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Graham and Yvonne’s Journey from the RNTNE (Kings Cross) to Muswell Hill.

Graham travelled from Kings Cross to Muswell Hill on 4th July 2006 with Yvonne shadowing him. Here we document his journey with photos and captions explaining how he found his way. Yvonne is familiar with this journey as she lives in London but Graham had not made this journey for a number of years since he moved from London to Peterborough in 1999. He therefore found his way mainly by memory and was dependent on the environment being the same as it was 7 years ago.

As you will see some changes had taken place and this did result in some additional challenges for Graham.

Graham: I started outside the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital (RNTNE), this is the front entrance here.

This was during the heat wave and extremely hot.

Yvonne: I began to follow Graham, walking a few feet behind, pretending to be a tourist taking general photos. When Graham paused or was obviously encountering difficulties I wanted people to behave naturally in their decision to offer assistance or not and not to assume I was responsible for guiding him. I stayed close but looked down intensely at and fiddled with my camera as thou gh I were oblivious to Graham and was solely concerned with sorting out my technical problem.

Graham: I turned right and walked along Gray’s Inn Road crossing the first sidestreet very cautiously trying to make out the movement of any cars turning right from Gray’s Inn Road. When I reached the opposite pavement I was even more cautious because nine years ago I had a nasty accident at this spot. You see the steps in this photo, in 1997. 

I had an appointment at RNTNE and was walking towards the hospital in the opposite direction along Gray’s Inn Road. Unfortunately, I didn’t know these steps existed on the inside edge of the pavement, and drifted too far to the left with the result that my left foot slipped off the pavement down the steps and I fell awkwardly breaking a small bone in my left foot. Once bitten, twice shy. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, so cautiously checked out where the steps were with my stick, bending over to feel the steps to make sure I had got myself properly orientated, and then walked towards the moving traffic.

Yvonne: I was not very worried when Graham crossed over the first small side road, even though there were no pedestrian crossing lights, because I felt any oncoming traffic would be moving slowly enough to stop upon realising he was blind (he was using his red and white cane). I noticed the bumps on the pavement indicating the crossing to him. I would not have noticed or thought about them had I been on my own. Graham seemed to be concentrating and looking for movement of people or vehicles for a while before crossing this narrow side road. Neither were around. These photos show some of a number of hazards: • A tree • A wastebin • An oblique set of very shallow concrete steps • A telephone box These obstacles create problems for Sighted Hearing people. It is necessary to do some weaving around, to deviate from a straight walk along the path. It is especially difficult if a number of people are coming towards one another. Trees roots cause paving slabs to tilt. I was intrigued to know how Graham would negotiate the steps in particular. To me they looked horribly dangerous but I could tell he had some memory of them although they did seem to confound him. After caning them for a while he leaned over and felt the step levels with his hand to confirm his ideas of their placement. This must have been very difficult for Graham to do, since even when compared to other deafblind people, his balance is particularly poor. I guess this is due to cochlear damage/malformation. As his sight has deteriorated over the years, Graham’s difficulties with mobility have really increased. Apparently we use our eyes to orientate if our cochlear cannot function to help us balance. Walking steadily unguided in a straight line is a great challenge in itself. For this reason it’s easy to slip off course - something which happened quite early on in the journey.

Graham: Having cleared the steps I encountered this tree, but hitting a tree I can tell you is far better than falling down steps! I was unaware that a man was behind me and trying to offer assistance.

Yvonne: I rarely see Graham walking alone and caning and I was struck by how much he weaved from side to side and how he might to others appear drunk. I know he finds it easier to balance when he increases speed and momentum but that was difficult to do as he was having to do the journey by memory (from 7 years ago) and was aware of the possibility of changes and obstructions.

Graham: People often want to help but aren’t sure how, and I’m often not even aware they are there. Sometimes if I am I will say, ‘It’s OK, I don’t need any help thanks.’ because often help can be more of a hindrance particularly as many people don’t know how to guide safely and may push or pull instead.

Yvonne: Initially people would look worried about Graham’s progress and sometimes impending danger and study me to try to work out if I was with him. When I ignored him and them, they would sometimes approach and offer assistance but then look hesitant as though they were part of some experiment (which indeed they were). They often changed their minds and walked away if they saw me preparing to photograph what was happening.

Graham: Even my photographic memory won’t save me from all the little obstacles like bollards, and my sight is now too poor to pick them out.

