicrously steep ramps.
For that reason, I have tended to limit myself to Oulton Park but the venue is really quite hazardous for me.
I'm possibly going to try Harewood hillclimb soon, so fingers crossed!
Thanks again,
Jo

[Piglet]

Jo, at Brands you can park on South Bank and get a great view of the circuit BUT it is on grass and I'm not sure whether the 'loo's on that side of the circuit are accessible. If you ring MSV they should be able to tell you.

As an aside, if you find the disabled loo at Oulton (or any MSV circuit) isn't clean then complain, Jonathan Palmer is very keen that all facilities are well cleaned during race weekends so the staff should be checking it regularly.

[ROB IS THE STIG]

Originally Posted by Piglet

Jo, at Brands you can park on South Bank and get a great view of the circuit BUT it is on grass and I'm not sure whether the 'loo's on that side of the circuit are accessible. If you ring MSV they should be able to tell you.

This is correct, the toilets on top of the South Bank have a long gradual tarmac ramp so easy access, although, once ur over there and parked up u are limited as its gravel up there. The view there is one of the best on the circuit!!

[TwoSheds]

Also at Brands there is disabled parking behind the Brabham/Stewart Centre buildings and I think that there are wheelchair spaces available in the Paddock Hill Bend Grandstand.

An MSV map of Brands Hatch can be got to from here.

[mattt]

I can echo the comments that Rockingham is very wheelchair accessible as my sister uses a wheelchair.
The sloped tunnel at the far end isn't the easiest slopes for wheelchairs but the one with the lift is ok.

[Robin_D]

All of the Silverstone toilet blocks have disabled loos with access via RADAR Key.

There are 3 or 4 designated disabled viewing areas and these tend to be at good places although as mentioned they are far away from the track, but that is the norm.

The rest of the circuit does still have disabled loo's but you would need legs and arms of steel to push a wheel chair across the shale.

[JohnD]

Rockingham - the lift goes down to a tunnel under the track with another lift at the paddock end. If you go to a club meeting, there will be free access to the paddock and you will be most welcome.

Mallory has good viewing from the car parking areas both east and west of the track, but loos??? and neither is near the track.

John

[mosler lover]

+1 for Rockingham; my wife's a wheelchair user and it's her favourite venue. Parking close to entrance, level tarmac access to circuit, loos in the main stand, lift down to the tunnel and all the way up to the pitblock roof where we pitch up by the podium (only a thin wire fence at her head-height) until those pesky drivers queue for trophies ;-)

Silverstone is OK; parking by Woodcote for club events, the stand there and the Pit Straight viewing areas are reasonable, loos are accessible. We tried a round of the full circuit during Britcar 24 but we've enjoyed easier yomps in the Peak District. Beyond Copse/Luffield it was hard work (poor surface/gradients)

I visit Donington often but wouldn't recommend it for chair users; not unless you want to sit in your car, have no facilities nearby and have to risk the portaloo.

[Al Weyman]

We are taking a mate out tonight who has had a stroke and is now wheelchair bound and I wanted to invite him to a race meeting and we have a Rockingham one coming up so thats been very useful to know and very timely.

[medius]

2018 and its said to report that the majority of British circuits are still largely I accessable to wheelchair users. For the most part it's down to the use of gravel pathways, grass paddocks and grass bank viewing areas. Hopefully one day budgets will allow improvements to allows disabled race fans and competitors) the same access as able bodied.

From my experiences this year, Rockingham has by far been the most accessable, Silverstone close behind.hardstanding carparks, paddocks, pathways and viewing areas. Excellent restrooms andgerally not needing to plan getting around the place.

Sadly Donington, Snetterton, Cadwell and Thruxton have all been very difficult to traverse around safely. Mallory is 100% impossible to visit and enjoy.

Things are slowly getting better, but it's not quick enough.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by medius

2018 and its said to report that the majority of British circuits are still largely I accessable to wheelchair users. For the most part it's down to the use of gravel pathways, grass paddocks and grass bank viewing areas. Hopefully one day budgets will allow improvements to allows disabled race fans and competitors) the same access as able bodied.

From my experiences this year, Rockingham has by far been the most accessable, Silverstone close behind.hardstanding carparks, paddocks, pathways and viewing areas. Excellent restrooms andgerally not needing to plan getting around the place.

Sadly Donington, Snetterton, Cadwell and Thruxton have all been very difficult to traverse around safely. Mallory is 100% impossible to visit and enjoy.

Things are slowly getting better, but it's not quick enough.

That's an interesting comment.

I cannot speak from personal experience of wheelchair use but I do wonder what sort of access you are seeking.

In my opinion Silverstone is a pain for spectators of any sort much of the time and the scale of the place combined with the fences in most parts makes it unpleasant even getting around by car when allowed.

On the other hand Donington allows disabled visitors in around the circuit by car with a number of decent viewing positions, many not constrained by fences, all around the circuit. There is a large raised area at Coppice with a pretty good view of much of the track which is identified primarily as a viewing area for mobility impaired users should they wish to use it.

When in use the central area is also accessible by car via the large tunnel and this also provides a spectator tunnel access to the paddock which has tarmac at the infield end.


Of course the nature of the landscape means that some fairly steep slopes are unavoidable and realistically building tarmac roadways all around the circuit that would withstand the rigours of frequent deployment of heavy plant used in construction work would probably not be economically viable or even sensible.

The same goes for Cadwell. There are limits to what would be possible given the slopes and the circuit layout. However a large section of the circuit - almost all that is accessible by spectators - is accessible by car. Realistically I would doubt that the layout of the land and the steep slopes would be ideal for wheelchair users unless able to undertake most of the movement by car.

I can't comment much about Snetterton as I have only been once just after the major MSV alterations.

I had some reservations about the access and being paddock based did not attempt to get around the whole circuit but what I saw seemed reasonably accessible considering the development work was still quite fresh at the time.

Thruxton is somewhere I have not been since the late 70s but as far as I know the visitor area is quite restricted as it always has been.

Mallory, much like Donington, has vehicular access almost all around the circuit although slightly more restricted in recent times seemingly as part of the work to reduce the noise levels for local residents. That work is likely somewhat budget consuming for a small track with limited use and so restricted earnings potential.

Once again the lay of the land might not be naturally helpful to wheelchair users but the larger viewing areas are nearly all accessible by car and the hairpin has access via the paddock gate entrance.

The paddock is, of course, somewhat restricted for access being in the middle of the track. However if one gets into the paddock there are some pretty good locations available to get close to the track should one wish to and some areas appear to have raised ground to assist the view over the ubiquitous armco.

What would you wish to see that would enhance how you foresee the access being improved?