Wheelie Accessible Derbyshire

Wheelie Accessible Derbyshire Reviewing accessibility within venues across Derbyshire.

📍Matlock Farm Park 🗺Over the Easter Holidays, we went to Matlock Farm Park. We have been a few times and I love this pla...
21/04/2026

📍Matlock Farm Park 🗺

Over the Easter Holidays, we went to Matlock Farm Park. We have been a few times and I love this place for accessibility!

When booking, Matlock Farm Park do not offer a complimentary carer but they offer a carer ticket at s reduced rate.

Upon arrival, there is disabled parking at the front near the entrance. Just shoe your blue badge to the employee directing the cars and they will guide you down. Terrain here is compacted stone.

In the park, it is tarmaced with toilet facilities just at the entranceway, including a Changing Places UK toilet (this is pictured below). I love all venues that can accommodate a huge toilet space like this as it will be so beneficial to many disabled people.
I believe that toilets are being installed at the bottom of the park, around the sand and pebble play area. I do hope they consider the dimensions of the disabled toilet down there too. I am hopeful!

The park is easily accessible and not hilly. Just the central walkway has a slight incline.
There are ramps into the small animal holding and I love this addition. You can tell that they have thought about the space and accommodating for all.

The café and soft play are a little more snug and I always find it challenging to get in and to find a table. I think mobility scooters would struggle with this space. Matlock Farm Park instruct buggies to stay outside and this does help.

As well as the café, there are food and drink stalls outside too.

I was able to access all parts of this park with my children so it has become a firm favourite.

There is something for everyone and those who are disabled visitors will feel included and comfortable here.

P.s. always wrap up, it is a brisk wind up there and can happen even on the warmest of days! 😃

📍 Carsington Water, Ashbourne 🗺 Looking for an accessible day out with some fantastic scenery, a good icecream and well ...
08/04/2026

📍 Carsington Water, Ashbourne 🗺

Looking for an accessible day out with some fantastic scenery, a good icecream and well needed fresh air? You will find all of that at Carsington Water.

Upon arrival, you can hire one of two trampers (as seen in my photos). These are on a first come, first served basis and during busy periods, they are hireable for 2 hours at a time. I had hired it previously during a quieter spell and was given more time but on a sunny bank holiday Monday, it was busy! We had to wait for the tramper to come back so we went up to the café. Set over two floors, there is plenty of seating. We wanted to get a good view of the water so headed upstairs via the lift. Again, very spacious and lots of food, cakes and drinks on offer. After that, we went into the information area on the ground floor which my children enjoyed.

We then headed out on the tramper when it became available. You have to fill in a quick form, have a quick tutorial and then you're free to go and explore. The terrain is perfect for the tramper but it isn't necessary, especially if you have a motorised chair or scooter or would be happy to be pushed manually. I saw many people using the space with all different equipment.
The surface itself is heavily compacted stones with a dust path. It is very easy to use and you can get a map at the visitors centre with an accessible route on it. However, I have been all the way around which is roughly 8 miles.

There is a good play park for children and a large grass area for picnics and ball games.

Near the visitors centre is where you will find the courtyard. There are some shops and an ice cream parlour as well as toilets. I saw two disabled toilets and unfortunately, one of these was out of order when I visited. They were also pretty tight to get into and I didn't spot a changing places sadly. I think it would be a great addition to have some larger toileting facilities. I was able to access the toilet in my manual wheelchair but it would be a tighter squeeze for a motorised wheelchair.

There are plenty of disabled parking bays, however, you do have to pay when you're leaving.

All in all, a very good day out! 🌞

Yesterday, I spent the day at Naidex, the largest disability convention. Showcasing everything from dementia and alzheim...
26/03/2026

Yesterday, I spent the day at Naidex, the largest disability convention. Showcasing everything from dementia and alzheimers care, neurodivergency, lifestyle adaptations, PIP help and benefits advice to many wheelchairs, add on equipment and mobility scooters. Not to mention state of the art, ground breaking technology still being developed for the disabled community.

Yesterday was day one of a two day event. It was so busy! Way busier than last year and it was lovely to see companies who had smaller stands last year, having larger stands this year and it still being so busy. It was great to see so many people support the event.

Hosted at the NEC in Birmingham and always being in March, check it out next year!


Naidex International

RGK Wheelchairs

📍Naidex 2026, NEC Birmingham ♿️ Tomorrow, I will be heading to Naidex for their annual, huge disability convention. With...
24/03/2026

📍Naidex 2026, NEC Birmingham ♿️

Tomorrow, I will be heading to Naidex for their annual, huge disability convention. With over 200 exhibitors, talks and advice, it is a huge event within the disabled community.

Last year was my first time visiting and it was great! You can get free tickets on their website: https://www.naidex.co.uk/whats-on-at-naidex-2026?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=naidex_brd&utm_content=discover_ad&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23549324043&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7IjOBhDyARIsAFzrWQwbspyZU3ol_oZ9vZy8mCgbOte7A1LBEZreqpFt3ucrctFdcHkI-cQaAt-XEALw_wcB

Honestly, it such a positive day out with some many companies there who specialise in adaptations and specialist equipment, it is a great day to try out anything you feel may help you live your life.

Are you going to Naidex this year?

Hello 👋 I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all of my new followers and to also check in! This week has seen me ha...
21/03/2026

Hello 👋

I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all of my new followers and to also check in!

This week has seen me have a difficult week which has meant more resting.