Yvonne: I noticed many obstacles which I wouldn't have thought about if I didn't work with deafblind people and wasn't shadowing Graham on this occasion. There were many lamp posts, bollards approximately 3 feet high (which had no obvious use to me), poles of Signposts and many poles of traffic lights. There were also metal rectangular boxes which possibly house various electrical fuse boxes, connected with either traffic lights or British Telecom technology. These are rarely noticed by Hearing Sighted people. No doubt they are puzzling and irritating to Deafblind People. Graham took a different route to the underground to my usual route. His route avoids a very busy double crossing over Pentonville Road and York Way and also a particular stretch of path which is especially narrow and inundated with poles of various types and shorter bollards. I normally choose my route because I often pop into shops en-route, such as Boots and Marks & Spencer Simply Food. The latter did not exist 7 years ago when Graham regularly made his journey.

Graham: I am very familiar with this crossing over Gray’s Inn Road because it’s just opposite Sense’s old office at number 311, however the sunlight was extremely bright and I had to be very cautious.

I didn’t want to accidentally walk into the road in front of the oncoming traffic. I know that the pedestrian phase at this crossing is very short. You can’t afford to start crossing the road unless the traffic has only just stopped because it will soon be on the move again. There’s no way I want to be in the middle with all those cars and lorries roaring past! So not only did I have to locate the exact point where the road meets the pavement. I also had to watch carefully to see exactly when the traffic came to a halt. It was then a question of making it smartly across the four lanes to the safety of the far pavement – this having been achieved I turned right towards Kings Cross Station.

Yvonne: Successfully achieved. I was impressed with the ease and confidence of this manouvre.

Graham: The plan was to reach the steps leading down into the underground station which are situated almost opposite the station, unfortunately due to engineering works, this had been shut off. You can see in these photos assistance was offered again, but clearly they didn’t realise I was profoundly deaf and I wasn’t getting what they were saying.

Yvonne: This was a classic mobility mishap for deafblind people. The works were clearly signposted and were enclosed by a metal grille fence. This fence disguised the physical aspect of the tube entrance.

Graham was approached by workmen who tried to communicate with him, not realising he was deaf. They could have been helpful by guiding him to the second, functioning entrance (these entrances are back to back). He didn't get as far as touching the fence. He continued to walk along Euston Road until he came to the next side street. Realising he had missed the tube entrance he turned back the way he had come. Graham said he was not that aware of the textured paving at this junction. He has recently been told by a podiatrist that an additional problem which could be linked with whatever caused his main sensory problems, is a lack of function of nerves in his feet. This is a very important factor in terms of safe mobility for deafblind people. As his gait is rather lurching (as mentioned earlier) due to poor balance, it’s hard to stay in a straight line and easy to be affected by sloping pavement. Since Graham travelled this route 7 years ago, both his sight and balance have deteriorated. This led to the next most alarming misadventure.

Graham: Having missed the second tube entrance I drifted off the pavement at the pedestrian crossing opposite St. Pancras Station, almost ending up in the path of oncoming traffic – fortunately a lorry driver remained stationery when the pedestrian phase ended, while other traffic started to move in the outside lane. Luckily, someone grabbed me in time otherwise perhaps I wouldn’t be here to tell this story. I was then guided across Euston Road, Yvonne followed and we reconnected at the side of St. Pancras Station. I hadn’t wanted to cross Euston Road so went back across with Yvonne, and then made my way independently and eventually found the elusive tube entrance!

Yvonne: Graham was guided across in the opposite direction to the tube entrance he had been seeking but complied as he realised the important thing was to leave the road quickly. At one point he had actually been walking towards a juggernaut. The driver was horrified and was hooting madly as the juggernaut obscured any drivers view of Graham about to emerge and, like me, he feared traffic would hit Graham as he reached the middle of the road as the pedestrian phase had ended. I was astonished by how long it took for someone to take the initiative and grab Graham to save him. I had been composing, ready to photograph, when the lights changed, and suddenly I realised the danger but was not near enough to assist. Graham could not hear the honking of vehicle horns (this is due to "compression" of sound from his Cochlear Implant - to protect him when loud noise occurs it shuts off the noise altogether). When Graham reached the other side he sought a different tube entrance at the side of St Pancras Station, but again it had been blocked off due to more engineering works. I approached Graham at this point to make sure he was ok and he asked me to guide him back across Euston Road to save time. He then set off towards the unblocked entrance. I followed him down the steps but decided now the road risk was over, I would hang back to prevent people being affected by thinking I may be with Graham and to allow an "unshadowed" scenario.

