Rangers at a national park have been praised for their ongoing work to make the park more welcoming for people with limited mobility.
The most recent improvements in the Yorkshire Dales National Park have seen a path through hay meadows in Malham made more accessible for all.
Campaigner Debbie North said the replacement of kissing gates with wide gates which opened both ways was ‘just fantastic’.
"The old kissing gates were totally inaccessible for somebody in an all terrain wheelchair because they were far too narrow," she said.
"And the new gates open both ways. It’s far easier to go through a gate that opens outwards rather than inwards; with a gate that opens only one way you have to reverse to get through it.
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"These gates close behind which is excellent as that keeps the farmer happy too."
The improvements have been seen as a cause for celebration alongside other similar improvements to infrastructure elsewhere in the park, as well as the increased availability of all-terrain wheelchairs for hire.
Mrs North, who has campaigned for improved access after she began to use a wheelchair in 2010, said families had recently contacted her charity, Access the Dales, saying they had booked holidays in the National Park because they knew there was now ‘something accessible to do every single day’.
The improvement in accessibility to the path in Malham have come thanks to funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' 'Removing Barriers' grant scheme. The same scheme has awarded the funds to design a new path through Freeholders' Wood which will enable wheelchair users to access the lower falls of Aysgarth Falls, near the National Park's visitor centre, for the first time.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Access and Recreation Officer Rachel Briggs has worked closely with Debbie North for a decade.
Rachel said: “The route in Malham is easily followed from the Malham National Park Visitor Centre, so people can feel reassured there is somewhere to park and somewhere to go to the toilet. It’s a flat, well-surfaced route which takes you to a place where you can sit and listen to running water, which from visitor surveys we know people enjoy.
“We’re auditing for new access routes regularly. Some of the routes we promote as ‘Miles Without Stiles’ are short routes that you could do in a manual wheelchair; places such as Cotter Foss in Upper Wensleydale. Other routes require an all terrain wheelchair, such as Sulber Nick in Ribblesdale, where you can get up close to the limestone pavement and go high for the views. And there’s something in between for everybody.
“Things are improving all the time. Two Changing Places toilets will open soon in the National Park, one in Hawes, one in Grassington. That represents a leap forward in terms of access for some people with disabilities; at the moment the nearest Changing Places toilets are in Skipton and Northallerton.”
Debbie added: “Malham has become an accessibility hub. I’m using the chair which is kept at The Lister’s Arms. From the pub you’ve got a lovely walk to Gordale Scar. You can take the chair up to the Cove and right down to the bottom of the Cove.
"This is now a third route, which is just so beautiful. Within a matter of metres you’ve got that feeling of freedom and of space.”
The Lister Arms is an accessible pub, with accessible toilet. The General Manager, Chris Denning, said he was pleased to be able to host the all terrain wheelchair.
“After hearing Debbie’s story, we were touched by the initiative and realised that not only could some of our own guests benefit from the Wheelchair Hub, but those simply visiting for the day could too.
"We’re nestled in such a beautiful area of the UK, and I believe that everyone should be able to experience the wonders of Malham Cove, Janet’s Foss and Gordale Scar. We really do hope that it encourages as many people as possible to get out and explore the stunning Yorkshire Dales.”
Debbie North is a member of the Yorkshire Dales Access Forum. During her visit to Malham she was asked about the accessibility work that is going on across the National Park.
She said: “Over the last 12 years or so the changes have been incredible. Within the National Park, there are so many more places that you can borrow the all-terrain chairs and the information is a lot better as well.
"We’ve got a hub up at Tebay where you can now go up onto the Howgills, which is so off the beaten track; there’s a hub at Nateby near Kirkby Stephen, where you can get up to the tops and the views are just stunning over Wild Boar fell.
"There’s Ingleborough Cave, the only accessible cave system in England, where you can go in a manual wheelchair and experience being underground – and that is a joy.
“The Yorkshire Dales National Park is certainly improving as a place for people with disabilities. There is a strong team of people pushing the message that it is a countryside for all; that the Yorkshire Dales National Park is for everyone.”
Malhamdale Area Ranger Rob Ashford added: “’Access For All’ is one of the National Park Authority’s high priority programmes and it is beginning to show. Good access to the countryside improves physical and mental health and the Malham meadows walk is one of many where we are starting to improve access for disabled people.”
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