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John Berridge's review of
Walking on Wheels
by Eva McCracken
It is apparent right from the start that this little book about walks for disabled
people is written by someone who knows what they are doing. Inside the front
cover is a very useful key to the suitability of routes – easy, shown
on the maps by blue dots, difficult, in yellow and challenging, in red. Not
just the surface, but the things able-bodied walkers may not think about much
– or at all, like gradients, cambers and width; not much use being a flat
tarmac surface if you can’t turn your wheelchair or scooter around. As
a new wheelchair user I am learning how much these things matter; a recent visit
to a Perthshire beauty spot I remembered well from my hillwalking days as a
nice flat track had to be abandoned because what were quite small stones in
my walking days now became mini-boulders, and in Portugal last year the charming
cobbled streets took on quite another aspect as I bumped and jolted over them.
Having been frustrated in Perthshire, this book has come like a shot in the
arm, and I look forward to trying out some of the walks.
The book is born out of the determination of the author, Eva McCracken, not
to abandon the delights of her beloved hillwalking once she was confined to
a wheelchair. She has listed fifty walks in Scotland in seven different areas,
and has carefully audited all of the routes in the book to a very high standard,
not only for the suitability of the trail but for many other factors that disabled
people will need to know. Each page has a description of the walk and map references,
distances, availability of toilets (even whether there is room for a wheelchair
to the right or left of the toilet) with website details and/or telephone numbers
of relevant organisations and people – Forestry Commission, Visitor Centres,
Rangers and Access Officers, for instance. On the facing page there is a map
of the area, showing the walk marked as easy, difficult or challenging (no such
thing as very difficult, I noticed!) and a photograph. Some walks are through
forested areas, some through more open country, some along canal towpaths, all
with detailed notes where necessary about access, gates, and roads which may
need to be crossed. I was very impressed by the walks around the Loch Morlich
area in the Cairngorms, where I often walked in pre MS days; not only were they
well covered, but I found a track I did not know about, and more to the point
found I could borrow a scooter from the Visitor Centre! I thought my days on
the Glenmore Forest tracks were just a wistful memory, but thanks to this book
I shall be back there again as soon as possible. Thank you, Eve McCracken. Many
disabled lovers of the outdoors will bless your name.
I have looked to see what could be in the book that has been omitted, but cannot
find anything, other than the understandably limited coverage. It would be good
now if other wheelchair walkers were to audit paths in their area and pool the
information for a second edition, but it would be very important to maintain
the same high standard. I am sure that not only will there be a demand for a
second and enlarged edition, but a clamour from south of the border for someone
to do the same for England.
The book is published by the Cualaan Press, ISBN 0-9544416-8-0, and costs £7 + £1.50 p&p. Proceeds are going to The Walking on Wheels Trust.
John Berridge
© The Walking on Wheels Trust mmviii
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