Accessible Heritage: The National Waterfront Museum by Mobility Scooter

If you've ever visited Swansea, you will know it's a veritable goldmine of history and quirky tales of a by-gone era. You can visit the Egyptology Centre at Swansea University, the traditional Swansea Museum or the National Waterfront Museum. Whilst a student, at the local university, I regularly spent my free time glimpsing into worlds of old, this was before I became largely dependant on a mobility scooter to get around. 

Coming back to the present day, however, traveling to and accessing any sort of venue, can take hours of planning and frantic fretting just to make sure you can have a day out. It can be hard to compare your life before becoming disabled, to what you are comfortable doing now, let alone trying to adjust to visiting places you used to enjoy when you could just stroll on in.

Unfortunately, there is a real lack of equal opportunities for disabled individuals in general, especially since we equate to 14.1 million of the population in the U.K. Many businesses and organisations are quick to defend their decisions to remain inaccessible, by hiding behind a front of it not being financially viable for them to adapt or occupying a grade listed building. However this is inexcusable, as everyone deserves the right to learn, to contribute to society and generally be part of the world without being met with multiple barriers on a daily basis. 

That said, National Museum Wales are serious about inclusion for everyone and have made as many of their sites accessible friendly as possible, by including level-access, lifts, dual language translations, BSL options and disabled loo's on tap!

Recently we ventured to The National Waterfront Museum, situated in the Maritime Quarter of Swansea Marina. The museum offers an escape from the modern world to learn about the heritage of Wales, enjoy grub at the on-site café or bring your own picnic and admire the fantastic views from the balcony, overlooking both modern and historic sailing vessels. 

There is no direct parking attached to the museum but there are a number of local car parks, including the cheap and cheerful Park and Ride which stops 5 minutes away. It is worth noting that the bus station is 2 minutes away and the train station 5 minutes, both have level access on route. The museum itself if free entry, although they gratefully accept donations to keep the premises up to date.

The experience began by being greeted by a sitting level access button which opened the doors. Now this is amazing in my opinion, as it allows both wheelchair users and mobility scooting individuals to open the door on their own and maintain their independence. 

We were welcomed warmly by the staff who advised on what exhibitions were available, where the disabled bathrooms were, lifts and the best way to transverse the experience in order to see everything. We were also given a map and pencils to take part in an interactive 'hide and seek' with toy seagulls, who were dotted all around the place, with the promise of a prize if we found all of them. 

Once through the foyer you will be transported into the world of automobile history which features antique pieces from The National Automobile Club, a car which once set the World Record at 568 MPG, a concept car run entirely on H2O and plenty more! This exhibition had me in awe at the various different types of transport through the ages and at the more eccentric one's. There is something for every taste!

The 'Swansea University: Making Waves since 1920' resonated with me the most, as a past student of the university it was interesting to see the students and subjects of the past years. My time at university was before I became disabled, however I have kept up to date with the universities progress since my time, and I am happy to report they offer excellent support for disabled students, which can be found here. The university was established 100 years ago on 19 July 1920, as a response during WW2 to the growing need of scientific and technological knowledge. I was happy to notice that all displays were easy to access and could be meandered around easily in a scooter, due to the wide aisles and spaces between them. 

Also noteworthy was the sheer abundance of welsh heritage available from the plights of the welsh miners to the brave suffragette movement in Wales. But my favourite had to be the welsh writers movement, as an English graduate and lover of most things Welsh, this had me enraptured from the get go! As if that wasn't enough they even have a spot with 3 adult sized armchairs and 2 child sized, where you can rest for a spell and enjoy the creative ambience. This exhibit forms part of the 'Made in Wales' section which depicts the nation evolving from the heavy industry era, when backbreaking work was the normal, to a country of high tech commerce, research and tourism. You will be sure to find lots of objects and artefacts from 1930 to the present day. Many of the artefacts are well known household names such as; Hoover, Smith’s Clocks, Corgi Toys and Spectrum Computers. It is a trip back in time which bears testimony to the wide and diverse manufacturing base that we have grown up with.

No review of accessibility would be complete without an inspection of the disabled toilets. I have to say the museum did not fail to impress on this front either! The door was light and easy to manage, plenty of space for a wheelchair or scooter, complete with several grab rails and red emergency cord which reached to the floor. But what I liked the most was the inclusive sticker on the door showing that disabilities can be all encompassing from a wheelchair user to invisible conditions. I think that the organisation do a great job at promoting equal opportunities for all it's visitors and have worked hard to make the venue an enjoyable experience for everyone. 

I would recommend the National Waterfront Museum to mobility aid users, as well as non-disabled individuals. It's a great few hours well spent for free and who doesn't love learning about local history? Personally I will be keeping an eye on the ever changing exhibitions to ensure that I can visit in the future when something of interest comes up. 

My advice as always would be to check with the venue beforehand, to ensure their lifts are working, you are able to travel to the museum via your chosen method and know the arrangements well beforehand. Then you can be at ease and enjoy the experience, without stressing about the practical stuff. Be sure to book your tickets beforehand here.

Many thanks to the National Waterfront staff for making our visit so inclusive and interesting. Further access information is available on their website, and you can read more about my Accessible Heritage series here.

                                       Don't forget to check back for more!