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UKTA's - I Need Your Help
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| chris_norris |
Today I just finished fillin in my application for University's, and im goin next year. It was pissing me off a bit cause half the places on my list I've never stepped foot in and i haven't got a clue what there like. So I was just wondering if any of you live in or frequent any of the following places, could ya give me a general idea of what it's REALLY like ? I had to pick 6 (which'll obviously get narrowed down 2 one :D and i already know about the two manchester ones) so i'd like a bit of info on :-
Newcastle
Sheffield
Durham
& last but not least Edinburgh.
I don't want to end up living somewhere :D
Cheers in advance for any replies.
Chris....
oh and this is my first post on the UK board :) |
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| tu_face |
newcastle & durham ur better off askin the geordies...
but i live near sheffield and go there too much to be healthy... its wicked. the two uni's there are both very good and the nightlife is still good (but not as good as it was).. if u are moving into student accomodation for sheffield hallam, then theres a new block of student flats been built just accross the road from gatecrasher.. which is handy for obvious reasons.
record shopping wise, its mint. two of the best record shops there are within 10 minutes walk of eachotther.. other shopping wise, its very good. loads of stuff all in one place. then theres meadowhall up the road aswell.
there are some really areas in sheffield (as in full of scallies and skagheads) but the city centre itself is really clean and nice.
hope this helps :) |
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| evil_bastard |
Newcastle has it's good and bad sides. The students live in a decent area, unlike the dodgy West-End, and most students seem quite happy, but I must say the students do tend to stick to their own for obvious reasons - there has long been an odd divide between the students and the die-hard working class geordies in Newcastle (this article Breaching the Bigg Divide explains it in detail). There are a few bars where you can expect to find nothing but students with Scottish or southern accents, and then there are the no-go pubs. You can expect to be called all sorts by taxi drivers for example, as I know too well, having shared a ride home with a few lads from Kent who went to my college :D Some people (the idiots), and you will come across them, see the people of Scotland as a bunch of ginger-haired transvestites, which is rubbish, and everyone from "the south" (anywhere south of Middlesboro basically!) as "arrogant" and "ignorant of Newcastle", which is also rubbish.
I believe DJ Ravemonkey said he's now at Newcastle Uni so he can give you pointers as to what the Uni accommodation is like.
Newcastle has a renowned nightlife, if you enjoy getting mashed beyond recognition and getting kicked in! I suggest you avoid the Bigg market. For trance, there are a few things I have to say...
Newcastle is a very isolated city, with the nearest economic 'hub' being Edinburgh, followed by Leeds, and you're talking 100 miles away, further for Leeds. Therefore, you're pretty much stuck where you are unless you are prepared to travel for a couple of hours for a night out! This is where the news gets bad: Newcastle only really has one dedicated club for electronic music. It's in the west end of Byker, called Foundation. On Friday nights they hold Promise (hard trance, though rumours are they want a hard trance and techno theme next year), on Saturday they hold Shindig (progressive house, Steve Lawler style etc). The news gets even worse ... Promise is only open until 3am, 4am every couple of weeks, and Shindig always just 3. There are a couple of warm up bars for these nights which play progressive. Promise, although it is short, is ing mint though, with a regular crowd of up-for-it geordies and a low-key feel and a banging sound system. They also have absolutely no dress code, and because of their door policy, I would say it is the safest club in Newcastle. I don't know anyone who has visitted Promise who has walked away dissapointed (except with the early closing time) and Shindig was voted UK underground club of the year. If they got all night licensing it would be a fantastic little venue.
HOWEVER, it is very likely that the UK will get 24 hr licensing, as for the first time ever the queen passed a bill for it just over a week ago, and they predict it will be in by next July, just in time for Uni! This will transform Newcastle BIG style. Newcastle has a real partying atmosphere, which our council has crushed because it's full of old farts. According to MAFF figures, north east England consumes twice the British average of alcohol and this region has the highest consumption in the UK. Given 24 hour licences, this would be a hot city! But Newcastle council have even bigger things planned: The Capital of Culture award has only 5 cities left, one of which is Newcastle, and the bookies have us at favourites to win. If we win it, the city will net £3 BILLION, which is a lot for a poor city, but not until 2008. This would completely transform the city's image. Glasgow won it in 1990 and tourism soared and the city cleared out it's slums and built some fancy new monuments.
For record shops, Newcastle to me knowledge is not great. It is a small city, with less than half the population of cities like Leeds, Glasgow or Manchester. Don't believe everything you hear about the geordies though, I can assure you they are some of the most down to earth people you'll meet, but just keep your head about you that's all. Surrounded by students, the geordie accent shouldn't be a problem, and after about a year or so I think you will understand some of the broadest geordies. We have quite a few people in my English class from Scotland/London etc, and they say it only took under a year before they could talk to virtually anyone and understand.
If you don't mind entering cheesy clubs and you like your beer, Newcastle has some of the cheapest beer in Britain. Here are a few examples:
On Monday nights, 'the boat' (that boat you see always docked under the tyne bridge is a club) does 20p a pint on cider. I'm not kidding. But the downside is it's only on until 2am. On Thursday nights, the boat does all-you-can-drink for £10. Free beer, as much as you like, and this includes a decent range of alcopops too. No catch, just get lashed! To make it even more interesting, the club is afloat, and has a revolving dancefloor. Talk about a nasty cocktail! The police tried to ban this in the courts, because they claim it was too violent. They failed. The Playrooms, as several people have told me, does 10p a bottle of lager on Wednesdays, although I'm not sure if this is still true. They reputedly have hard house one night of the week, but I can't remember which. If you like Newcastle Brown Ale you can fit into the culture nicely, and I can recommend a few bars which do it on tap.
