bus

The art of travel

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Quinns has absolutely loved taking part in Your Art World, an art project, at the National Gallery in Edinburgh over the last few months. As well as exploring the gallery he has used various techniques to explore artistic techniques and as a result produced some interesting artworks.

He has taken part in so many ways; cutting strips of gold foil, pressing down on paper for prints, holding onto stretchy material, choosing colours for ink and paint, rolling over paint in his wheelchair, decorating the walls etc. It is a challenge to find activities that Quinns can be fully involved in, and this has been a wonderful opportunity where he has been truly valued. Thanks to PAMIS for the opportunity and the lovely artists who have helped him explore the materials and techniques.

Quinns hand holds a blue brush. An adult's hand help guide him to press the brush into clay to make a stamp for printing.
Quinns smiles as his Big Sister pushes his wheelchair over a closed bag of red and yellow paint. There are strips of paper on the wall behind them.
Quinns has his back to the camera. His arm stretches out to stick down strips of gold foil.
Quinns smiles up at the camera. In front of him there is a painting made from dipping wool in paint and pressing it onto paper.

Edinburgh is an hour away. There are  always complex logistics involved with travelling far from home with Quinns. The main things to sort out are how to get there and how we care for him while we are away. I feel reasonably happy visiting the centre of Edinburgh because there are several Changing Places we can use; Waverley Station, Wetherspoons, St James Centre. There is also a facility in the Gallery itself which although it doesn’t quite make the specification for a full Changing Place is fine for us.

Quinns smiles in the centre of a narrow Changing Places facility with ceiling track hoist, adjustable height changing bed, toilet and screen.

We all know Quinns loves the train so travelling that way is a good option for a fun day out in central Edinburgh. For three out of the four sessions our train travel went smoothly. However, the day there was a bus replacement for a tiny fraction of the journey it went spectacularly wrong.

A normally 4-minute train journey took one hour! Even although we arrived in ample time for our train, as a result of inaccessible replacement buses and having to wait for a replacement taxi, we missed two trains and ended up in Edinburgh an hour later than planned. Sadly, it was the same on the return journey. What should have been a total of two hours travel there and back took us four hours!

I trusted the Scotrail app when it said the replacement buses and coaches were all accessible. Generally we have experienced good service on the trains and have also travelled by bus and coach with Quinns, so I had little reason to doubt it. We didn’t set out that day entirely naively so we made it to the art gallery on time but only because we had left a large enough margin of error.

It may have all worked out but we arrived home that day thoroughly exhausted and in shock at how badly the service had failed us. I have, of course, written to Scotrail detailing what happened in order to highlight the issues we faced. The response was an apology and assurances that the issues we flagged have been noted. The third party bus service have also been notified of their failures. All we can do now is hope that changes are made and next time we try we don’t receive such a disappointing service.

It is easy to highlight the good things that happen to Quinns without really sharing the difficulties. He has had some amazing opportunities recently which are good to share but none of them come without challenges. For every photo of Quinns smiling there is usually also a story to share about how he got to that point.

Quinns smiles from the wheelchair space on a train.
Quinns looks out from the gallery window at the trains coming out from Waverley Station in Edinburgh.

London Transport

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Quinns and his Big Sister wait for the tube train to stop on the platform. The wheelchair symbol is on the closest door.

We’ve spent a bit of time in London over the years; internships as students, visits when Quinns was a baby in his buggy and more recently while he was in hospital there for two months. We felt relatively at ease navigating our way around by train, underground and bus. Our most recent visit for a hospital appointment was the first time we’ve attempted it with Quinns in his wheelchair. We learned some very valuable lessons.

There were no issues with our first two tube stations as they both had ‘Step free access from street to train’ which meant we could easily get Quinns’ wheelchair on and off the train but also that we could enter and exit the stations. We began learning to navigate the complex lift system that took us between all the different levels. Although we’ve never noticed it before there was ample signage to help.

A sign showing the Lift Guide in a London Tube station with lifts marked A to F.

We should have spent more time getting to know which stations had step free access as we reached one station where although we managed to get off the train easily enough there was no way to exit the station. Frustratingly the nearest accessible stop to where we wanted to go was two stops along the route in either direction. 

After having to go two stops further than our destination we changed to bus travel to get back. Although the first bus had no problem letting us on, the driver did tell us off for all having used the wheelchair ramp. He explained to Dad that ‘ we could have broken the ramp’.

