Overview

At the moment, you have to book a car park ticket (timed) and tickets are not transferable between the different car parks. We booked to park at Riverside Car Park, hoping to be able to get to the priory and the Strid in the same day. We started the route to the priory but it was too steep and had a sheer drop at one side so we turned back and did the Strid Wood walk instead. There is technically a fully accessible (flat) walk through Strid Woods to the Strid but even in October, it was still very overgrown with nettles so I took the less scary option, even though it was a lot more challenging. In the photos, we did the walk I've marked with a red line. I used my mountain trike and it was a perfect surface, lovely wide path and very beautiful. It was very hilly though and the next day, my neck and shoulders paid the price.

Transport & Parking

Riverside car park is huge. There are some accessible spaces but they weren't as obvious as they could be. There are no markings on the floor, just little signs on the fences. The accessible spaces are at the end nearest the Cavendish Pavillion.

Access

Let's start with the journey towards the priory. We crossed the bridge over the RIver Wharfe and did the Welly Walk. This was fine - flat, wide and good surface. Then we crossed a ford and began climbing steeply. There's a gate that leads towards the priory. Once through the gate, there is a sheer drop on your right and the path is quite narrow and extremely steep in places. We started but I really didn't feel safe so we turned back. The alternative route to the priory is through the car park and over a field but then there is a flight of steps, which makes it impossible for me. So Strid Woods... We passed Cavendish Pavillion and continued through large metal gates (open). The path was great! Really wide and mostly compacted gravel. For an off-road chair, it was perfect! However, after the first stretch, the path splits and we opted to take the upper path. I'm really scared of nettles and have a nasty reaction to them and the lower route, according to hubby, was far too overgrown. He said I wouldn't have coped with it. On the way there, I managed all the hills by myself but they were quite steep in places and prolonged. By the time we reached the Strid (only a mile), I was quite tired! The Strid was great though, with a wheelchair accessible viewing platform. On the way back, I needed some help with the uphill stretches but it was well worth the effort and we had a very enjoyable day out.

Toilets

The accessible toilet at Cavendish Pavillion is RADAR locked. It was clean and well stocked and the hand dryer had sufficient vigour to actually dry wet hands, which seems rare. There was a very strange noise in the toilet. It sounded like a ghost train or something at a fairground. Most odd! My only complaint was that later in the day, the ladies toilets were closed for cleaning and everyone was told to use the accessible toilet. This led to quite a queue and by the time I got in, the cleanliness had gone steeply downhill!

Staff

The only staff I met were the ticket scanners, who were remarkably cheerful considering they were standing out in the rain for much of the week. We seemed to find the one dry morning. Maybe that is why they were so cheery.

Photos