UK- Bridport West Bay

Date January 2nd 2010
Country UK- England
County Dorset
City/Town/Area Bridport- West Bay
Location At the harbour and various at West Bay
URL None

View from the end of

the West Harbour Wall

Notes
West Bay Bridport is a delightful place. Rather quirky and not ruined by commercialisation. Definitely a village by the sea but one with a working port and that does not have the air of a museum piece.

Accessibility
The area is pretty flat (unless you want to venture onto the steep coastal footpath!) with good paths and to the west about ½ mile seafront that takes you to just below the cliffs. The harbour also has good access and is flat and mostly smooth and I had no problem in my manual wheelchair.

Parking
There is plenty of parking however please note the Dorset CC regulations provide only for free disabled parking if the Vehicle registration class is “disabled”. This is a perverse action on the part of the County Council since it benefits only those who have a vehicle with such a registration class (i.e. those better-off and with the means to run the vehicle), whereas those without the means or who choose not to own a car are financially penalised.

Toilets
There are several sets of public toilets though when I went neither of the disabled access toilets were locked and in one case they were the only ones working.

Accommodation
We did not stay over but were there for the day and a picnic, however, we did have coffee in one of the many cafés and restaurants most of which seem to be accessible.

Other/General

The beach to the West is shingle and for a heavy-duty or outdoor wheelchair would probably be reasonably accessible (there is an access ramp to the West of the harbour down on to the beach). The beach to the East is sand and quite steep

My Overall Accessibility Rating

6 out of a possible 10