Accessibility at Woodchester Park
In this article, read more about the facilities available at Woodchester Park and Tinkley Gate to make your visit here easier and more enjoyable.
Across Woodchester Park, including at our café at Tinkley Gate, there are several facilities available to help you plan your visit with us ahead of time. From specific access needs to features that will allow a stress-free experience, read below to find out more, and for any further information, queries or concerns, please do get in touch with us at woodchesterpark@nationaltrust.org.uk. You can also visit the AccessAble listing for Woodchester Park, which includes more detailed information about our site to help with your visit.
This article is structured from the begin to the end of your journey, starting with arriving and parking at Woodchester Park and moving on to what you might find across the facilities here.
Arriving at Woodchester Park
How to find us
There are two entrances to Woodchester Park. One is Buckholt Car Park (Google Maps link) and the other is Tinkley Gate, situated on Tinkley Lane (Google Maps link). Tinkley Gate has a cafe, accessible toilets and an easy, safe and family friendly grass area outside for picnics and play.
Parking
There is designated blue badge parking available at Tinkley Gate, where we have 5 spaces for you to use, and there are also some at Buckholt Car Park. At Tinkley Gate, the blue badge parking is 10 metres from the café entrance. The surface is gravel and compacted earth.
Robin Bus Service
We are proud to support the new Robin bus service run by Gloucestershire County Council, in partnership with businesses in the area. It's a service that allows access to nature sites and wild spaces - it's an easy to use bookable bus service that can be reserved via their website, via a free app or by calling 0345 263 8139. A single journey within one zone is £2.00. You can find out more information and access booking information, as well as a map of where the bus service covers, by visiting the Robin online here: The Robin (your bookable bus) | Gloucestershire County Council
Once You're Here
The Welcome Team at Tinkley Gate Café
There are staff and volunteers on hand to help you make the most of your visit to Tinkley Gate and Woodchester Park. They are situated in the second-hand bookstore or around the nearby vicinity of the café area, and can help with route information, accessibility guidance, café queries or anything else you'd like to discuss. Look out for staff members wearing red National Trust tops.
Powered Door and Café Accessibility
Once you've reached the cafe area at Tinkley Gate, there is a powered door for easy access on the right-hand side of the building. There is an access slope to this door, with no step or lip, and a push button operation.
Hearing Aid Assistance System
Once you're in the café at Tinkley Gate, we operate a hearing aid assistance system for you to use.
Toilet Facilities
There are accessible toilet facilities at our Tinkley Gate café. There is a toilet with accessible features inside the cafe, that also features a baby change facility, and there are additional toilets outside to the left of the café door behind the second-hand bookstore. These doors open inwards, and are of low contrast to the surrounding building - they are made of wood. There is also a small step to access these toilets that are situated outside the café area. In the toilet inside the building, there are hand rails next to the toilet and by the sink and an emergency pull cord down to the floor. We have a floor length mirror. The door is 78cm wide at its narrowest point (the doors push open inwards with a slide bolt to lock - there is no button to open/close/lock the toilet doors) with a 1.5 by 1.5 metre turning space inside. This toilet inside is only available during café opening times.
Your Visit To Woodchester Park
Path Work and Improvements
We have recently undertaken a series of new path work around the Woodchester site to help with your visit here. Paths are now free of mud, less slippery, and provide easier access to the main park area from Tinkley Gate café on the blue route. There is All-Terrain Mobility Vehicle (Tramper) hire available from the second-hand book store at Tinkley Gate, and this can be booked in advance by calling 01453 860037 or emailing us on woodchesterparktramper@nationaltrust.org.uk. The Tramper is currently for use on the red route only.
Visiting the Café
The Tinkley Gate café has vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free options, and you are welcome to bring your own food and drink to eat on picnic benches around the site. We also have large handled mugs, double handed mugs, feeder mugs with stable saucers and large cutlery. We welcome assistance dogs in the the whole café, and all dogs in the conservatory area (the back area with bench seating.
Picnic Areas
There are several picnic areas across the site, and at Tinkley Gate, these tables have been designed and built for wheelchair and mobility vehicle use. We also have these tables available throughout Woodchester Park, including on the red route.
Orchard Trail
There is a trail around the elderflower orchard at Tinkley Gate, close to the accessible car parking spaces. It features picnic areas and quieter zones away from the café area. This is a flat route, but has some bumps due to the mown surface and some hidden areas thanks to the nature of the groups of trees set close together.
Sensory Needs While You're Here
Quiet Zones
Our wild spaces around Woodchester Park have many quiet areas, and the immediate ones near the Tinkley Gate Car Park are the orchard and the picnic areas on the red route. The green space immediately outside the café can often be busier during peak season.
Help During Your Visit
When you arrive at the café, there is a short walk on a hardstanding path to the café area, and Welcome staff wearing red tops will be on hand to assist with your visit and provide up-to-date information depending on your individual needs.
Noise Levels in the Café
The first room in the café is a quieter space, and the rear room called the Conservatory allows dogs and can often be louder and more echoey, as it's a larger space.
Bookstore Space
We have a calm, quiet space in the second-hand bookstore for you to enjoy, with reading material, backpacks for use and comfy seating away from the main café area.
Resources and Additional Information
Walking Poles
We have free walking poles to borrow for your walk around Woodchester Park. They are situated to the right of the entrance to the second-hand bookstore. Help yourself - please return when you are finished with them.
Tramper Hire
Our Tramper mobility vehicle is available to use around the red route at Tinkley Gate and into our green spaces outside the café. Call 01453 860037 or email woodchesterparktramper@nationaltrust.org.uk to book.
Staff and Volunteers
Just look for the red tops - there are plenty of friendly faces around who would be delighted to help you make the most out of your visit to Woodchester Park.