We learned our lesson for the second bus. So while I stayed with Quinns and requested the ramp, Dad and Big Sister got on the front of the bus and paid. However, that bus driver decided that Quinns was only in a buggy therefore did not deploy the wheelchair ramp leaving Quinns and me on the pavement in the rain as he drove off with Dad and Big Sister inside! 

We met up soggy and annoyed at the next bus stop after Dad had given the bus driver a piece of his mind. On the third attempt we all made it onto the bus but only after Dad had persuaded this driver that Quinns was in a support buggy which should be treated as a wheelchair.

We finally reached London’s King Cross Train station but having had no idea how long it would take to cross London we left booking train tickets till the last minute. We arrived 20 minutes earlier than the departure time of our train only to get a lecture about not having booked assistance because the ramp is the responsibility of station staff not train staff.

Regardless of who put the ramp out we found ourselves in the First Class carriage of the train having all been upgraded due to the position of the wheelchair space. We very gratefully received all the snacks and drinks that were on offer nearly four hours after deciding to leave London.

Learning new systems and finding out the best ways to travel as a wheelchair user is one thing but never knowing whether you’ll be left in the rain by the bus or pampered in First Class is utterly exhausting and frustrating. I’m very glad of our little team as we navigated a barrier filled (both physical and societal) transport system together.

Quinns smiles aboard a train. The sign behind him reads Welcome Board/ Wheelchair space.

A boring trip to the zoo

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Quinns asked to go to the zoo to see the giraffes. Not a big ask for his seventh birthday but there were two big problems. As far as I was aware there is no Changing Places toilet at the zoo. Generally we like to go places where we are certain they have the facilities we need which is absolutely fine as a strategy. But if we don’t ever go to places that don’t have them there’s never any pressure to install them. So we decided to take the risk and make sure to ask about the facilities raising a little awareness while we were at it.

The second issue is our car is no longer good for travelling any distance. We’re currently awaiting delivery of our WAV (wheelchair accessible vehicle). Although we ordered it a couple of months ago we will be lucky if it arrives before the end of the year.

After researching public transport we planned our day to take the Citylink bus. Before paying for our four seats I was asked if we needed a wheelchair space. We did and I booked it for both directions at no extra cost. Simple.

So far so good but I will admit I was intrigued about how they would get Quinns’ wheelchair on a coach! I was also extremely nervous about whether the day would run smoothly or not because there were so many variables and given our past experiences it seemed like a fairly ambitious plan.

When the big day arrived, I told the bus driver I had booked the wheelchair space. We had to wait till everyone else boarded because she ‘would need to do all the shenanigans with the steps’. The shenanigans turned out to be a quick button press which turned the steps into a lift to take Quinns and his wheelchair into the coach where they were secured in the front seat.

Quinns being lowered to the ground in his wheelchair on a lift attached to a coach.

He had the best view out of the front of the bus the whole way to the zoo where we repeated the process of getting him off to an amazed group of onlookers.

Quinns smiling as he sits in his wheelchair at the front of the coach

On arrival at the zoo the first thing to do was find out about the facilities. After my usual conversation about how accessible toilets are not sufficient for our needs I found out there is a Changing Place toilet in the planning just not opened yet. We were offered the use of the medical room and given the number to call for access.

We had been before so were well aware of the giant hill the zoo is built on. I was impressed with the accessibility map we were given which pointed out the steps and showed us where the steepest slopes were allowing us to plan our route. We had the option to use the accessibility vehicle to get to the top of the hill but in our wisdom we chose to make our own way there. Something I think we regretted a little when it drove past us as we struggled up a steep incline.

However between the three of us we made it. We even managed to time our visit to the giraffes when they had been brought inside to eat so we had a perfect view. Some of the enclosures on the way up made it really difficult for Quinns to see but there were also plenty of lower or glass viewing points for him so he didn’t miss out on too much.

Quinns & Big Sister have a chat while looking through glass screens at the penguins in their enclosure

Once we had seen all the animals we had a quick lunch. Then all too soon, and without having a chance to try out the accessible roundabout in one of the play parks, it was time to head out to catch the coach home. Which was as uneventful as the first time.

Despite my concerns and readiness for some sort of fight or difficulty the day was pretty peaceful. Thankfully our risk with going somewhere without a Changing Place Toilet paid off on this occasion but it would have been so much easier to know it was available for us. Hopefully the plan for one will soon be a reality.

All in all the day was a success and Quinns went to bed that night a very tired but also very happy little boy.

Quinns and Big Sister pose smiling beside a #GiraffeAboutTown at the entrance to Edinburgh zoo