Travels with a Wheelchair.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Well, I have just returned from a very sunny week in North Devon.
I took my dear Ma to Ilfracombe...well, it was Lee bay actually.
When Ma booked the break she was told that Lee Bay was just about 2 miles from Ilfracombe.
Silly old me said that on our 'free day' I would push her into Ilfracombe so that we could look at the shops and have lunch out.

We had a lovely trip down to Lee Bay, but I was a bit dismayed to find that the '2miles' was more like 6 miles....that the terrain was as hilly as hell, and that the lanes were narrow and a positive death trap to walk along. Motorists came round those blind bends like they had radar.

The hotel is set in beautiful grounds and we had a room that overlooked the garden....well, it was more like two rooms in one.
I had a single bed in front of french doors which led onto a balcony.....Ma's room was up three steps and her room was more like a conservatory.....half glass, lovely light and airy. She only got that room because it was close to the toilet, and I didn't want her falling either up or down the three steps in the middle of the night.

People seem to think that these holidays that I take with my Ma are a holiday for me too. And while I would hate for people to think that I don't enjoy her company.....(we always have a real good laugh) it is also damned hard work.

On this trip we went to Minehead....over the moors and up Porlock Hill.
For those who have never been up Porlock....I will tell you there are parts where the gradient is 25%...believe me that is steep.
On this occasion the coach just could not get up the hill. The driver was very apologetic and asked us all to get out and walk up the hill.
My Ma became visibly pale at this request.......and I began to sweat just thinking about it.
As it happened, the coach driver told Ma she could stay on the coach, but I got off and walked up the hill....and watched as mother gave a regal wave as she passed us all (I think her style was reminiscent of the Queen Mum).
Now these coach tours are full of the older generation and there were a couple of the passengers who looked as though they were going to need an ambulance, a couple of paramedics and an oxygen cylinder when they got to the top. There was much puffing and panting I can tell you.

We did do the trip to Ilfracombe, and we did manage to have lunch out...but it was quite a costly event......£30 in taxi fares, but Ma enjoyed it immensely.
The group of travellers on the coach were absolutely great.....it was just like a great big family outing.
Ma had the dining room in hysterics most nights, and people were vying to sit close to our table so that they could join in with the conversation...which was sometimes a bit ribald.
Once dinner was over Ma would retire to our room and either read or do puzzles. Several of the guests asked for her to come down into the lounge and entertain the assembled crowd...on only one night did we manage to persuade her....and we all had an uproarious time.

Well we have only been back a couple of days and already she is looking for another 'holiday'


I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this, but I am sure the mods will move it if it isn't. Have a good read folks.
Bring back the blogs I say.

[shillelagh]

Glad you had a nice holiday margaret. I had fun and joy with my mum and her wheelchair and in the end i gave up taking her out unless my brother or sisters would push her.

[WillowTheWhisp]

I've done my share of wheelchair pushing too so I can sympathise with you and the effort required in hilly terrain.

I couldn't help wondering about those people slogging their way up Porlock Hill. Why do they have coach trips going up there of the coaches can't make it carrying passengers? What would have happened if one of them had been taken ill as a coinsequence of the exertion which they hadn't anticipated?

[cashman]

glad you had a good hol margaret, theres sure a fair share of hills around ilfracombe, you have my sympathy, i did it for a week in lourdes 30 odd yrs ago an theres a lot less hills an i was young, but still knackered after.

[garinda]

I've walked those lanes around Ilfracombe and Woolacombe, and they are steep and treachorous, even on two feet, never mind two feet and four wheels.

Glad you got to share a great holiday with Muti, and thanks for sharing it with us. As usual when reading your writing, I have a silly big grin on my face.

It made me miss your blog more than ever.

BRING BACK THE JOURNALS!

[Margaret Pilkington]

thank you folks for taking time to read about my little jaunt.......I know Garinda enjoyed it, i hope the rest of you did too.

Willow, the coach that we went on was on contract to the company......it wasn't the usual coach they would send on such a holiday. The poor driver was aghast when he saw where he was supposed to be taking us....he said it is more than 20 years since he had been down in that neck of the woods and had quite forgotten how steep Porlock is.
To be fair to him, he did offer to let some of the older passengers stay on the coach.....but I think pride got in the way.
In fact, at dinner one of the older ladies, who was panting like a stranded codfish when she got to the top, confessed that she forgets that she isn't 24 anymore - because that is what she feels INSIDE.....not the 74 that she actually IS....and it is only when she attempts something like that, that her body reminds her fiercely of her real age.

Anyway the bus driver said that from now on the word 'Porlock' is to be considered a swear word!

[Margaret Pilkington]

Part of the problem too, was because some hoon in a car came hurtling down in the opposite direction which mean the driver had to slam his anchors on and lost the momentum to get us up the hill.

I really do know that feeling.....it is amazing the number of people who cross right in front of you when you have a full head of steam on pushing the wheel chair up a steep incline....it makes you stop dead and then you have to get the momentum going all over again. (I sweat just thinking about it)
And the number of people who park their cars on the pavement making it necessary to take a dangerous detour into the road......also people who do not look where they are going and when they step back into you they give you thunderous looks....like you KNEW exactly what they had planned......I want to tell them all here and now......MY name isn't Septic Peg!
Cobbles are another great bugbear. Ma's cancer was in her pelvis, so cobbles really do shake her bits about unmercifully....so I try to avoid them.....the cobbles that is. Uneven pavements have nearly caused the demise of Ma on a number of occasions.....I have almost jettisoned her out of the chair more times that I care to remember......but all in all it is worth it to have a smiling, happy Muti

[Margaret Pilkington]

This is what a happy smiling Muti looks like!

[entwisi]

Heh I went up Porlock with my Dad when I was ~12 years old. Back then it was marked in 'old school' markings, its 1 in 4 for most but does hit 1 in 3.5 at some points. IIRC there is a garage at teh bottom who used to make a fortune from people who burnt out their clutches

[Margaret Pilkington]

The views from the top are spectacular, but it was quite a haul up there.
Oh, I think the garage is still there too.

[Margaret Pilkington]

and although the gradients are now marked in percentages, I still convert them back to the old days.