They had done it. In the summer of 2024, President Macron announced the completion of the renovation of Notre Dame. What an achievement. I remember the night I watched those terrible flames leaping across my television screen, destroying centuries of beauty that millions of people, not only in France but right across the world, had imagined indestructible. I remember the horror and sadness that could have defeated a nation. But it did not. “We will rebuild it in five years,” the President had said. And they had done so. How very much I wanted to go and see it.
But of course it was impossible to get from my corner of Somerset to Paris when I had such limited mobility.
Two Dreams
I had another dream, too – to get to Scotland to see a cow named Elspeth after me. However, following my recent cancer operation and four months in hospital the year before, this appeared equally difficult. Getting on and off trains and managing my heavy walker just seemed out of the question.
Temptation
Then came temptation. It was billed as a weekend in Paris with all sorts of exotic attractions, but all that mattered to me was that it involved a coach running from the centre of our little town across the Channel and all the way to the French capital. I could do that, I thought, if someone could just help me a little bit with getting my case and walker on and off the coach. I found a friend who was interested in coming, but she was about the same age as me. Was it fair to ask her to lift my heavy old walker?
Discovering the byACRE Carbon Ultralight
Then I thought of the byACRE advertisements I had seen, and I started making enquiries. The little Carbon Ultralight looked almost perfect, and I bought it. I say “almost” perfect because, as I have very little use of my right hand, it would have been wonderful if I could have found a rollator where the whole braking system could be operated with the left. But no matter. Trying it out at home, I found it brilliant in every other way. I nicknamed it Swallow.
The trip was booked and excitement started to build. But then, disaster – back I had to go into hospital for another three months. It was not quite so bad this time, because Swallow came too and won admiration all round, from staff and patients alike. No one could believe how light she was. We zoomed up and down the ward, and more than one patient took the details to purchase an Ultralight as soon as they got home.
Notre Dame at Last
I was rather afraid that the hospital interlude would deter my friend with regard to Paris, but I need not have worried. She was as keen as ever. So off we went, and it was fantastic. So was Swallow. She made the whole thing possible and, as before, everybody loved her. We were literally waved into Notre Dame, where I stood for a while in silent amazement, struck dumb not only by the splendour of it all but by the fact that I was actually there. Not only that, but with the help of Swallow I was able to walk round to Sainte-Chapelle. What an experience that French trip was. I shall never forget it!
Meeting Elspeth and Eleanor
But what about that other dream? Had I forgotten about the cow? Not at all. I knew Elspeth had had a calf, now a year old. I had even had the honour of choosing a name for the young one. So now there was not only Elspeth to visit, but also Eleanor.
But it was difficult. Swallow had been faultless in Paris, skimming over city pavements, but I did not feel I could subject her to a rough farmyard. The friend with whom I travelled was also keen to explore lochs and mountains further north. How was Swallow going to cope with that?
Finch
Once again, byACRE had the answer. Their big-wheeled, all-terrain Carbon Overland was capable, it seemed, of going anywhere, and it was still incredibly light, so much so that I was constantly able to surprise people by lifting it over a threshold or up a few steps. I chose the green, called it Finch, and together we traversed gravel, paving, pebbles, sand, grass, stones and mud. We did not meet a terrain Finch could not tackle.
Elspeth and Eleanor were perhaps not quite as impressed with my rollator as everybody else, but then they were both very beautiful, so who can blame them? In meeting those two, not to mention seeing their owner again, who had left Somerset some years previously, I fulfilled a long-held ambition. It was a very special day.
Castles, Coastlines and Scottish Lochs
We travelled up north by train, then hired a car, and once we got into the Scottish Borders there were fascinating castles and old churches to be explored everywhere – many along quite difficult paths. Dunure Castle on the Ayrshire coast, not far from the farm, brings back particularly happy memories. Finch and I negotiated a stony, grassy track and found a lovely spot to rest. Here, perched on the cliff edge beside the castle, I gazed out to sea. It was wonderful – so peaceful, and I felt free in a way you can seldom feel when you are hemmed in by your own lack of mobility.
Then came the lochs and mountains further north, and all the beauties and glories of that wonderful landscape. Finch proved up to everything I asked, right up to our final evening back in Glasgow, when he showed that, Overland or no, he could be a city rollator as good as any. His star turn was to amaze onlookers with a demonstration of his ability to fold up into a narrow rollator, keep moving, and negotiate the revolving door into a restaurant!
And thus, in only two years of rollator ownership, these amazing aids have given me so much. Once again, the world has opened up before me.
Learn About Finch and Swallow
About the Author
Elspeth Waldie
I am in my 80s and a bundle of medical conditions make it difficult for me to walk, but I am someone who has always loved the open air and adventure. So I am particularly grateful for the freedom granted by these rollators.