We have tried to provide some facilities for people
with Disabilities for many years and the Garden
Cottage has had a VisitScotland Category 3 (Access for visitors
with mobility difficulties) Award since the inception of the scheme.
During “Foot and Mouth” in 2001 a shepherd’s cottage
on the estate became available for holiday lets so we decided to
take advantage of the fact that it was on the level (except that
the front of the cottage is raised from the ground so we have provided
a ramp) and completely renovated it to be suitable for unassisted
wheelchair access (Catergory 1). Upper
Rusko Cottage has been graded 4 star by VisitScotland and has
proved to be a great success with disabled visitors from as far away
as the south of France and several local visitors who come to stay
on a regular basis. We try to accommodate as many special needs as
possible, with help from the local Social Work Department who lend
us special equipment as and when we need it. We are most grateful
to the Stewartry Coalition of Disabled People for their continuing
help and advice and to all our visitors for their suggestions and
comments, which help us to be as “inclusive” as possible.
We have recently constructed a wildlife pond and garden at Rusko
House, which is wheelchair accessible and has been enjoyed
by many of our visitors, both disabled and able-bodied. At the
suggestion of one of our guests we have provided a bird table at
Upper Rusko Cottage and will shortly be putting together some “identification
sheets” to add interest. There are many wheelchair friendly
walks in the area, both in the Galloway Forest Park and in the
Cally Woods and the quiet road outside the cottage is a fantastic
place for watching moorland birds! Cardoness Beach is wheelchair
friendly as they have rubber mats (for launching boats!) leading
down to the sand and, apart from a short bit of soft sand, most
of the beach is hard enough for wheelchair and pushchair access.
There is also access to the foreshore at Carrick, but not to the
beach itself. There are several wheelchair accessible fishing lochs
in the area (Whiteloch and Penninghame lochs) and most of the local
Visitor Centres are fully accessible. Even some of the 7 Stanes
Mountain Bike trails are accessible – they even have specially
adapted “buggies” for hire! We are also compiling a
list of wheelchair friendly restaurants – see our “Links” page.
In Gatehouse the Masonic
Arms, Murray Arms, Anwoth Hotel, Bank of Fleet, Galloway Country
Style and Mill on the Fleet are all accessible.
Horse Riding and
Driving holidays are also a possibility as Upper Rusko Cottage
has a paddock adjacent and the Garden Cottage has stabling as well
as a paddock. Beverley has been involved with Riding for the Disabled
since its inception (40 years ago?!) and is a qualified RDA helper
and an RDA Driving Inspector. There are also several RDA groups
in the area, so please contact us if this is of any interest to
you.
Anything and everything is possible! |
