City's key role in helping disabled people hailed

15 hours ago

Emma Craigand

Neve Gordon-Farleigh

Jenni Pettican has said the work of Selwyn Goldsmith has not just been confined to one sector of society but has impacted everyone

Jenni Pettican Jenni Pettican posing for a picture in her wheelchair. She has turned on to her right side and is wearing a bright pink coloured dress. She has long red hair and is looking directly at the camera and smiling. — Jenni Pettican has said the work of Selwyn Goldsmith has not just been confined to one sector of society but has impacted everyone

A disabled content creator is helping to spread the word about an architect whose work in the 1960s to improve accessibility has impacted wider society today.

Jenni Pettican said the work of Selwyn Goldsmith, who introduced England's first accessible public toilet in Norwich and 15 dropped kerbs, has not only improved the lives of disabled people but everyone.

In a social media video in partnership with Historic England, seen more than 84,000 times, Pettican said Goldsmith's work changed how architects perceived disability.

She said: "It's literally called the curb-cut effect where something made for one group of people ends up benefitting everyone."

In 1964 Goldsmith spoke to 284 people in Norwich with disabilities on their experiences of navigating the city and what improvements could be introduced.

He himself became disabled in 1956 after having polio and devoted his life to overcoming "architectural disability" — looking at the barriers of buildings rather than society.

Pettican, from Basildon, Essex, said Goldsmith's work showcased the importance of speaking to disabled people about improvements they wanted to see at the time.

She said: "As a disabled man himself, he knew he had to go to the community and ask the question. I think that's something that doesn't necessarily happen nowadays and often where mistakes are made because the community hasn't been listened to."

Pettican, who has researched the work of Goldsmith, said her biggest takeaway was that he spent time listening to disabled people on what they needed and wanted to see

Jenni Pettican Jenni Pettican in her wheelchair by the University of East Anglia lake . She is wearing a red and green watermelon patterned dress and is looking directly at the camera and smiling. — Pettican, who has researched the work of Goldsmith, said her biggest takeaway was that he spent time listening to disabled people on what they needed and wanted to see

She said his work highlighted the every day things people take for granted that can cause barriers for those with a disability.

She said: "The fact Norwich was the site of the first purpose-built accessible public toilet in the UK is really cool. People take for granted the ability just to go to the toilet. Whereas, for disabled people their options are often a lot more limited.

"It's so important for the public to know about disability history and the things we use everyday that we do take for granted that only come from disabled people like dropped kerbs, like electric toothbrushes, like audiobooks. Even things like texting came from the deaf community."

Pettican, who uses a wheelchair, said: "I always think there's room for accessibility. If the colosseum in Rome can be made accessible, so can a city like Norwich."

'Disability history is everybody's history'

Esther Routledge, from Historic England, said Goldsmith's work has been influential across the world.

She said: "It's not as widely known as it should be and it's so impactful across many people's lives, [from] people who are using wheelchairs who would benefit from a dropped kerb to mothers wheeling prams. It really changes the environment not just for the people who need to gain the access, but for all people to live in a more integrated society.

"Disability history is everybody's history. Selwyn Goldsmith was a designer and he was able to bring his experience into his work. Disabled people have always been part of our communities and they have helped to shape the places that we value today."

Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.