Oliver Cromwell's House : Ely, 2017

I'm going to be honest with you here: some places that you go to in a wheelchair surprise you with how accessible they are and you have a really great time, but some places you go to are severely limited in their access for various reasons. Unfortunately Oliver Cromwell's House was one of them, and despite the best efforts of the staff to be accommodating, they were limited by the structure of the house. Therefore, if you are wheelchair bound I wouldn't recommend it (unless you are a particular Oliver Cromwell fanatic). The only wheelchair accessible areas were the shop, the kitchen and a small room playing a video on Oliver Cromwell's life.

Totally pulling off the bonnet, right? Photo by J. Bailey.

Luckily I am able to get out of my wheelchair when necessary, so was able to go and look around the upstairs, but it was quite a lot of effort for little reward. Bare in mind, however, that this was heading towards the end of our trip and I was increasingly battling Post Exertional Malaise. I found the information quite difficult to take in because of how it was presented (some quite wordy portions, and little wooden flaps covering some of the pieces of information which, although perhaps fun for little kids who like guessing the answers, is quite tiring for someone with ME).

We did, however, come across the best part of the House upstairs - the dressing up box! I can never resist these and particularly helpful in this instance was that they did up with Velcro! Perhaps not quite historically accurate but very convenient for the less mobile. Nevertheless, Oliver Cromwell's House did pose a challenge for accessibility.

Photo by H. Bailey.

Photo by H. Bailey.

Accessibility (1 = not very good; 5 = brilliant!):

Wheelchair 1/5: Like I said, not very  much is available to those who are in wheelchairs due to the fact that it is such an old building.

Sensory Input 3/5: Although generally quiet, I found it difficult to process the information displayed and quickly became very brain fogged.

Food & Facilities  2/5: There is no food or toilets on site. There is a public, wheelchair accessible, toilet within 500 meters of the house. The town centre has quite a few eating options, however this is further away than I would be able to walk.

Travel 2/5: There is a disabled bay 10 meters from the house; a short stay car park 250 meters away and a long stay car park 500 meters away.

Overall 2/5: Visit length was one hour, with thirty minutes of travel time.

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY ONE: ST ALBAN'S CATHEDRAL

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY TWO: KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY THREE PART 1:  THE FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY THREE PART 2: GRANTCHESTER 

 *I currently have moderate ME, meaning I use a wheelchair pushed by someone else, and a walking stick. Please take into account your own physical capabilities when planning a trip, if you need to start small then start small. Look into what you can see nearby for when you're ready. Although, when at my best, I may be able to post every 1-2 weeks, that does not mean I am well enough to travel that frequently! Many of my posts come from a backlog of trips taken over the past few years.