Kents Cavern is a cave site, known as a ‘show cave’, as it has been adapted to allow for tourist access, including the addition of lighting, concrete flooring and hand rails. The venue also consists of a visitor’s centre; including a gift shop, café and learning activities area.

Address: Kents Cavern, Illsham Road, Torquay, Devon, TQ1 2JF

Kents Cavern have created their own accessibility guide available to view on their website, however this pack covers all this information as well as additional notes specifically for the performance: http://www.kents-cavern.co.uk/accessibility

There is step free access to the box office, on-site café (open until 4pm daily) and the toilets.

Within the caves there is one section of 9 steps. A step-free alternative route is available – please contact us in advanced to discuss this option.

Please note that there are some short stretches of steep gradient within the cave system, up to 1:4.

There are some narrow passages within the caves, minimum width of 700mm, which you need to pass to access the full performance.

If you need a personal assistant / support worker to accompany you, for you to attend the performance, please contact us to secure their free assistant’s ticket.

There is one marked disabled parking bay in the Kents Cavern car park. Please contact us in advanced should you wish to reserve this space. All car parking spaces are on hard standing ground.

If you need to access the step-free alternative route within the caves, please contact us in advanced to discuss.

Contact Kate McStraw, our Producer, via phone 07792 377106 or email katemcstraw@hotmail.co.uk

There is an accessible toilet on site. The distance between the toilet and the performance site ranges between 10m to 30m, depending on where you are situated within the cave/venue.

The route is flat within the visitor’s centre to the toilet, but the floor surface within the cave varies in gradient, with a maximum gradient of 1:4.

At this time, we are not able to offer Audio Enhancement such as loops, intra red or mobile connect systems / British Sign Language / Captioning / Audio Description / Relaxed Performances – however this is something we are looking to explore for future performances, for our 2018 tour. Should you have any feedback on this, please do get in contact.

Registered Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Disability Support Dogs, Medical Assistance Dogs, Disability Assistance Dogs and Seizure Alert Dogs are permitted to enter the venue. Owners are responsible for the control of their dogs at all times.

Please contact us in advanced to discuss accommodation of an assistance dog.

The caves are electrically lit but the lighting levels are purposefully kept low to protect the cave environment. There are periods of reduced lighting and short spells of complete darkness during the performance.

Please note that there will be 2 short moments (approximately 30 second long each) of blackout during the performance. This will take place within the cave, where it is total darkness. If you would like any further information on this, please contact us.

The performance in underscored by recorded music throughout, and there is a live musician (song and guitar) performing within the piece. If you would like any further information on this, or copies of the lyrics being sung, please contact us.

The performance takes place within a cave system, which is consistently cool 14 degrees centigrade. Please dress warmly. Sturdy shoes are recommended.

This is a promenade performance, watching sections of dance at different sites throughout the cave system. It is approximately 1 hour in duration, and we ask our audiences to stand and walk throughout. Should you need to bring a fold-up seat with you to access the performance, you are welcome to do so, but please inform us on arrival so that we can assist you as required to ensure best sight lines and to inform you of longer sections, where it is most appropriate to sit. All sections are no longer than 5 minutes duration, before walking to the next section. There are also some natural rest points within the caves, such as large rocks, which you may lean/sit on if required during the performance.

At the beginning of the performance the musician, Lou, will hand all audience members a torch, attached to a lanyard, to wear during the performance. This is a safety precaution, whereby you can shine the torch directly up onto the cave ceiling should you need assistance / first aid / wish to leave the performance for any reason. If you shine the torch, one of the performance stewards will come to assist you as required.

Head protection helmets are not required in the caves but are available on request for visitors

The performance in 1 hour in duration with no interval.

There is a general travel guide available via Kents Cavern website: http://www.kents-cavern.co.uk/how-to-find-us

The nearest bus stop is at St. Matthias Church (Buses 22 and 122) which is approximately 5-minute walk (0.2 miles) from Kents Cavern. Note that it is on a slight downhill on the way to Kents Cavern, but slight uphill on the way back.

You can plan your bus journey via the Stagecoach Website: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/

For specific public transport access queries, please contact Stagecoach directly - the Stagecoach switchboard is open from 09:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday, telephone: 01392 42 77 11 or email: southwest.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com

The nearest train station is Torquay, and approximately 10 minutes by taxi or 30 minutes by bus from the train station to Kents Cavern.

There is a pay & display car park on site, costing £2 to park. Alternatively on-street parking on the surrounding roads is free, but please note that these are situated on a slight uphill gradient from the caves.

The Kents Cavern car park is large enough for drop off / pick-ups to be made by taxi.

• Venue opening times
  Kents Cavern is open to the public daily from 9.30am to 5pm. From 5pm onwards, on performance dates (28th Sept, 29th Sept and 1st Oct) the venue is open to ticket holders only.
• Arriving at the venue
  On arrival, you will approach the venue entrance from the main car park area. There is a pathway leading up to the entrance, passing a small outside picnic area, ending with a set of steps and a ramp, to take you inside the visitor’s centre entrance.
• Ticket collection
  Inside the visitor’s centre you will find a ticket desk on the left-hand side of the door. It is flat level access between the entrance, ticket desk, accessible toilets and cave entranceway. You can print your tickets in advanced (via the PDF attached when you book your tickets online) but don’t worry if you can’t print them as there is a door list as well.
• Access contact on site
  Should you need to speak to one of us prior to the performance start, please ask at the ticket desk for either Kate or Katie.
• Arrival times
  You are advised to arrive no later than 15 minutes prior to your selected performance time; if you would like to arrive more than 30 minutes prior to your selected performance time, please contact us in advanced to arrange this. Please note that the performance in 1 hour in duration with no interval.