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I am also disabled and love camping. I have had a operation on my back and didnt work, my left leg is numb from the knee down so i have difficulity walking. I am in a lot of pain,  but this does not stop me enjoying myself camping.  We do pick our sites to suit my needs, and always ask to be close to the facilities. My Air bed is super in fact i have used it at home when my back has been very bad.

 Not sure how long we can keep camping in a tent for, but will try and go as long as i can. 

Well last weekend sure was fun, we attended a family wedding and took the caravan to the venue so that i would have somewhere to rest up in the afternoon for a couple of hours and also so that my OH could have a drink and not have to drive home.

The venue was a pub that also offered B&B and a function room where the the wedding breakfast took place. On their website they prided themselves in being disability friendly, and had no problems with us being on their carpark with our caravan along with another man whos wife needs to rest regularly in their motor home.

So we arrived at 5pm the evening before the wedding, the carpark behind the pub had a very steep gradient down to it, to a point they had fitted handrails up the side of the pub wall for people to hold onto as they accessed the main reception area. This was far too steep for my mobilty scooter to tackle safely, the surface was covered in loose gravel and had been badly patched up where pot holes had formed, but it looked like it was the only way into the venue for me. After we had de-hitched and OH had shifted 4 beer barrels out of the 'disabled' spot they had reserved for us and the van, I slowly made my way to the steep slope, took my angina spray meds and slowly and painfully tried to get up this incline, the hand rails in places were well and truely off the walls and badly corroded, the loose gravel underfoot was more dangerous than black ice or spilt diesel, the marble steps up to the front door had no handrail at all or other means for a disabled person to enter. there were no disabled toilets in the place other than a grab rail in one cubicle in the 'ladies'. the access to the function room was down a steep flight of stairs into the basement, the only good bit was that they agreed to allow me access out of the rooms fire escape and down about 8 rusty steps onto the same level of carpark where we were sited with our caravan. To say this place was my worst nighmare as far as my mobility needs were concerned would be an understatement. Luckily we carry a good strong brush with us in the caravan, and my poor OH spent a good hour on Sunday morning sweeping the loose gravel up off their drive before we dare try and get back up this incline with the caravan hitched and out onto the main road for home. He left the gravel dumped in a heap at the side of the 'Staff entrance as a reminder to them of just how badly managed the place and their disabled facilities were.

Im only just recovering now from the ordeal, my ankles and lower legs swelled up like ballons, and my feet were very painful and burning from the extra odema caused by having to struggle to walk so much around this venue, disability friendly it certainly was not! 

Sorry about the rant, but like other posters above, i beileve the owners of these places should spend a day in a wheelchair themselves to see just how difficult their place is for a disabled person to negociate.

Julia

with regards to the family they are normally very good at sorting out these things and in the past with such events there has been no problem at all. This place was booked due to the wedding being planned and set up at short notice, in less than 5 weeks from engagement, all rather silly as they were originally waiting until next spring to get married. The problem then was finding a venue on that date for what was obviously one of the busiest Saturdays in the marriage callendar year for the entire UK, and they only managed to get this place due to someone elses cancellation.

Anyway, if anything like this happens again in the future, we have said that we will go and do a 'reccy' before we accept the invitation, and if things are not suitable then the only sensible thing to do would be to send a 'regret' notice card and a pressie but not attend, health is more important and comes first before any stuggles and situations like the one mentioned above.

Julia