Picnic, proms and problem solving!

I spent Saturday evening at the Battle Proms in the Park in Highclere Castle grounds.

The setting, the music, the food and the company made for a delightful evening. I'd highly reccommend it.

But here are a few things I learnt:

There is a LOT of rough grass to travel over. So unless you have 'Popeye arms' bring a power chair or an 'outboard motor' (aka someone to push you)
The loos are across a field - so manual chair users, be prepared! (Or accost a friendly passing powerchair for a lift)

[Stickman cartoon of manual wheelchair user being towed by a power chair, both people smiling]

A good set of ear plugs are amazing if you are sensitive to noise. The fireworks, music and canonfire all reduced to a very pleasant level.
If you have a powered wheelchair, arrive early and make sure you get a picnic spot right next to a pathway so you don't get blocked by the swarms of neighbouring picnic-ers.
If you are in a manual chair, it's best to be near the pathway, but if you forget this important piece of logistical planning, a strong couple of friends may do the trick.

[Stickman cartoon showing lots of people picnicing, with one person giving another a piggyback through the crowd, and another carrying a wheelchair above his head. Text on image reads: "Successful crowd naviation"]
(Very pleased my not-so-little brother was there! And that I'd chosen to go in my manual - otherwise I'd have been well and truly stuck!)

And at the end, expect to spend a long time waiting before any car within sight actually moves further than 'just outside their parking space'. 3000 cars trying to exit down a single track at the same time causes a jam lasting an hour or more.

But that didn't matter. I'd booked Sunday off as a 'recovery day' (all food prepared, TV remote and sofa ready, To Do list: Rest.). We sat enjoying the memories of the day in the cool evening air to the sound of distant bagpipes playing 'Jingle Bells'.


Comments

  1. now I have never thought of sorting food out in advance for a recovery day - thanks for sharing that!

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    Replies
    1. Make sure the food is also 'easy digest' stuff if you are like me and find digestion tring :) I also make sure I have things like a book, some craft stuff and the like ready by the sofa so I can switch between mindless TV, and semi-productive, relatively mindless crafts.

      Delete
  2. good point, thanks Hannah!!

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