Boardwalk opens up Broads to Disabled People
The delights of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads are often out of bounds for disabled people. But a half mile long boardwalk which leads through the heart of a floating forest in a National Nature Reserve enables visitors of all abilities to reach the brink of beautiful Barton Broad for the first time.
On Thursday August 12th, 10 am at the Barton Boardwalk, Neatishead, an information pack designed to give disabled people the confidence to undertake the trip is to be launched.
The boardwalk, which represents the acme of achievement for the Broads Authority, has been specifically designed with the needs of disabled people in mind. With a smooth, dry surface, it is wide enough to take wheelchairs, has a tapping rail for people who use sticks, a safety barrier handrail for most of its length, and a car park with three spaces for disabled people at its entrance.
This mysterious walk on water, spanning a centuries old swamp teeming with wildlife, which is owned by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, eventually emerges onto a viewing platform which is accessible for wheelchairs, giving glorious, panoramic views overlooking the broad.
Karen Sayer, Head of Information and Design at the Broads Authority, who designed the pack, said: ”We realise that for disabled people to leave a town or city for the countryside is like going into a foreign country and we hope this pack will give them the confidence to explore the boardwalk for themselves."
“Blind or partially sighted people will enjoy the sounds of the birds and the wind in the trees, the smells of the swamp and open water. You can just feel the tranquillity of the place.”
The Barton Access Pack, which comes in a transparent plastic briefcase, contains all the information disabled people need before embarking on their trip. A spiral bound, large print brochure, and its equivalent in Braille, contains clear maps detailing the route from the main Broads Authority car park behind the Barton Angler, with information about the surface and gradient of the boardwalk, resting places, toilets, parking and route information. The brochures include information on how and why the boardwalk was built, a history of the broad and its restoration, and an illustrated section on the wildlife to look out for.
A CD and audio cassette tell fascinating stories about the broad’s restoration and the building of the boardwalk. They include a guided tour round the boardwalk with the Broads Authority’s two voluntary countryside rangers, interviews with people who know and love the broad, and wildlife sound recordings of some of the birds and mammals likely to be heard on the way.
The pack was compiled after working with the Norfolk and Norwich Association for the Blind and Stephanie Ash of Norfolk Disability Awareness Trainers Ltd.
Stephanie, a former member of the Broads Authority who is a wheelchair user, said "the boardwalk enabled disabled people to get close to the water and its wildlife which would not normally be possible."
“It’s wonderful to be able to get into the heart of this magical wildlife area and experience its sights, sounds and smells,” she said. “To be able to get right to the water’s edge is something that many disabled people cannot normally do in the Broads.”
The packs can be borrowed for a deposit of £5 each from any of the Broads information centres at Hoveton, Ranworth, Potter Heigham, How Hill and Beccles, and by post from the Broads Authority’s head office at 18 Colegate, Norwich. Tel: 01603 610734. They can also be viewed at Norwich, Wroxham and North Walsham libraries.
The packs were funded by Anglian Water Environmental Partnership using landfill tax credits donated by the RMC Environment Fund.
09/08/2004
