As a veteran of more than 40 years of Liberal/Lib Dem conferences, Chris Foote Wood writes about his first experience of the Labour event after joining the party in January.

PARTY conferences are like no other events on this earth. Imagine crowds of football supporters, theatre and film-goers, pop festival fans and placard-waving demonstrators all mixed together. Famous MPs and TV personalities pass every minute through this mad scrum on the Liverpool waterfront. The hullabaloo hits you as soon as you enter the conference centre. There are TV screens all around, with press interviews taking place in every corner, or so it would seem.

First you have to fight your way past numerous interest groups handing out their propaganda. They range from Fabians to anti-fracking, from cyclists to Free Kurdistan and much else besides. I am tempted to patronise the one offering a free glass of wine.

I sport my conference pass, compulsory at all times. The security check is thorough but relaxed. As a new, non-voting delegate I have been kicked upstairs to the balcony but with a good view of the proceedings. I look for familiar faces below. Should have brought my opera glasses.

As a veteran of more than 40 years attending Liberal/Lib Dem conferences, I should be used to it, But this, my first Labour conference, is on a different scale altogether with 13,000 delegates and visitors. At least the 164-page conference magazine with all the info is of a handy size to go into my newly-acquired “man bag” bought specially for the occasion. After all, one has to fit in!

Almost half the conference mag is devoted to the Fringe which has about 450 events over the four days. The exhibition likewise has stalls to suit all tastes, 130 in all. I start cautiously, sitting at the back and saying nowt (most unusual for me) for the first couple of Fringe meetings. After all, I have enough to do without taking on yet more campaigns.

There is little sign of dissent among the delegates in the main hall, but I’m sure that applies to most if not all party conferences. For real debate and a clash of views the Fringe is the place to be. Finally I drop my natural reticence (oh yes, I hear you say) and add my two penn’orth. I can’t pretend I have changed anyone else’s opinions, but I feel all the better for it.

During coffee breaks my fellow delegates seem eager to engage in casual conversation, and it’s nice to have a brief insight into life elsewhere. We compare notes about where to go in Liverpool for refreshment and entertainment.

On my first day I have the good fortune to meet up with Labour deputy leader Tom Watson MP and have a good good chat with him. I want to know how he lost all that weight – 99 pounds at the last count. “When I reach 100 I’ve promised myself a new bike” he tells me. Cycling, walking and cutting out processed sugar have done the trick for our new slim-line Tom.

THE city of Liverpool has always interested me ever since my early teenage years when I would cycle over from Bury (80 miles round trip) with just a packet of sandwiches and a bottle of pop to sustain me. Then it was a case of pedalling along the East Lancs Road – surely the only 1950s UK highway with cycle lanes – on my granddad’s sit-up-and-beg three-gear bike, which seemed to weigh a ton.

I would take a trip on the Mersey Ferry or the marvellous Overhead Railway, from which you could look down into all the docks with dozens of ships loading and unloading their cargoes. The “Liver Birds” on top of the Royal Liver Building always fascinated me and still do.

The ships and the railway have long gone and the docks are redeveloped. Liverpool’s famous waterfront is now the home of shops, bars and restaurants as well as the ACC Arena, the venue for this year’s Labour conference.

My digs are costing me a mere £15 a night. For that very modest sum I have a room measuring 54 square feet, just big enough for a 90cm (3ft) wide bed and a desk. I share a bathroom and toilet, but at least I have my own telly. I could afford to pay more, but I cannot shake off the frugal habits I learned as a child.

It is a double delight to find I am staying at Oliver House (I feature Oliver Twist in my one-man Dickens show) which is in Wood Street, just a half mile walk from conference. Convenient, comfortable digs and an exciting four days at a major event of national importance – what more could I wish for?

Chris Foote Wood, is a former leader of Wear Valley Council and a Bishop Auckland Liberal/Lib Dem councillor for 40 years. Now an author and actor, Chris moved to Darlington four years ago following the death of his wife Frances.