Have you bought your last car?

That’s one of the things that’s always confused me about the UK. Absolutely nothing is handicap accessible. Even when they say there’s a lift in a tube station, it’s a freakin mile hike to get to it. A lot of sidewalks are a foot wide &/or full of obstructions. I get you can’t level centuries old stuff to build something that looks like ADA compliant, but they build new that way as well. Has always shocked me.


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Another example, I  believe that there is only space for one wheelchair on each train and the passenger has to call ahead to ensure somewhere is there with a ramp.  There was lots of discussion about how ridiculous this would be for the 2012 paralympic games.  We pulled it off with no problems in the end.

Begun the pram v wheelchair wars have.

we have a local parking like a twat FB page and I love it.

We've got one of those, too. I have to confess to having actually had my car appear on the local 'parked like a knob' page,  which was a bit unfair.  My tyres were technically on the pavement, but only about 2 inches. And it was a wide bit of pavement-- wide enough for 2 wheelchairs side-by-side to pass by. But it has made me more aware, for future.

we have a local parking like a twat FB page and I love it.

We do too! 'Parked like a knob Highlands and Islands'  - I'm sure my car has probably ended up on there. Especially when they see me trying to reverse park at work (stupid stupid stupid rule). 

We do too! 'Parked like a knob Highlands and Islands'  - I'm sure my car has probably ended up on there. Especially when they see me trying to reverse park at work (stupid stupid stupid rule).

We’ve got this rule to... I can tell you I learned real quick how to reverse in. They say its health and safety, to many people get hit by reversing cars which makes me worry a bit.


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Better than in Ireland!  Went to the National Museum there in Dublin. You can't get to the second floor and all of the exhibits there if you can't climb the stairs. We asked where the lift was and they said "this is a listed building, we can't put a lift in"... riiiight. (This was a few years ago, hopefully they have installed one since then.)

Otherwise, on the days when my back and legs are kicking up, I can't take the subway here in Glasgow. There are lifts at St. Enoch stop, in City Center, but none at the two stops within a mile of my home. Kind of a bummer, there. Of course, the train stations in rural areas have you climbing steps to a bridge that goes over the traintracks to another set of stairs down. So unless you only want to travel in one direction, there's a bit of a disconnect there.

On the good side, I can phone and have a bus come pick me up at my home and take me to the front door of the shopping center, if I need it. But it has to be booked.

The massive Collins barracks one north of the river on the west side?

We were there earlier this summer and they do have a lift just off the lobby. That accessed the military history section (which was quite good if you’re into uniform history and evolution of the barracks site, which I was), and the textiles sort of V&A type collection in the left side wing. Have one also in the out building (old stables I think) where they have the gun smuggling sail boat. That’s about 40% of the total barracks. Don’t know about the rest. Looked fairly recent - that modern glass encased thing they like to shove in old buildings like it’s not more offensive than just doing a little remodel to preserve the look.

Post office museum had a lift. That display sucks though.

Trinity Library had a ramp into the gift shop and then I think stairs only from there. Maybe something is hidden away.

Didn’t do the national museum up around trinity, but I think that’s not an old building.

Most of the London outer commuter belt stations I’ve been to are pretty accessible. I’ve seen some pretty rural stuff out the window though that I’m sure is no fun.

I do appreciate preserving history, but if you list every freaking building then it is rather difficult to keep up with modern demands.


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THIS! I don’t have a nice car by any means, but it’s when I got my car here that I started finding myself again.  It’s a form of independence, a place of your own.


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Just try to avoid driving around those one car wide two-way traffic roads in rural glouscestershire. You might get your wing mirror bashed and run even further off the road. Figured that one out recently. Personally, I find a lot of roads in the UK to be terrifying. And I used to fly helicopters at night while getting shot at.


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The massive Collins barracks one north of the river on the west side?

