Tag Archives: trail

Accessible Routes, Days Out, Quingo Scooters

Quingo Accessible Routes: Itchen Valley Park

Here at Quingo Scooters, we’re always encouraging you to get out and about and to explore the world around you with your mobility scooter. In our series of articles, we’re bringing various accessible routes to your attention, which you can take on your mobility scooter to discover the UK’s amazing natural beauty.

Today we’re heading down to Itchen Valley Park. Based in Southampton, Hampshire, this is an accessible popular nature park which is suitable for mobility scooter users.

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Itchen Valley Park

Itchen Valley Park features 440 acres of stunning woodland and meadows for you to explore. It has been recognised with a prestigious Green Flag award for the past four years in a row, showing how popular it is with visitors. Itchen Valley Park has a Visitor Centre on site, where you can access interactive nature-based displays and shops, as well as a café where you can indulge in tea and cake afterwards.

The Park is famous for its trails. We suggest you buy a guide to accompany you, which is available from the Visitor Centre for just 50p. Its two mile Meadows Nature Trail is really popular, allowing guests to view the historic SSSI Water Meadow. It also has a one mile long Woodland Nature Trail, which is a must-see for nature enthusiasts. This forest path boasts various wildflowers and is well known for its bluebells, which appear in spring.

Itchen Valley Park is free to visit, opening at 8.30am daily, but closing at 7pm from November to March and at 9.30pm from April to October.

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Accessibility

Itchen Valley Park is largely a suitable destination for scooter users. You can reach the venue by car and it has ample parking spaces, although there is a minimal charge for parking. This ranges from £1 for up to an hour, to £3.90 for more than four hours, but it’s free for holders of Hampshire Cultural Trust Culture Cards. Check out the Visiting Itchen Valley Park webpage to plan how to get there.

After you arrive at Itchen Valley Park, you’ll find that its Visitor Centre lies near the main road. Outside, there is a moderate ramp leading up to the Centre’s main entrance. The ramp has handrails on both sides and is 1100mm wide, making it suitable for mobility scooter users. The main entrance into the Visitor Centre is 930mm wide and you’re allowed to use mobility scooters across this building.

The Visitor Centre was built in an old barn, meaning that its key services all lie on one level. The Centre also has an accessible toilet, and there’s an easily accessible picnic and play area just outside. We should note that not all the trails are accessible, but do seek guidance from the Park’s staff on this matter as they’ll be happy to assist you. The Woodland Nature Trail is Itchen Valley Park’s most famous accessible route, having ramps and handrails for ease of access.

About Quingo

The Quingo Scooter range features six models to suit your needs and budget. New models are now available from just £22/week on our new contract hire scheme which includes all servicing and maintenance, Insurance, Roadside Recovery, Call Outs and Consumables including Batteries and Tyres. For more information on this or the latest Quingo Scooter range, please visit our website. Alternatively, if you have any Service questions you can always contact us or call customer services on 01582 430 900.

Keep up to date with the latest mobility scooter advice, tips and interesting places to visit on the Quingo Scooter Users Blog. Connect with Quingo and keep up to date with all our latest news on Facebook and Twitter.

All Quingo Personal Mobility Vehicles are provided by Forever Active, the UK’s exclusive distributor. Forever Active is a trading name of Advantage Marketing Corporation Limited (AMC).  AMC Limited is an appointed representative of First Senior Insurance Services Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. First Senior Insurance Services FSA Register number is 308478.

Attractions, Days Out, Quingo Scooters

Quingo Accessible Days Out: Trosley Country Park

Here at Quingo Scooters we know how much fun it can be to spend a day out doing something different, or visiting a place you thought maybe wasn’t accessible enough. Now that summer is well and truly upon us, you’d probably much rather be spending time outdoors on a lovely sunny day instead of being inside.

There’s no better place you can be in the nice weather than a beautiful park, so today we’re heading down to Kent to share Trosley Country Park with you.

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Trosley Country Park

You’ll find Trosley Country Park in Trottiscliffe, near Vigo in Kent. Covering 170 acres of beautiful woodland, there are some spectacular views to see, so make sure you bring your camera! The land was once part of the Trosley Towers Estate, but it is now home to a variety of wildlife and chalk grassland slopes after the removal of scrubland and re-introduction of grazing to the area.

This will especially be a great day out for those interested in plants and wildlife, as you’ll find some important plants and animals at Trosley Country Park including the Chalkhill Blue Butterfly and the rare Musk Orchid. The chalk grassland at Trosley is even classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. If you have time afterwards, the park is also a great base to visit the Coldrum Stones – an ancient listed monument of 15 sarsen stones.

The Trails

There are three waymarked trails in the park if you fancy an adventure. One of them, the yellow route, is specifically designed for mobility scooters, wheelchairs and buggies. The trail provides spectacular views over the downs, and guides visitors past a variety of natural habitats, churches, oast houses, Neolithic remains and other historic features.

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Café

After you’ve seen the sights of the trail, you can refuel at the Bluebell café and try the local produce. The menu includes homemade snacks, light meals and cakes, and even homemade dog biscuits for your furry friends! You can also grab an ice cream to cool down, some soft drinks and fair trade tea and coffee.

Accessibility

On arrival you’ll find 2 disabled parking spaces. These are hard standing spaces and are the closest spaces to the visitor centre, which is approximately 10 metres away with an easily accessible entrance. There are an additional 55 hard standing spaces and 25 grass parking spaces.

There is a fully accessible toilet adjacent to the main visitor centre which is open at all times, and the facilities can be reached by an easy access pathway. The café is situated on the ground floor of the visitor centre and is accessible through automatic double doors. There is accessible seating inside the café, or alternatively there are accessible picnic benches in the café garden.

Share your accessible attraction with Quingo!

If you’ve been to visit any interesting attractions on your Quingo or would like us to write about a particular place you have visited, we’d be delighted to hear from you. You can email your stories, recommendations and pictures by filling out the contact form on our website and we’ll feature them on our blog.

About Quingo Scooters

The Quingo Scooters range features six models to suit your needs and budget. New models are now available from just £22/week on our new contract hire scheme which includes all servicing and maintenance, Insurance, Roadside Recovery, Call Outs and Consumables including Batteries and Tyres. For more information on this or the latest Quingo Scooter range, please visit our website. Alternatively, if you have any Service questions you can always contact us or call customer services on 01582 430 900.

Keep up to date with the latest mobility scooter advice, tips and interesting places to visit on the Quingo Scooter Users Blog. Connect with Quingo and keep up to date with all our latest news on Facebook and Twitter.

All Quingo Personal Mobility Vehicles are provided by Forever Active, the UK’s exclusive distributor. Forever Active is a trading name of Advantage Marketing Corporation Limited (AMC).  AMC Limited is an appointed representative of First Senior Insurance Services Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. First Senior Insurance Services FSA Register number is 308478.