Seating Booked & Fire Exits Kept Clear At Venues - when you are in the audience or organizing an event

 You may want to carry with you a pet cat in a cat box, books for book signing or other bulky items. Or even sit in a wheelchair or carry a pair of walking sticks, a guitar, or a walking frame.

Transporting Books, Bulky Items & Cats

First you need to check where they can go in a car or plane on the way to the venue.

I bought this handy bag to go on a small four-wheel suitcase.

Books, Bulky Items, Seats & Wheelchairs at Venues

If you cannot find a seat in the audience, you might consider sitting on the stage. Or being the bouncer or doorkeeper.

At a seated venue such as a conference centre, you cannot sit on the stairs and block the aisles.

I went to a speech contest in central London. If I remember rightly, it was at the London Business School. I had been added to the list late, not signed up on the original listing through a booking system. I was a replcement speaker for somebody who dropped out because of nerves or illness or work.

Finding A Seat

Therefore I had no allocated seat, and had to wait until I saw where there was a vacant seat. I knew that some people who had booked the event would be there only for the first session and not for the the session after the lunch break.

However, one of the building management came to me and said I could not sit on the aisle because I was blocking the escape exit in the event of an alarm for fire, evacuation for suspiciouls packages or anything else. (Not just because people need to get out in a hurry to avoid smoke inhalation. But also because if anybody trips over you there could be a pile up and injuries from falling or being crushed.)

As an audience member you need to liaise with the organizers. They may be able to allocate you their own seat if they are on stage speaking throughout the event. 

I had been hesitant to disturb the busy organizers of the event. However, when made to move, I hailed somebody and explained that I needed a seat.

The organizer might also know if somebody has rung in to say, that they would be absent their trains were not running or a pile up on a motorway. So you get a good seat near the front! This happened to me.

Leaving Aisles Free

I am now mindful of the need to leave aisles free of people sitting, whether from the beginning or latecomers.

As an organizer, it is good to have somebody at the door to direct latecomers to  seat so they are not let standing, or moving into centre seats causing a disturbance, when a conveneient seat is further away conveniently on the aisle where they can quickly slip into the seat, and have their props handy beside them under their seat, or at the back corner out of the way.

Wheelchair Users Need Of Space

I was recently in August 2025 at a Writers' Summer School at Swanwick in Derbyshire. As a result of a hirline fracture in a bone I was for the first time using an elecric wheelchair provided by the venue. 

However, it bleeped noisliy when reversing. In order to enter or leave the venue, or approach the stage, or the table of raffle gifts at the back when I won one of several raffle prizes, you needed to use a wide turning circle. In order to keep the vehicle charged, I was beside a socket on the side aisle wall. Half way down the side aisle, the aisle was blocked by the permanent box for the audio equippment and seated operator. I ralised that in a fire or evacuation I was blocked in and would be blocking others.

As an audience member, a furniture mover setting up a room, overseer, or building management, you need to be aware or keeping clear aisles, as well as entry and exit for any wheelchair users.

Could you, should you, offer or accept lifts to a writing holiday?

We need a 'travel to Swanwick Writers Summer School' group.

Car Travel I had two lifts from members of my writing group who refused offers of payment.

Later, I gave lifts to people.

On one occasion the person I was assisting turned up late. My relatives who waited to help load up the car and were not pleased. The next year they told the person wanting the lift you must turn up early or within half an hour or risk not getting the lift.

Later, on one occasion I sat alone on a train from London to Derbyshire and at the conference found a new friend who had been on the same train.

If you book a seat you are allocated a random seat and cannot choose to sit near a friend and risk being without a seat if you move or being asked to move out of a reserved seat.to be with a friend.

However, If we could have a system, such as Swanwickers wear a Swanwick badge (make your own by printing a pictures of the Hayes and sit in front carriage, we could find other old friends and potential new friends.

Another idea for those travelling by car would be to have a lift offered and lift wanted system. You might include, a tick box with free, petrol contribution appreciated, and back to your door, or only drop off and collect from designated railway station, or only drop on and collect from my home area which is (your rough location).

Writing Groups There are also writing groups from various areas which regularly send members. So they could offer lifts to people from their area and thus recruit new members for their group.

Train Tickets Or Car For Convenience And Company? One year, on another writing holiday, I had a train ticket. However, I got a lift home to London from an elderly gentleman which I thought would be good to have a chance to recap the week's events and swap stories.

Safety One of the holiday organizers warned me, "Once you leave this holiday, we can't guarantee your safety. We cannot supervise or guarantee anything."

Direct - or Detour! What could go wrong? My driver took a detour. He didn't tell me until after we started driving. he offered to drop me off or continue. The detour took longer than he or I expected because he got lost. This made me later reaching home than I would have been on the train.

On another occasion, my passenger needed to be home on time. In my haste I took the wrong lane and missed a turning off the motorway.

Back to my passenger journeys. On another occasion I was unexpectedly dropped at a station, not on my direct line, which involved changing trains. I had a train pass. However, I faced more stairs and luggage carrying than I had expected.

For me, the whole point of going by car, was to avoid the steps and long Luckily my family were at home and willingly collected me from the station. So after my momentary worry, everything worked out fine for everybody.

Yes, I still found the conversation entertaining and useful. But I learned that it is handy to clarify in advance whether you should offer petrol money, pay for any toll on a bridge, or to buy coffee or a meal at a motorway stop.

Your circumstances and finances could change from year to year. So might your travelling companion's. You could be in a well paid job one year, then retired or divorced the next. Or it could be the other way round. You might start out desperate for money, then find yourself rich and famous and very happy to pay your way or buy meals and gifts.

The arrangement might depend on the finances of the driver, or yours, or simply their attitude to life and yours. It is really simpler to clarity from the start whether you are offering money, a lot, a little, will buy food or drink, or have a gift of a book or flowers.

Know your own personality type. On the Myers Briggs personality typing, there are judgers who like to decide where they are going on holiday and book well in advance, no uncertainty.

Other types, many teachers, are ENFP, P I like to think of as procrastinators, like to have their options open and decide at the last minute.

You also need to know that some types hate to be taken advantage of. Whilst others are nurturers and feel their mission in is to help others, which makes them feel useful.

Many organizations let you know in advance whether you can buy reduced price rail tickets if you buy well ahead.

If your holiday organizers don't have a system going, you could start your own.

Happy travelling!

Useful Websites
writers holiday website
writers summer school website
Facebook page writers holiday
Facebook page writers summer school

London Transport

GWR (Paddington to Fishguard for Writers Holiday annually February)


Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.