That's just the brief details - scroll down for the full review!
Middlesbrough Town Hall is one of our ‘local’ venues, which we attend quite often. Despite the building being over 130 years old the accessibility is excellent. During a multi-million pound refurbishment a few years back, all aspects of access have been considered making it a brilliant venue that hosts a huge range of events from top names in comedy and music all the way to exhibitions and record fairs.
The Main Hall can host standing and seated shows and there's a smaller room downstairs, known as The Crypt for smaller shows.
I’ll try and cover all of the different event formats as we go along.
BOOKING
Although tickets for some shows at Middlesbrough Town Hall are available on sites such as Ticketmaster, See Tickets, Gigs & Tours and Live Nation, accessible booking is done directly with the Town Hall box office. Access customers are asked to register with the venue and provide proof of their disability. These details are then stored for 12 months on your account so you don’t need to provide evidence each time you book. You can then request a companion ticket, but these are issued at the discretion of the venue.
The box office staff can then discuss your access needs with you and book you seating that suits you the best.
Your access account can also be used with the Town Hall’s sister site, Middlesbrough Theatre.
The Town Hall's website also has an excellent page about accessibility to check out all of the details before you book.
LOCATION AND GETTING THERE
The Town Hall is in Middlesbrough town centre, with close proximity to the main shopping area. Road links are good, coming into the town on the A66. Both the bus and train stations are within 5 minutes' walk or roll. There is on- and off-street car parking close by including above a shopping centre across the road. There is a single disabled parking bay on Albert Road, outside the Holiday Inn and a few others dotted on side streets in the area.
There are a number of hotels within a 10-minute walk of the Town Hall and more within a 15-minute drive.
There are lots of pubs, bars, and restaurants close by as the University is in the same area so lots of nightlife.
GETTING IN
The main entrance to the building is step-free through large sliding glass doors. Regardless of which room your event is in, you will enter the foyer, known as the carriage driveway, through the same door. Staff will be on hand at the door to check your tickets and bags and offer you any help you might need. If you’ve not been to the building before, they’ll point out where the bar and toilets are and where you need to go for your seating.
To your right-hand side, you’ll find the Box Office.
The area is quite big and airy but there isn’t much seating available, for larger shows in the Main Hall, you can take drinks down to sit in The Crypt
For most shows, you’ll find a board in the foyer displaying the show times so you can plan your drink and toilet breaks.
To get to The Crypt, there is a set of 10 stairs but staff will happily take you through a side door to use the lift for the short journey down. The lift is big enough for one wheelchair with a companion.
For the main room, you use the main lift which is very small. It can hold 4 people or 1 wheelchair and 1 companion. For shows with a large number of access customers, there can be a bit of a queue for the lift. Due to the structure of the building, there’s no space available to add a larger or alternative lift. There is no step-free access up to either of the balconies.
FACILITIES
The main bar is at the back of the foyer. There is a one-way queuing system and a lowered bar area. Staff keep the bar area clear so it’s easy to get around and there are always plenty of staff behind the bar so you can get served quickly.
There is an additional bar at the back of The Crypt which is used depending on event size.
There are 3 accessible toilets in the building.
The first one is in the foyer area, the second is upstairs outside the Main Hall and the third is in The Crypt. None of the toilets are radar-keyed and all have outward-opening doors.
All drinks are served in plastic cups - single-use for standing music and some seated events but you can ask for a more substantial reusable plastic beaker.
The Town Hall’s website has a brilliant section about accessibility with walk-throughs of the different parts of the building.
SEATING
In The Crypt, the seating is all clear plastic seats, positioned in rows with a central aisle. Seats are numbered from 1, starting at the North side of the room (furthest away from the entrance). The seats on the ends of rows can be removed to accommodate wheelchairs. To be fair the plastic seats aren’t particularly comfortable. The seats can be moved, making it easier to let people past or allow a bit of extra legroom.
In the Main Hall, the seating comprises metal-framed folding chairs with a padded seat and backrests. The chairs are connected together in rows with a central aisle both horizontally and vertically. Seats are numbered from 1, starting at the North side of the room (furthest away from the entrance). Again, the end seat of the rows can be removed to accommodate wheelchairs but it is worth noting that depending on the size of your chair or scooter, accessing the rows can be difficult as there isn’t a lot of room between them.
For a standing event, the Main Hall has a platform at the back for 7 wheelchairs and 7 companions. The platform placement used to be a bit awkward - it was at the opposite side of the main hall to the door meaning you had a long trek, in the dark, around the back of the room and through the crowd to get to the toilet.
I’ll blow my own trumpet here - I didn’t think the platform worked, so I got in touch with the Town Hall a while back and gave them some feedback. Over the course of a few emails backward and forwards and a couple of onsite meetings, using my suggestions the platform has been relocated. There may still need to be additional tweaks to the layout but it seems to be so far, so good!
The Main Hall has a wooden floor for the seating area and carpet around the edge. Please be aware that there is a thick rubber strip around the edge of the carpet that can hinder small castors on the front of wheelchairs. If the platform is in its new position, you can avoid it, but you have to wheel over it for seated events.
Main Hall - Seated
Main Hall - Standing
The Crypt
GETTING BACK OUT
From The Crypt, there is only one entrance, so everyone is heading in the same direction on the way out. If there’s more than one access customer at the event, you might have to queue for the lift.
In the Main Hall, there’s a bigger crowd so more traffic. The main door of the Hall is on the South side of the building, where everyone enters the hall. In its new position, the access platform is near that door. After an event, additional fire exits are opened on the North side of the Hall, leading to stone steps down the outside of the building. Step-free access is only available with the lift.
If you’re seated on the North side of the Hall, it’s best to wait for the crowd to disperse a bit, out of the fire doors, otherwise you’re swimming against the tide. However, there isn’t much free space between the end of the seated rows and the wall to move out of the way and let other people out, so it can be awkward either way.
When the access platform was in the old position, you had to wait for the Hall to empty to navigate your way through the discarded cups.
Again, depending on the number of access customers at the event, you might have to queue for the lift.
The foyer area clears out quite quickly with staff keeping everyone moving.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
We always have a good experience here. The staff really make the visit - it’s always the same familiar faces who get to know you (well, they do when you visit as often as I do and stand out as I do!) and are always on hand to help out. They’re a friendly bunch!
The venue gets a great mix of events all year round, so there’s something for everyone.
Being close to the town centre, it’s easy to get to
