My mum and I visited Tideswell for a five-day break. This was in the Peak District. We stayed at the vicarage farm holiday cottages and the holiday cottage was called Hope Cross. The holiday cottage itself was fabulous. We always look for accessible wheelchair accommodation, but this can sometimes vary in quality and comfort. I was very impressed with this particular holiday cottage. They have really taken wheelchair accessibility to the next level. There was a riser recliner chair which I appreciated after a long journey of six hours in the car. They had a walk-in shower/wet room with a wheeled shower chair/commode, the sink was at wheelchair height and they had a raised toilet with grab rails and non-slip flooring. The bedroom had a profiling bed which was very comfortable, and this was height adjustable and could accommodate a hoist if required. I think it is the best holiday cottage I have stayed in so far. The cottage also had an accessible patio area which had beautiful views over the Peak District and the cows!
Mum and I visited Bakewell. It was very pretty but not very wheelchair friendly, however, it was worth a visit for the lovely pub lunch at the Peacock pub and the Bakewell tarts and puddings. We also visited Chatsworth House and it is the first stately home I have visited that is fully wheelchair accessible and I saw every room that everyone else saw. Ten out of ten for that. The gardens and the outside of the building were breathtaking. I could even access the tour of the grounds by a tractor and trailer (warning this is not a smooth ride and can rock you about a bit and you may get wet!). The farm shop was well worth a visit and great for picking up picnic stuff.
On our last full day, we went to Chester Zoo which is about an hour and a half from Tideswells but worth the trip. We took a tour around the Islands by boat which was wheelchair accessible. I had to transfer from my powered wheelchair to a manual wheelchair for the ride. We saw the penguins, the giraffes, the tigers, a tree kangaroo who was super cute, the bats and a baby tapir. All the paths are wheelchair friendly and they have good picnic areas (we had ours while watching the giraffes.) There are disabled toilets and changing places on site. Also, if you have a carer, they go free which reduces the price of admission dramatically.
Overall, I loved this break away and the weather was fantastic. I felt I could relax without worrying about accessibility. I think I will visit Derbyshire again.
