THE Hartlepool Countryside Warden Service is, perhaps not surprisingly, wild about its town. The service produces a leaflet "Wild About Hartlepool" which appears twice yearly. It promotes the countryside events programme in and around the area.

The current one includes a generous proportion of events (about 30 per cent) that claim to be "Accessible For All". People who use wheelchairs to get about are invited to a whole host of activities under this banner from woodcarving to willow weaving and from birdwatching to butterfly spotting. Also advertised as accessible are the regular monthly Seal Watches at Teesmouth Field Centre, where I went along to recently.

The field centre is situated on the north bank of Greatham where it flows through Seal Sands on its way to the River Tees. It is easily found on the approach road to Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station and is perfectly positioned to explore the delights of the Teesmouth National Nature Reserve that surrounds it.

It is also a perfectly accessible building with a gentle ramp leading the wheelchair user up to the entrance around the back. The visitor on wheels passes through a display area where the accessible toilet is also found. Then follows a further two rooms housing an interactive IT area and a mix of permanent and changing displays about local wildlife. It was here that our group met - two of us in wheelchairs - before setting off for the hide where we carry out our observations. We were greeted by our expert guide for the visit, Mike Leakey of English Nature and, also, by Julie Ward of Jack Drum Arts. Julie's aim was to encourage us to use our "inspirations" from this exposed landscape and apply them to a piece of writing. This collective work would be grouped together under the clever and evocative title: "E-shore Fables". I'm still working on mine, Julie.

Having pre-booked several weeks earlier, those of us with special access needs were welcomed and taken by road - bypassing a few steps - to a point where we could join with the others. From there we all approached the hide that overlooked Seal Sands and the river mouth. I was fascinated to see exactly how this was to be done because my whole concept of this area, hitherto, was that it would be the last type of terrain any sensible person would attempt to steer their wheelchair over. But this had been a well thought-out operation and we were escorted to a path where wheelchairs rolled quite well.

The hide has ample room to park several wheelchairs affording unimpeded views over the extensive marshes. Alternatively, there is scope to transfer from a wheelchair to the bench seating that is readily available around the hide's perimeter. I was impressed by the trouble Mike took to ensure that we all had comfortable vantage points and access to the telescopes he had carefully trained onto various points of interest.

It wasn't long before we were all able to see a group of Common Seals resting on a sandbank out in the channel between Seal Sands and ourselves. After a hard night's fishing, the seals were clearly intent on making the most of this period of low tide and the safe havens it exposed.

To our left, towards the oil terminal we could see a group of grey seals that looked, initially, like mudbanks to the untrained eye. However, with expert commentary and the use of a telescope it became clear that we were, indeed, looking at a group of these magnificent sea-mammals. Beyond these there was the spectacular sight of a group of cormorants totally dwarfed by the bow of a tanker as the giant was being towed into the nearby oil terminal. Curlews provided the musical backdrop as we all chatted and posed a stream of questions to Mike about this treasure of an estuary.

After an hour it was, sadly, time to return to the field centre. This had been for me a true adventure. A staff determined to share a love of this environment with all visitors - regardless of ability - had enabled it to be so. They had succeeded in making us all feel most welcome, topping things off at the centre with offers of hot drinks and the chance to discuss things further and, possibly, get some ideas down in writing. This was a special trip out and one I would recommend to anyone who uses a wheelchair and is wild about the great outdoors.

If there is a town or attraction you would like him to try out for disabled access, please write to him at The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, Co Durham, DL1 1NF.

Published: 17/06/2003