I spent Saturday evening at the Battle Proms in the Park in Highclere Castle grounds.
The setting, the music, the food and the company made for a delightful evening. I'd highly reccommend it.
But here are a few things I learnt:
There is a LOT of rough grass to travel over. So unless you have 'Popeye arms' bring a power chair or an 'outboard motor' (aka someone to push you)
The loos are across a field - so manual chair users, be prepared! (Or accost a friendly passing powerchair for a lift)
A good set of ear plugs are amazing if you are sensitive to noise. The fireworks, music and canonfire all reduced to a very pleasant level.
If you have a powered wheelchair, arrive early and make sure you get a picnic spot right next to a pathway so you don't get blocked by the swarms of neighbouring picnic-ers.
If you are in a manual chair, it's best to be near the pathway, but if you forget this important piece of logistical planning, a strong couple of friends may do the trick.
(Very pleased my not-so-little brother was there! And that I'd chosen to go in my manual - otherwise I'd have been well and truly stuck!)
And at the end, expect to spend a long time waiting before any car within sight actually moves further than 'just outside their parking space'. 3000 cars trying to exit down a single track at the same time causes a jam lasting an hour or more.
But that didn't matter. I'd booked Sunday off as a 'recovery day' (all food prepared, TV remote and sofa ready, To Do list: Rest.). We sat enjoying the memories of the day in the cool evening air to the sound of distant bagpipes playing 'Jingle Bells'.
The setting, the music, the food and the company made for a delightful evening. I'd highly reccommend it.
But here are a few things I learnt:
There is a LOT of rough grass to travel over. So unless you have 'Popeye arms' bring a power chair or an 'outboard motor' (aka someone to push you)
The loos are across a field - so manual chair users, be prepared! (Or accost a friendly passing powerchair for a lift)
 |
| [Stickman cartoon of manual wheelchair user being towed by a power chair, both people smiling] |
A good set of ear plugs are amazing if you are sensitive to noise. The fireworks, music and canonfire all reduced to a very pleasant level.
If you have a powered wheelchair, arrive early and make sure you get a picnic spot right next to a pathway so you don't get blocked by the swarms of neighbouring picnic-ers.
If you are in a manual chair, it's best to be near the pathway, but if you forget this important piece of logistical planning, a strong couple of friends may do the trick.
 |
| [Stickman cartoon showing lots of people picnicing, with one person giving another a piggyback through the crowd, and another carrying a wheelchair above his head. Text on image reads: "Successful crowd naviation"] |
And at the end, expect to spend a long time waiting before any car within sight actually moves further than 'just outside their parking space'. 3000 cars trying to exit down a single track at the same time causes a jam lasting an hour or more.
But that didn't matter. I'd booked Sunday off as a 'recovery day' (all food prepared, TV remote and sofa ready, To Do list: Rest.). We sat enjoying the memories of the day in the cool evening air to the sound of distant bagpipes playing 'Jingle Bells'.
now I have never thought of sorting food out in advance for a recovery day - thanks for sharing that!
ReplyDeleteMake sure the food is also 'easy digest' stuff if you are like me and find digestion tring :) I also make sure I have things like a book, some craft stuff and the like ready by the sofa so I can switch between mindless TV, and semi-productive, relatively mindless crafts.
Deletegood point, thanks Hannah!!
ReplyDelete