Other than the said nights, we have a few good nights at the Telewest Arena. They have all sorts, the last one had Picotto, Tiesto, Scot Project and loads more DJs with 7,500 people (one died :( ). There are a handful of these a year.
So to conclude - right now Newcastle doesn't have amazing clubbing prospects for students into trance, BUT in 1 year's time anything could have changed. Once 24 hr licensing comes through, I think Newcastle will be a great place for a student, and it just turns out I'll be pissing off to London then!
Hope this helps, if you have any questions just ask.
Here are a couple of links you might want to check out:
www.promisealways.com
www.shindiguk.com |
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| DJ Mikey Mike |
| quote: | Originally posted by chris_norris
Today I just finished fillin in my application for University's, and im goin next year. It was pissing me off a bit cause half the places on my list I've never stepped foot in and i haven't got a clue what there like. So I was just wondering if any of you live in or frequent any of the following places, could ya give me a general idea of what it's REALLY like ? I had to pick 6 (which'll obviously get narrowed down 2 one :D and i already know about the two manchester ones) so i'd like a bit of info on :-
Newcastle
Sheffield
Durham
& last but not least Edinburgh.
I don't want to end up living somewhere :D
Cheers in advance for any replies.
Chris....
oh and this is my first post on the UK board :) |
hey what degree course are u taking on? Durham, Sheffield and Newcastle are mint universities for Physics. By any chance are u doing that? |
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| DuMonde TrAnCeR |
| durham is posh as it will cost u 50 arms and 90 legs to live there. |
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| dj_s_harrison |
| quote: | Originally posted by DuMonde TrAnCeR
durham is posh as it will cost u 50 arms and 90 legs to live there. |
LMAO :stongue: |
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| DuMonde TrAnCeR |
did i also mention durham is boring as and about 15 miles from me, you better jsut keep away :stongue:
newcastle is mint with promise for trance/tech and shindig for prog/house
sheffield is mint coz it had gc and a hsot ofmother clubs ,buti s abit of a dump!
endinbrough is just too far awya for my liking! |
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| Technaut |
edinburgh has some nice flange, but thats about it :p
its full of fecking smack heads! |
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| evil_bastard |
Aye, Edinburgh and Durham are too poncy, and expensive! Durham is tiny, it's the sort of place you'd go when you're 55 and want to see the Cathedral in your walking boots. Edinburgh is just the same, very Georgian. Durham has become the first area of the UK to have a toll road, it's streets are so small and cramped that you feel like you're in the 19th century.
Both Durham and Edinburgh are really tetchy about their accommodation and their space. As a result, it's pretty obvious you'll get cheaper accommodation in Newcastle or Sheffield. Durham and Edinburgh have so much architecture and history that you can't just build anything anywhere otherwise people start breathing down your neck, it's all carefully planned to keep that historic look. You'll come across a lot of irritating 60 yr old hikers and nerdy American backpackers in Durham and Edinburgh. In Newcastle, we don't get any of that, in fact we don't get many tourists in general really. Edinburgh and Durham seem to be really clinging on to that quaint historic town with cobbled paths and "local" butchers shops look because the American tourists love it. Newcastle has plenty of history don't get me wrong, both the Vikings and the Romans settled here and we have the most listed buildings in England outside Bath, but space isn't such a big issue, nor is that historic image.
It depends what are you looking for? Define "somewhere ". My idea of might be different to yours, as I don't care about rough or unpretty cities, so long as the people are up for getting lashed, but you might have different opinions. Be more specific :)
If you want a good Uni, Durham and Edinburgh are the best in general, but as Mike says many Unis have a reputation for a particular subject. If you want a good time, I'd say Newcastle and Sheffield should be your choices, although I've never been to Sheffield but everyone says it's a nice city, and it's the home of Gatecrasher so it's certainly got a trance 'scene'. |
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| mentalbarter |
| Yeah, come to newcastle, its the best uni in the country. |
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| chris_norris |
Cheers! This has helped. I wasn't really planning on Durham or Edinburgh, Durham lookes like a dull tea party town with lots of historic thigns to visit blah blah artsy blah bal poncy etc. I just slapped them two down becuase they got good Uni reputation's. Edinburgh looks posh. They just look a bit like a watered down oxford or cambridge. I've really narrowed it down to Sheffield and Newcastle, cos they look like the best vibrant type city places. Even though those two are the best uni's education wise on my list, I wanna live somewhere fun.
evil_bastard i know exactly what u mean. by i mean, somewhere dull, with nightlife and boring people. im not really arsed about places of historical interest or how 'pretty' the city is he he I live in Wigan which has all of interest to anyone and is a hole :D , i just want a good time with people that like to have a good time, so wat u sed helped :D especially the city guide. the mentality in newcastle sounds cool, a bit like what it is here only more modern with better places to be. cheers for that.
thanks for the info on sheffield as well, my best mate used to live there so i know a bit, but any info is welcome.
I should have been a bit more clear but I just meant that I'd like to live in a city I can have a laugh in with people who are up for getting caned.
Mikey about my course im doing English Lang Lit combined, all those Uni's are a bit of a bitch to get into, with Edinburgh and Durham being the most so.
Thanks for the help everyone :D |
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| decode |
Sheffield aint too bad i live there myself. The centre is fairly clean but like anywhere it has its parts.
Nightlife aint too bad. GC is here :D and if u like house then theres Bed. Then theres the toss comercial clubs like wow & kingdom thats always filled with 15 yr old punks & beer boys.
I heard the uni is pretty decent i no a few people that go. Sheffield Hallam is very modern.
Public transport is pretty decent. The bus service runs everywhere and most hours and the tram service in the center outwards is very handy.
Only problem is they aint enough flange :whip:
But gatecrasher makes up for that :D |
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