Elphicks Fisheries, Kent

by Welsh Wheels Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:49 am

This report is written in my own opinion.

Last week I went on a 48 hour session at Elphicks Fisheries in Kent with my fishing buddy Steve, who is also disabled.
Hmmm where to start!?
We spent 3 months planning this trip, we were promised over and over again via the phone and emails that the lake we were booked to fish was wheelchair friendly....their website even states that they are disabled friendly....what a joke!! Trouble is this was an expensive joke for us! Van hire, fuel, bait, fishing costs etc etc, oh and a 500 mile + round trip to boot.
All the swims were stone chippings, and they weren't compacted down! To get to the swims there was a ramp to tackle, but again this was loose stone chippings....and I'm not talking gravel size chippings here!
On a plus note they do have an excellent disabled toilet attached to the main lodge, when you can find the ramp that leads to it as it's hidden around a corner behind bushes and has no sign to say where it is!! Hmmmm another problem is that the toilets are locked from 7pm until 7 am, as is the main gate between the lodge and the lakes, so if you need them tough. There are porta loo phone boxes on all lakes, so if you are less disabled then you might be okay, I sure as hell can't get into a porta loo!
They are also not very helpful. Whilst we were there an elderly gent with diabetes who could hardly walk asked if he could take his car to his swim to unload? NO was the answer, no cars any further than the car parks! He was told that if he waited 2 hours they would come with a trailer and do it for him...2 hours!?!? They had no barrow for anyone to borrow either, although after we pointed out this HUGE problem the owner did agree that he would purchase one for this purpose.
We were lucky enough to have been joined by a non disabled friend for the session and he helped to move our gear for us. But after being there for 24 hours, seething at the lies we had been told, knackering the front castors on my wheelchair, suffering (and still suffering) with blisters on both of my hands, and all in all being very pissed off we packed up and came home!

End result? WE WON'T BE GOING BACK UNTIL THEY ARE FULLY DISABLED ACCESSIBLE, HOLD THAT BIT, I DOUBT THAT WE'LL EVEN GO BACK THEN!!

PS...I have emailed the BDAA a report on this, so we will see what happens now.