How accessible is Brampton museum and art gallery

Last week we had a lovely day out so lets chat about how accessible is Brampton museum and art gallery?

I love doing these posts, I know many in the disabled community struggle to organise days out and have limited time or energy. This is why when I go out to somewhere new or different I like to talk about how accessible it is so you can plan it better.

Brampton museum and art gallery, is in a beautiful 1930s home surrounded with the history of an important area for pottery historically. I loved the setting and the outside of the house is gorgeous there is a separate car park for disabled parking right in front of the house, however there are only two disabled parking spaces.

If you do need disabled parking I suggest going at quieter times of the year so that you definitely get a space as the main car park is a short walk away. We went on a rainy day so thankfully did not have trouble parking, but do be aware of this if planning to go.

Also, it is a free space to visit which is great for those of us unable to work, they run on donations so give as much as you can and they have a lovely teashop so you can rest and have a cup of tea. I will say though that I did find the tables there a little low in my wheelchair so would suggest if you can transfer to maybe do that for more comfort.

Now, the first problem with accessibility we encountered was before even trying to go inside, when we wanted to see the aviary. Me and my husband have an owl, and we work with a local bird of prey sanctuary so we were excited to see what birds they had.

However, for some reason the path is only concrete part of the way and then it is gravel and very uneven. I can only assume they are working on updating this part in future, but for now gravel is very hard to push around in a wheelchair but for some reason only in front of the aviary.

Thankfully, the entrance to the house is very accessible with a very easy to manage ramp area and automatic doors. We were very impressed with this and really loved how easy it was to get into the building because you never know with old houses.

I did not visit the bathroom, so I do not know what is available there, however I will say though I saw male and female toilets I did not notice an accessible toilet. If you require adult changing I would assume they are not available, however more information can be found on their website.

The art gallery is downstairs, and my husband is an artist so we enjoyed this part of the museum and it was so nice to see local artist being supported. The whole area has been made so accessible and I really enjoyed how easy it was to get around and see all the art as well as the exhibits available downstairs.

After a break in the tearoom, which was so nice with gluten free and vegan options available we used the disabled lift to get upstairs. The lift was easy to use and if you use wheelchair lifts a lot you know the type it is and they are all very similar and do the job well.

Upstairs is so cool because it is set up like a Victorian street with alleyways and shop fronts that house the exhibits. You can see this clearer on my YouTube video at the bottom of this post, which does have captioning.

This is such an unusual and clever idea which makes you feel like you have stepped back in time I really enjoyed it. However, in a wheelchair it was at times difficult to steer around and we had to do a lot of three point turns and my husband had to lift my chair at times.

This didn’t make it too accessible and to be honest there are some larger wheelchairs, especially those electric ones, that might seriously struggle. I did a tour round in my video though so hopefully you can see and make a judgement as to if you will be able to get round.

Overall the staff were absolutely lovely, and very helpful answering questions and chatting about the museum which they are clearly proud of. As to how accessible is Brampton museum and art gallery, it really depends on your mobility device and which part of it you want to see.

Thank you xx

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