Graham: Kings Cross Station has been quite extensively modified in recent months with the result that the passageways are quite different, however, after a bit of poking around and, no doubt attracting quite a lot of attention – including a brush with the law - I found my way to what remains of the old main ticket hallway for the Victoria, Piccadilly and Northern Lines.

Yvonne: I watched while, after caning around for some time near a lift in an altered, unrecognised area, Graham was approached by a policeman who escorted him to the ticket barrier.

Graham: Once in the tube, I am in home territory. I know the passageways of Kings Cross Underground Station like the back of my hand. Only problem was having set off through the ticket barrier and down the escalator I left Yvonne behind and set off a lost blind person alert! I made my way down two escalators to the Northern Line platforms before I realised Yvonne wasn’t in tow. Rule 1: when you lose someone don’t panic. Rule 2: don’t go hunting for them, stay where you can be seen and wait patiently – so that’s what I did. I stayed in the bright light in the middle of the hallway at the bottom of the short Northern Line escalators and waited. Lots of people kept stopping to ask if I needed help, and I had to keep saying thanks… but no thanks. Finally, Yvonne located me and the panic was over and our journey continued.

Yvonne: Suddenly a crowd of people appeared from nowhere and I lost sight of him. I ran to each escalator in turn but couldn't see Graham. I was puzzled because I didn't see how he could have reached the bottom so quickly and gone out of sight. I was by now in a panic because we had not arranged any signals or defaults in case of any problems. I thought Graham would not realise I was no longer following him. Finally I when I was halfway down the second escalator I saw three women surrounding Graham trying to communicate with him. He was standing right in the centre of the hallway, facing the escalator looking reasonably unconcerned. As soon as I moved away from him, two men approached him (as seen in this photograph) and tried very hard to assist him, not realising he didn't need assistance and unable to understand what he was saying in his replies to them. Throughout the journey I was particularly struck by the incredibly varied types of people who approached to offer assistance. There was no obvious weighting in terms of age, gender, class or ethnicity.

Graham: Again this is where my photographic memory comes in really handy. If you are a Londoner and familiar with the labyrinth of the tube system, and especially the Northern Line, this may make some sense to you. In any event I will do my best to explain this. Nearly twenty years ago, I lived at Camden Town which is on the Northern Line - this is when I first became familiar with this part of the network. More recently I lived at Muswell Hill - Highgate tube is one of the nearest stops to Muswell Hill - this is also on the Northern Line. Unfortunately, getting from Kings Cross to Highgate is not as simple as it could be. At Camden Town the Northern Line forks into two branches north of the station and then forks again further up. So from Kings Cross going north you can get many different trains from the same platform – trains going to High Barnet, and Mill Hill East both stop at Highgate, but trains to Edgware and Golders Green don’t. In all my years of experience of travelling on the Underground I always found it hard work to get information from other passengers. It’s difficult to get someone to understand how to spell out words in capitals on your hand at the best of times, but with the roar of tube trains and the fact they are not going to wait for you it makes it much harder still. I therefore found it far better wherever possible to devise more independent means of navigation. I soon discovered from trial and error that all trains going to Mill Hill East and High Barnet came in on the right-hand platform at Camden Town, and all trains for Golders Green and Edgware came in on the left-hand platform. I therefore decided to get on any train at Kings Cross and wait until it got to Camden, if the doors opened on the left-side, I knew it was my train. If the doors opened on the right-side it was the wrong one so I just had to jump off the train and make my way to the right-hand Northbound platform. Any train on this platform stops at Highgate. On this occasion the train we got on turned out to be the right one.

Yvonne: Whilst sitting on the tube Graham is looking out of the window concentrating very hard as he tries to make out whether as the train pulls to a standstill at Camden, the platform (light) is on the left or right hand side. He may have to spring up and get off quickly depending on whether or not he is aware of a sudden brightness.

Graham: I was aware the train was coming because of the draft coming down the tunnel. I can see where the doors are because of the movement of them sliding back and the light from within the train. This lady may think she is helping but she is not! Pushing is never a great idea. I could lose my balance as a result. I once slipped between the platform and the train when someone pushed me. Having reached Highgate tube I went up the main escalator to the ticket barrier. Nothing has changed at this station, it’s one of those places that doesn’t move with time – it took ten years for them to replace the old wooden escalators. We used to have to walk up the stationery escalator in the early 1990’s, they offered people drinks at the top but I didn’t know that and went without. Even if the tube doesn’t move with time, things outside had changed a bit. No big deal, I knew the path that leads from the tube up to the main road wouldn’t have moved and soon found my way to the entrance.

