Radio Features

The RAF Museum at Cosford, Hoo Farm near Telford and the Ironbridge Gorge Museums are all named as particularly accessible for people with disabilities. All three attractions appear in the latest Rough Guide to Accessible Britain.

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Alex Medhurst runs the RAF Museum at Cosford. He said when the latest addition to the museum, the Cold War exhibit, was being planned, they had deliberately taken their provision for people with disabilities further than the law demanded.

There are also blue boxes in each of the hangars containing items people can handle, wear and even smell to get a feel for the history. There is also a braille guide and six 'hotspots' with audio boxes explaining the exhibits.

Alex is delighted with the accolade from the Rough Guide: "We actually won an award 'Access for All' for our museum as well. We don't do it for the awards, but you know, it's always nice to be recognised when you've made that extra effort."

The owner of Hoo Farm Edward Dorrell believes the popularity of the attraction with disabled groups is due to the animals and the way they respond: "The bottle feeding of the lambs... the egg collecting and all those sort of things are all very tangible.

Hoo Farm owner Edward Dorrell

"If a sense is missing, those [other] senses become very important," he added. While those with hearing/sight problems can still enjoy stroking animals or the tug of a bottle as they feed goats, the site is also accessible for people in wheelchairs.

As well as being a level area, buildings at Hoo Farm avoid steps, while fences around around animals are purposefully low: "From wheelchair level you can see pretty much everything", Dorrell suggested.