Jane Risdon (Author) A few seconds ago. The Abbey, a Wheelchair, lack of loos and a burger which isnt a burger. (c) Jane Risdon 2013 Some things are not meant to be. Had a trip to Westminster Abbey on Saturday with a tour planned. The people we were going with turned up late at the arranged meeting place so we were late getting to the Abbey: actually they were closing the doors for the day at 13.30pm - no more sight-seeing tours. It was far too cold for one of our fellow travellers and so we had to find somewhere out of the cold for her. We sought sanctuary in St. Margarets church nearby but they didnt have wheelchair access. Hunting for someone to provide such access proved a pain. In the end we found a portable ramp ourselves and endeavoured to erect it. We got the chair half-way up the ramp when out of the blue two uniformed security guards appeared. Nope, not allowed to place the ramp ourselves, elf n safety, etc. Too late; she was almost at the top. A lot of pushing and shoving and we got to the entrance of the church and our friend decided she needed the loo. She didnt want to see the bloody church! Turnabout and back to the door but no ramp! She didnt want to risk the chair being carried down and she didnt want to wait for the ramp! We waited for an age whilst she decided if shed allow us to carry her or leave her. A lot of shoving and heaving and the chair was carried back down the main steps accompanied with screams of terror and contradictory instructions from the occupant. I took the opportunity afterwards to snap a few for my album - the buildings and so forth. Next quest; where are the disabled loos? Sorry folks, no disabled loos. Back to the car park, it is freezing cold and our friend is frozen - she had her Hermes scarf and little else on - and dying for the loo. Oh! and the bumps on the path are making her bones ache even though we tried to miss most of the cobbled stones. We managed to get into the Abbey café - theres supposed to be a loo there apparently which might accommodate a wheelchair. Oh No! Our friend didnt want to use that one. But it is the only one which might take a wheelchair we tell her. Lots of gentle persuasion and she and her friend enter the ladies. Lots of huffing and puffing and they eventually reappear: minus a glove. Lots of searching - no glove. We cannot go out again minus the glove but she does not want to remain in the café. One of us retraces the afternoons footsteps whilst we wait in a corridor. Our friend does not want to wait but does not want to go outside either. Where does one go if one does not want to remain where one is and one does not want to go somewhere else either? Answers on a postcard please. We do not find the glove but persuade our friend to venture outside to the car park and warmth of the car. Lifting her into the car we find the glove; she is sitting on it. Off to find somewhere for lunch. Nope, I am not going into the whole sage here but after a frustrating ride around London looking for the right kind of eatery, we find one alongside the Tower of London (keep your comments to yourselves) and we unload there. I want a burger but not a burger, the waiter is informed. Foreign waiter looks perplexed. Bring a burger without the burger bit, he is instructed. Eventually she is served a burger without the burger bun and then picks at it for ages. Nothing like a real burger, we are informed! But the vodka and cranberry goes down a treat. Back home and several glasses of vino later I go to upload he photos of Westminster Abbey and guess what! No photos! The blighters didnt come out for some reason. Digital camera working fine but nothing to say we had ever been anywhere near the Abbey that day. Well, nothing but a bit of a headache and she went home in need of a loo and the comfort of a fire. I had a great time otherwise and I think in some strange way we all did really. We were horrified at the lack of facilities for a wheelchair user and even though I might sound a bit flip here, I felt sorry for our friend who lost the will to live in the cold, faced with a closed Abbey and having to eat somewhere other that The Ivy - traffic was a nightmare by then and I think our driver was suicidal or homicidal by then and The Tower was the nearest option. Thank goodness for Vino Collapso.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 15:37:34 +0000
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