As luck would have it, one of our neighbours was selling a mobility scooter, so earlier this month we became the proud owners of our own pavement vehicle.
Our first outing was to the ESPH gym - we thought it only appropriate - and their premises and staff were very accommodating. The route we followed to get there was far from direct or convenient - road works limited space on the footway, we had to negotiate a lot of uneven paviers and squeeze through narrow gaps between walls and a bus shelter, and wait our turn when a mum and buggy came towards us.
Our second outing has been to Sainsbury's supermarket, equally accommodating, although some of the produce was beyond our reach.
We weren't the only ones with our mobility scooter, and this was the seed of our first project - managing mobility scooters.
Our route was similarly dogged by road works, so we took to the road, rather than the pavement - were we strictly legal?
Fortunately there is a fabulous off-road walking and cycle route almost all the way to the supermarket, with only a couple of obstacles to negotiate.
We have had early discussions with the English Historic Towns Forum to see how we can assist them in tackling issues around managing pavement vehicles in historic centres, in the light of increasing numbers of senior citizens, many with sufficient disposable income to afford their own scooter.
We may also collaborate with art collective Satellite Bureau, to track and record journeys made by our scooter.
Happy scoottering!