Yvonne: There is now a cafe outside the exit and an advertising board had been placed on the footpath - very hazardous!

Graham: I used to walk up and down this path when I lived at Muswell Hill, my balance was a lot better in those days and I would literally run down the path overtaking everybody else. God knows they must have thought I was a peculiar blind person! On one occasion however it was frosty and I slipped, landing on all fours on the path. Now it’s really hard work keeping my feet walking up this steep incline.This is a very busy junction between the A1 and Muswell Hill Road. Traffic comes from all directions and it’s very confusing as to when it is safe to cross. Firstly, I have to wait and watch the traffic coming from the right, I must not try to cross if the traffic is stationery already because I don’t know how long it will be before it will start to move (I cannot see the lights). So I wait for it to stop and then know I have got a few seconds to get to the middle. Now it gets even trickier because the traffic can turn left off the A1 and also right from behind me, so really I need someone to follow or lead me across this last bit, although at night time I might see the headlights of cars sufficiently to make a judgement as to when I can make it across. The only other way I can do this crossing is to wait for a car to approach and hold up my stick to try and bring them to a stop. They are then blocking the road and thus making it safe for me to cross. In this case someone offered assistance, I took their arm and they led me across the road – problem solved.

Yvonne: Straight away a young man offered assistance and guided Graham across the road. At this point it looked easy. I noticed men were cutting trees along the pathway where Graham was about to walk next. It was fortunate that none of their equipment was actually on the pathway as it so easily could have been. It looked as though they had recently finished their work and were clearing up. Graham was oblivious to this operation- they saw him coming and moved out of his way as he approached and made his way down the path towards the bus stop.

Graham: This is another bit where I am depending on no change. I first got to know this bus stop in 1989; all buses from this stop go to Muswell Hill Broadway so as long as you do not want to go further than that or you are happy to get off there anyway you can just get on the first bus that comes. That's easy. The problem starts when I have to find out what number bus it is, that involves either asking other people waiting (that's assuming someone else is waiting), or as I usually would do, get on any bus and try and get the driver to tell me the route number by tracing the shape on my palm with their finger. Hopefully I would be getting the route number and not the registration number as one bus conductor provided me with on a strip of bus ticket in the early 80s!

Yvonne: We waited for what seemed like an age for the bus to come on this very hot day. I was able to sit down and watch the other people waiting (about ten of them) and study their behaviour towards Graham and watch the traffic. Graham looked self conscious, perhaps he imagined me taking photos and I did when the bus finally arrived. As each large vehicle approached he appeared to be straining to make out the shape of a bus or movement of people so as to know when to move and in what direction.

Graham: Just as there are many ways to cook an egg, or come to that, a potato, there are many ways to get from Kings Cross to Muswell Hill. The route I took for this exercise is by no means the most direct and it's certainly not the way Yvonne would have gone, however for me it is the best because it avoids the need for me to communicate with other people in order to get information, such as bus route numbers.

Yvonne: From Kings Cross I would have taken the Victoria Line (because it is by far the most frequent and fastest) to Finsbury Park and then, right at the tube station, I would catch a very frequent W7 bus service to Muswell Hill.

Graham: I can foresee that as my ability to understand speech improves through my cochlear implant, my choice of route may change since the main barrier to accessing such information through a third party will disappear. The point I am trying to get across here, is that what suites one deafblind person may well not suite another. – mobility is a very individual thing based upon what one can see and hear, or not, and also of course their previous experience and knowledge. My ability to get around in London today is largely dependent on my memory of the past. There is no doubt that my cochlear implant is of tremendous benefit, although it's early days yet I am already understanding the odd word when spoken including in public places. For instance, I will now ask someone, ‘Is the next stop Finsbury Park?’, and listen to hear if they say, ‘Yes’, or ‘No’, or how many stops it is. I have found that I can usually hear what their reply is as long as it is simply the answer required rather than it being mixed in to a sentence. This means I no longer have to explain to people how to spell words out in capital letters on my hand. I can therefore get basic information much more quickly and easily. This will obviously enhance my ability to get around independently. I would like to take this opportunity to recommend that other deafblind people consider having a cochlear implant because apart from the possibility of understanding speech, being in touch with environmental sounds is also a huge benefit, including for mobility.

Graham Hicks and Yvonne Gordon