Our car broke down: A very emotional blog about London Black Cab Taxis and a not quite divorce

We'd booked a two week summer holiday at a caravan park in The North of England.  We looked for one that was accessible to get to (good road and train links) and has good access to services (shops, local hospital, swimming pool, beach, crazy golf, slot machines).

Every year we check out where the local hospital is: we've been to hospitals in France, Wales and last year we were blued by Yorkshire Ambulance Service 40 miles to Scarborough Hospital. So these things are important.

We also have to think hard about how we are going to get there.  A disastrous journey back from Alton Towers earlier this year had us sat in a traffic jam for 2 and a half hours; we were an hour and a half in a jam on the way to Birmingham at Easter and the thought of the potential for something similar on a journey of at least 6 hours without breaks was deeply concerning. So, we split up.

Like members of the Royal Family, we no longer travel together.

So here was the plan:

One of us would have a bit of a lie-in, get a cab to Kings Cross and take our disabled son on the train for a really relaxing 3 and a half hour journey northwards: a dining car, cups of tea, maybe a little dose off to wake up in the beautiful Northumbria countryside. 

The other would set off in the car at 4:30am on the 350mile journey to take the cat, our bikes and 2 weeks work of medicines, adult sized nappies and other essential equipment that we would need while away (YES WE NEED THE CAT, I AM NOT HAVING THIS ARGUMENT AGAIN). That way, we would still have our wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) to use whilst on holiday.

We planned to meet mid afternoon in the caravan park.

So, getting the wheelchair space on the train is a bit of a faff. It was so expensive I decided to get a disabled persons rail card.

That was a faff.

You cannot apply for a disabled person rail card in person at a station (unlike other rail cards). You have to do it online. 

So I uploaded the evidence and sent it all off and then followed up with a phone call - no of which is as easy as just rocking up to the station and asking for a railcard, please.

Next I had to get our tickets and the wheelchair space.

That was a faff.

You can't book the wheelchair space online. You have to get your tickets to travel before booking the wheelchair space. So, I booked the tickets online and then phoned up for the wheelchair space and to arrange assistance in the form of a ramp to get on and off the train.

That was a faff.

You can't just get an off peak saver return and rock up at the station and away you go.

The Queen has a Royal Train with a bed on it.

It's no wee for him...

So, why can't train designers put Changing Places standard loos in those space age style loos on trains?  Without toilets to meet complex needs its a nappy change as we set off and one when we arrive.

And it's no wee for me...

Now my child has a complex disability and cannot be left alone. Not for a second. Not for a minute. Not for the time it takes me to have a wee. So, he needs 2 carers so that we can alternate and have comfort breaks of our own. But the Disabled Railcard only allows for 1 carers.

That was a faff.

So, it was me our disabled son and our teenagers (appearing in the role of unpaid Young Carer) on the train - and so the cost goes up.

Anyway, we got up there and in comparison to the other Difficult Parent, it was fine

I did notice the two missed calls at 9:30am, but I was getting in the London Black Cab Taxi to go the train station.

I did see the 2 further missed calls as I sat down in the wheelchair space.

After I wandered down to the dining car for a coffee and some refreshments for the kids I thought, maybe now would be a good time to catch up with the other Difficult Parent.

And so that is how come that I did not know that the car had broken down 2 hours earlier. I can see now that it would have been a good idea to have had the car serviced at some point over the past 2 years, but in my defence it did pass its MOT and really had only just sat there for 2 years, doing nothing much (apart from our holiday last summer  - and it was fine then)as we had been shielding.

I could perfectly understand why the other Difficult Parent was put out.  Having got up at 4 am and packed up the car and chased the cat around the house to get them in the carry case and having set off in good time, yes, I can see why they were upset.

BUT there is no way I could have known that the car and the cat and the spose would be towed in a three stage convoy for 10 hours for over 180 miles. OK, maybe I could have bought more expensive Breakdown Cover (from someone that the Other Difficult Parent HAD heard of, yes I cn see that); in my defence, the car hadn't moved for a year.

To be fair, it was me who took the car to the garage the next day. And I would have paid for the repair, any price at all, had the 'valve stem oil seal' been repairable. Which it wasn't.

So, the car was knackered.

And the other Difficult Parent was knackered.

And I did not anticipate just how hilly the hills of Northumbria are.

And the challenge of pushing a 69.5kg child in a 16kg wheelchair for 2 weeks up and down those hills.

I was knackered.

So I called for an accessible taxi.

There are about 13 thousand in London; I just pick up the phone, use an app and there it is!

There are 3 accessible taxis in the town were we where staying for 2 weeks (with our car a little poorly).

That was a faff.

And one of the taxis only carries 2 passengers. I picked up the phone and liaised with the taxi company, who fit us in around their local authority social care contracts. Plus the one cab that was available only had space for 2 accompanying passengers.  I thought it through, and all things considered, I thought it a really good idea to suggest to the other Difficult Parent that they might like a rest.

Last year, in a different seaside town, there was only one accessible taxi.

And he was on holiday for the 2 weeks we were there.

1. We had our bikes for food shopping.
2. We could walk into town.
3. We could walk to the swimming pool.

1. It was a faff to arrange days out with the taxi companies who were really busy.
2. It was knackering going up and down those hills pushing near on 100kg all day.
3. We couldn't use the buses as they were few and far between and we could not risk being unable to get on the buses and being stranded. This was particularly a risk when we wanted to go to Holy Island and we risked being trapped on their at full tide if the bus was full.

We got the car home, with the cat and all our kit inside, but really it's on its last legs.

We are lucky to be home and able to make use of London's fleet of fully accessible Black Cab Taxis again.

We are considering our options:

• We can keep cycling
  • Bike got nicked on Sunday 
  • Can't feasibly use a bike with a wheelchair 
• Use public transport
  • Tube inaccessible
  • Buses unfeasible
  • London's Black Cab Taxis are the best option but are diminishing in number
• Get the car repaired 
  • upwards of 2 grand to repair
  • consider scrapping it an having no car for a bit
• Get a Motability car
  • We waiting for our Personal Independence Payment application to be processed
  • We still need to pay a hefty deposit (again upwards of 2 grand) for any car to be adapted into Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV)