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The two videos give a better idea for wheelchair users than words from any able-bodied person. If you watch both though it is apparent that there is a discrepancy on the best way around. The circuit has two fairly lengthy steep slopes and two short steep slopes. For anybody in a wheelchair that has no assistance to push them the easier way around is ANTI-CLOCKWISE. It is notable that the younger man requires assistance on a slope when going clockwise but the older man completes the anti-clockwise uphill sections without help. When the wheelchair route was opened in August 1989, the management team, Dove Stone Working Party, decided that the route should be done anti-clockwise if no assistance is available.
But of course you don’t have to do a circuit – you can travel a short distance and then return – still plenty of enjoyment.
A RADAR key is required for some of the gates en-route and also for the disabled users’ toilet.
Access to the top reservoir (Chew) along the very steep works service road is possible in some powered wheelchairs or mobility scooters but great care is required – it is gated and locked at Charnel Clough with access by a RADAR key.
And of course, the circuit for wheelchairs means it is ideally suitable for children’s buggies or prams.
Yeoman Hey track joins Dove Stone path near the King of Tonga Stone. This wide but rough track might be okay for wheelchairs (In 2015 BBC Countryfile filmed some new type of Mountain Trikes here). The track leads eventually past Greenfield reservoir to Holme Clough/Birchen Clough and the tunnel through the hills.