I did however, manage to visit a lovely park with my children today, Tittesworth Resevoir and I will do a full post on this fabulous place and all of its accessibility features soon!

If you can, please engage with the page, like and share posts to allow for more people to see the page. Hopefully this space helps as many people as possible.

Thank you! ♿️

Don't forget, if you are visiting or have an appointment at Stepping Hill Hospital and you have a blue badge, you need t...
18/03/2026

Don't forget, if you are visiting or have an appointment at Stepping Hill Hospital and you have a blue badge, you need to register it with one of their machines within the building.

You can either:

- leave the blue cover part of your card in your car with the time displayed and take your badge in with you to be scanned.

Or

- take a photo of your badge on your phone (the back of your badge showing the barcode) and leave your badge in your car.

Machines are found dotted around various entrances but there is definitely one at the Main Entrance and Outpatients B.

16/03/2026

Thank you so much! Hopefully more businesses follow suit and if you know anyone or own a business and would like an in-depth honest review talking all things accessible, please let me know! ♿️

16/03/2026

📍Castaway Play, Congleton 🗺

We visited Castaway Play to check out their accessibility as an inclusive play centre.

When we arrived, we quickly found a disabled parking bay, although there are only two (plenty more additional parking spaces a little further away, navigating a speed bump which could be tricky for independent travel).

With seven different spaces, this play centre boasts an abundance of activities which will keep the children entertained for hours. From water play, sand play, jungle adventure, sledges, sports room, go karts, disco room and character meet and greets, there are so many things to do!

We started our day in the sensory room. It is an additional charge of £10 for 30 minutes. This space is great for younger children wanting to explore or for children with additional needs, benefitting from a calmer space and fulfilling their sensory needs.

My children loved it and it was totally accessible physically with lots of cool features.

The rest of the day saw us exploring the rest of the play equipment!

All spaces are wheelchair accessible and you can tell that access was at the forefront of their mind when designing the venue. Other than a couple of steeper ramps (you can see these on the video and even then, they were doable with a bit of help), everywhere was accessible for me and my manual wheelchair. Electric wheelchairs and any mobility aid would be fine to use here and even tables aren't too closely packed together, as well as low impact flooring for easy pushing.

There is one disabled toilet onsite which is usable for a manual or electric chair. I think a mobility scooter would struggle. However, there is a larger changing bed in there which has an easy pull down mechanism. This is fantastic as it allows for a more accessible toileting experience for all, rather than just a small baby changing bed- I loved this addition.

Castaway Play offer SEN sessions on their website too so please check those out if you would like to use the play space during quiter periods.

A fantastic, inclusive family day out! ♿️

Visit https://www.castawayplay.co.uk/ to book.

©️ Independent review written by Wheelie Accessible Derbyshire

*PR Invite*

13/03/2026

👋 Hi! Some exciting news for me and this page landed yesterday and it is exactly why I set up this space- to give people insight and knowledge, to feel informed and empowered when venturing out and about either as a disabled person or with a disabled person.

Did you know that 1 in 10 disabled people are scared to go out and about and disabled people are 4x more likely to feel anxious about going to places.

If this platform can help just one person feel confident in going out and even trying somewhere new, knowing that their mobility or disability needs will be met, I will see that as a success.

*also, apologies for the amount of pausing during videos, cognitive impairment... 🤣

12/03/2026

📍 Fairways Garden Centre, Ashbourne 🗺

I know many garden centres are wheelchair accessible disabled friendly but here is a corker of a garden centre!

Plenty of blue badge parking, accessible entrance that leads into the treasure trove of garden supplies, giftware, clothing, accessories and indoor plants.

Upstairs is a huge restaurant which is accessible by lift also (at the back of the shop towards the toys). They sell hot food, proper coffee, tea, coffee, hot chocolate and even alcohol if you fancy a tipple. They do vegetarian and gluten free options too.

Outdoors, you will find a fully stocked rose garden department as well as outdoor plants, shrubs, fencing and pots galore.

Toilets are located in the gift department and it has an ample disabled toilet. Sadly, no changing places on site.

You can also use one of their manual wheelchairs if you need to which I think is great.

This garden centre is accessible for all mobility aids with widened aisles and plenty of space to manoeuvre.

©️ Independent review published by Wheelie Accessible Derbyshire

10/03/2026

For those of you who don't know me personally, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in January 2015. I was 22 years old and at the time at university studying an Early Years degree whilst also being a teaching assistant in a Primary School. In that moment of being told, my life took a different path. Then came the incessant relapses and flares which left me unable to walk, work, function on my own at all. I had intense disease modifying drugs that thankfully helped slow down the progression of this lifelong, life limiting illness. Correct medication meant I could get married and have my two children. None of this was easy or without relapses and flares but I did it anyway. Now, more than a decade on from diagnosis, I am a full time wheelchair user, no longer a teaching assistant but loving my life because I am a wife, a mum and happy. In spite of this gruelling, relentless disease, I am happy with my life. Imagine a cure though, that would be pretty amazing. I set this page up to educate others, empower others who may feel that they can't go to certain venues and to also raise awareness that accepting disabilities and accessibility in this country still has some way to go.

Happy International Wheelchair Day! ♿️ Forever grateful for the wheels that give me freedom to enjoy the things I love, ...
01/03/2026

Happy International Wheelchair Day! ♿️

Forever grateful for the wheels that give me freedom to enjoy the things I love, with the people who I love!

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