Access for all outdoors

This is a view of the outside on the Kingfisher Suite in the afternoon sun with the west door open, taken from under the carport. You are now looking from the carport towards the west doorway, which has an opening of 870mm clear, making it suitable for wheelchair access to the Kingfisher Suite. There is a draught excluding strip across the opening that creates a slight bump.
To look inside this reception area, please select the link to our Sunroom section.

Our V70 Volvo fits neatly under half of the carport. One of the outer support pillars is clad with golden hop. We usually keep the carport free for wheelchair users and blue badge holders. Our Volvo fits into the carport, which is 4.8m long, and there is room to open the doors on both sides within the width of 3.8m. We have had a guest staying who was able to drive their motorised wheelchair up portable ramps into the rear of their adapted vehicle without getting wet during a shower of rain.

As soon as the extension was completed in June 2004, we used some rectangular paving stones from Thailand to provide access for vehicles to the west door and the carport.

This photo shows the stone-paved access to the twin carports and the slope (1 in 17) down the side of the Kingfisher extension. This driveway is wide enough to allow a car to park on level paving and unload a driver or passenger immediately outside the west door.

The stone paving continues down the side of the extension and round the back, beyond rabbit-proofed gates, to the evening patio, via a ridged concrete slope, with an up- stand on both sides, or shallow steps.

The stone paving goes right round to the rear of the extension, where it joins the blue brick patio via a ridged concrete ramp. At the far end of this patio there is a brick ramp back down to the lawn, and half way along there are two well-lit steps to the lawn.

The evening patio is so called because the warmth of the setting sun baths the large extending teak table and eight reclining chairs, which have arms and cushions. The decking outside the kitchen door is a favourite place to gather for a chat over coffee. There is a wooden slope up to the decking, which is outside the kitchen patio doors.

If we had a wheelchair-user resident, we would keep a strip of blue pavers clear

Thank you so much for another lovely stay with kind and wonderful hosts.
Pat & Geoff Nicholls 8th July 2007