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Coping With Accessibility Challenges In London
Day trips with family
Guest post by Omoh
Prior to becoming a mother, I would often enjoy days out into Central London with family and friends. Whenever family came to visit, we would always take them to the Southbank and do that beautiful walk starting at the Southbank Centre and Royal Festival Hall, then enjoying the sights along the Southbank, such as street performers and carousels. Coping with accessibility challenges in London.
As you walk along the Southbank, you get to see the gargantuan London Eye and have the perfect picture backdrop with the Houses of Parliament in view. As we would come to the end of the Southbank, we always walked up the steps which lead you onto Westminster Bridge. There is always a stream of people stopping along the bridge for that perfect picture capturing the beauty of the London Eye and Houses of Parliament, encompassing an iconic London skyline.
Day trips with children and pushchairs
Since having my daughter and relying on accessibility options, whilst using a pushchair; I have made this trip again only once. It was a day trip with family members that were visiting London for the day, and I do not think I will venture out to make this day trip again until my daughter is fully out of her pushchair.
To begin with, everything takes longer when travelling on public transport in London. For starters, I have to plan my route to make sure the train stations I choose to use are fully accessible. For this journey I had to think about which station nearest to home is fully accessible, as there are three different mainline stations near to me which are all a fifteen-minute walk. I also have to think about boarding the train into a carriage which is designated for bikes or wheelchairs, as it is often quite difficult to push my pram through the narrow aisles.
Finding a toilet
Once on the train I need to locate the on-board toilets just in case I need to use the baby changing facilities. However, these toilets are not always well kept. Therefore, on numerous occasions, I have changed my daughter on the chair and laying down my portable nappy changing mat out of passenger’s view.
Locating a lift
Upon leaving the train I would need to locate the exit, usually via a lift. If I have taken a train to Waterloo East station, I am lucky enough that the exit to the ticket barriers is step-free. Once past the ticket barriers there is a large lift which will transport you down into Waterloo station. From there it is easy to leave the station with a pram and make your way towards the Southbank. There are lifts that will take you up towards the Southbank Centre and Royal Festival Hall, where you can enjoy the stunning bronze bust of Nelson Mandela.
There are further lifts which will take you to the promenade of the Southbank. Along the Southbank there are accessible public toilets with baby changing facilities; although there is a small charge to use these facilities. There are also accessible toilets and baby changing facilities located at the London Eye’s ticket office.
Lifting a pram up stairs
Once we got to the end of the Southbank and met the steps to Westminster Bridge, I needed help to get the pram up the stairs. Once we were up onto the bridge, we got to enjoy the scenery behind us and in front of us. It was only a short walk along the bridge until we ended up at Westminster station, which is fully accessible and step free.
Baby changing facilities
On a more recent occasion in which I braved the trains and tubes in London, I ended up in London Bridge station to catch my connecting train home. My daughter, who was potty training at the time, had a toilet accident in the middle of the station. Luckily, we were very close to their public toilets in the station. Their toilet facilities are fully staffed and regularly checked. There was a separate wheelchair accessible toilet which included baby changing facilities. Although the toilet was locked, there was a staff member available who opened the toilets for me. These toilets are also ideal if you are near the Shard.
The need for more accessible toilets in public places
There needs to be more public toilets which are accessible for the disabled and include baby changing facilities, especially in Central London. There is also a need for more step free access in popular underground stations in Central London. Travelling to Hamley’s on Regents Street at Christmas time meant I could not use the nearest underground station, which is Oxford Circus, as there is no step free access to the street level. Instead, I had to divert my journey to Bond Street because I know it is fully step-free. However, this means that I have a longer journey to walk down Oxford Street and turn onto Regent Street. Even with this, I struggled to battle through the streams of people whilst pushing a pram not only on Oxford Street, but on Regent Street; both of which are very busy at Christmas time.
In my local area there are businesses which have signed up for a community toilet scheme. This means that you are free to use their toilet facilities without having to make a purchase. It would be useful to introduce such a scheme near popular London landmarks. That way we parents are not forced to change our children on portable nappy changing mats on cold floors outside, nor have to carry around a portable potty.
What are your ways of coping with accessibility in London as a parent, grandparent or a disabled person? What challenges do you face?
Post written by Omoh 7/2/24
Great post. I love London – it was a favourite destination of my husband, who lived there for a while as a young man, and I. We did not get there in the last few years of his life when he had mobility issues, needed a walker, and had limited strength in his legs. I wonder how we would have navigated the city if we had been able to make one last trip there for him.
Thanks Donna. Luckily you were able to see London back then.
Using a walker would have been challenging for him among the crowd.
Very interesting post, Bola. It’s wonderful to see the progress that has been made with respect to accessibility, but there certainly is much more that can be done. Fingers crossed that those with a disability get the dignity they deserve when encountering difficulties abroad and at home.
Thanks Doreen, hopefully more facilities will be made available for people that need to travel with accessibility needs.
I don’t think travel promoters understand how trying it can be to navigate with prams, or wheelchairs, anything that helps when you’re dependent on wheels to get around. That said, my husband and I have just started going on little trips with grandbabies and their parents. When it’s a tropical location it’s so much easier to keep them amused and not as much traveling to work as in cities. Keep going!
Thankfully those wheels help us navigate around, provided everything is in place.
It always seems odd to me that the issues you raise here are viewed as special needs. Clean toliets with good baby changing stations help keep those toliets clean for everyone. Likewise, lots of people can find themselves loaded down with luggage or packages and in need of a handy elevator or an unobstructed route. Everyone benefits from from better accessibility!
The challenge is when the lifts or escalators are out of action