We were there earlier this summer and they do have a lift just off the lobby. That accessed the military history section (which was quite good if you’re into uniform history and evolution of the barracks site, which I was), and the textiles sort of V&A type collection in the left side wing. Have one also in the out building (old stables I think) where they have the gun smuggling sail boat. That’s about 40% of the total barracks. Don’t know about the rest. Looked fairly recent - that modern glass encased thing they like to shove in old buildings like it’s not more offensive than just doing a little remodel to preserve the look.

Post office museum had a lift. That display sucks though.

Trinity Library had a ramp into the gift shop and then I think stairs only from there. Maybe something is hidden away.

Didn’t do the national museum up around trinity, but I think that’s not an old building.

Most of the London outer commuter belt stations I’ve been to are pretty accessible. I’ve seen some pretty rural stuff out the window though that I’m sure is no fun.

I do appreciate preserving history, but if you list every freaking building then it is rather difficult to keep up with modern demands.


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No, the Collins was fine (and a very good museum - spent a lot of time in there). It's the big one in city center, and it's old. They could have put an internal lift in - I've seen them in other listed buildings. The Daughter (who was with me) says It's the "National Museum of Archeology or something-or-other."

Just try to avoid driving around those one car wide two-way traffic roads in rural glouscestershire. You might get your wing mirror bashed and run even further off the road. Figured that one out recently. Personally, I find a lot of roads in the UK to be terrifying. And I used to fly helicopters at night while getting shot at.


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They are scary as hell and just as bad up here. Had my second driving lesson yesterday. A round-about onto a round-about onto a sharp left onto one of "those" streets. And I don't even want to drive here! I just need a DL so I can rent a car in the States so we can go home to visit!  Can't go back to So California without being able to drive - there's no way to get around, other than excruciatingly expensive taxis.

The first time I ever drove in the UK, about 10 years ago, we went to Birmingham (or Bristol?) and rented a car at the airport. Leaving the airport down a country road, came around a blind curve and found a building sticking halfway into the road, obliterating my lane. A very old building. So. Yeah, it's not just the oncoming traffic to be wary of in the UK!    (I think it was at a place called Barrow Gurney?)

No, the Collilns was fine (and a very good museum). It's the big one in city center, and it's old. They could have put an internal lift in - I've seen them in other listed buildings.

Gotcha. Haven’t made it to that one yet. 

They are scary as hell. Had my second driving lesson yesterday. A round-about onto a round-about onto a sharp left onto one of "those" streets. And I don't even want to drive here! I just need a DL so I can rent a car in the States so we can go home to visit!  Can't go back to So California without being able to drive - there's no way to get around, other than excruciatingly expensive taxis.

You can’t renew your US license I guess.

I did a ton of driving in Spain during our holiday down there. Not driving the in-law’s car certainly reduced the stress level. But pristine beautiful wide roads, even in the mountains. Driving on the right with wheel on the correct side. They still have a ton of roundabouts though. Just traffic from the left. That really helped me get comfortable with roundabouts with fewer “different” things to worry about. Only thing is they have 4 way stops as well and I still don’t know if I was supposed to yield to the right or left.

I’ll tell you a funny story though. Had my groomsmen over for our wedding last year. They were all driving rent cars despite my warnings. Towards the end of their stay, one of them commented he didn’t understand why they had big round speed bumps painted white in some of the smaller intersections. My wife was a bit shocked. And that guy has an MD & a JD.


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Snork!

Yeah, actually I'm ok with roundabouts. Except that everything is coming at me from the wrong side! It's the "mirrored" that's killing me. I think if I was living in Spain I'd have no trouble at all driving.

Snork!

Yeah, actually I'm ok with roundabouts. Except that everything is coming at me from the wrong side! It's the "mirrored" that's killing me. I think if I was living in Spain I'd have no trouble at all driving.

Well yeah but I mean I jumped from that to driving hours and hours on A roads and motorways including at night. The rural country roads are stiff nutty.


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