Overview

The Park is huge with a variety of beautiful trees, and different paths and walkways. The park was rich in colour. We noted how the light in the park changed with the weather and that the colours in the park would also change with the seasons and present a different experience on each visit. The views across the park are spectacular and gardens and paths are extremely well maintained. Footpaths and walkways are fairly even - there are some slopes, but most are not too steep. As mentioned before however, there are some steep wooded areas that would probably not be suitable for wheelchairs. Our children enjoy space to wander and to be able to lead the way on certain footpaths. They like the noise of branches swaying in the wind and swishing leaves, the feel of different textured paths underfoot and running hands across tickly grass and rough bark on tree trunks. There was an abundance of scent in the park particularly from the emerging blossom and grass cutting at that time of year. We visited one of the glasshouses which offered a different sensory experience again. On entering, we noted the atmosphere was slightly humid and had a noticeable acoustic change, the glasshouse included fish and gentle water sounds.

Transport & Parking

We parked in the car park at the Pittencrieff Street entrance to the Park. The car park had some disabled bays but was very busy even on a week day during school time. There are disabled parking spaces closer to the centre of the park where the cafe and the accessible toilets are situated

Access

We didn’t explore the entire Park and Glen as it’s huge (76 acres). On this occasion we looked at the new all ability play park (one of three different play park areas) which at the time of visiting was due to be completed and opened shortly. The all ability play park offers a wide space and a variety of swings. At this stage we were unclear whether the play park was primarily provided for all ages as well as ability and made a mental note to investigate this in the future. We also visited the Peacock café which is bright with fairly wide space. There are ramps and automatic doors into the cafe. The café has a disabled toilet but no Changing Place (see above info on a Changing Place in the nearby library). There are maps of the park at various places showing where all the points of interest are situated. There are some very steep, wooded areas that probably would not be accessible for wheelchair users, however most of the park has good paths.

Toilets

There are 2 disabled toilets in Pittencrieff Park. Radar keys were not required and both toilets were unlocked. The first toilet is in the cafe area and is readily accessible by ramps and automatic doors to the cafe. There is a car park with disabled spaces immediately outside the cafe. The toilet itself is very small and probably wouldn’t have a sufficient turning space for a larger wheelchair. It is quite cramped with the sink very close to the toilet. This is a busy cafe used by young families. It appears that the disabled toilet has frequent use by people who do not have disabilities. This may partly explain the scruffy appearance of the toilet with water and toilet paper on the floor, and an unpleasant smell emanating from one of the bins. The second disabled toilet is located in a free standing toilet block further away from the cafe and car park but still reasonably accessible. The access to this toilet is inside the building so a heavy door has to be negotiated before getting into the building where the disabled toilet is behind another door. Once inside though, the toilet itself was much bigger, more well-appointed and much cleaner (although again, an unpleasant smell). There is signage indicating the location of the disabled toilets at the entrances to the park but there was no signage readily visible adjacent to the buildings housing the cafe and the toilet block. There is currently no fully accessible changing place toilet facility. There is however a Changing Place toilet in the nearby Carnegie Library in Abbey Street which is a 10 minute walk from the Louise Carnegie gateway to the Park. The library is open at various times 7 days a week (check the library’s website for opening times), but please note the library closes on public/bank holidays. The Changing Place facility in the library can be accessed by asking a member of staff on the desk who will provide a radar key if you don’t have one.

Staff

Anything else you wish to tell us?

For people who can be alarmed by dogs, please note that the park is popular with dog walkers, although the park is large enough to hopefully be able to keep some distance from dog walkers if required. Large areas of the park are exposed to the elements so it’s advisable to take extra protection/warmth or suncream/lip balm if going on walks in the park where there might not be much shelter. There are many benches across the park to rest, however a waterproof picnic blanket is a good idea for anyone who might prefer to sit on a grassy area. We didn’t check how far the various toilets were from arrival at the different car park areas so it might be a good idea to check proximity of toilets for anyone who might need to use a toilet immediately on arrival at the park. There’s a website for Pittencrieff Park which provides information leaflets. We looked at the information leaflet for the walks in Pittencrieff Park which includes a map showing the car

Photos