Anyone got offers for whitendale?

I'm in Flat 25, room 3 (:
I'll be doing Screenwriting - I hope! Haha (:

Wahey, nice to see a person living in my flat! I'm currently living in Whitendale flat 28!

I feel some responsibility to give you lot a little testimonial of Whitendale - I wish I had before I moved in! Whitendale has been a fantastic place for my first year.


Bedrooms

The rooms are pretty standard - they're a decent size, decorated neutrally (with plenty of room for posters) and have a good amount of storage space (honestly, it's surprising)! Keep in mind, they are some of the smallest at UCLan.


Kitchen

The kitchen's are good considering the price of the halls. The cooker's fine and our flat came with a microwave, kettle and (I believe) a toaster - though the toasters pretty crap! However, isn't any type of sofas or room for a television. There is a decent sized dining table and chairs. The kitchen comes with enough cupboards for one each, and we share two fridges - with plenty room for beer - and two freezers between the flat of five (standard sized flat).


Toilets

Each flat comes with a bathroom and a WC. There are TWO toilets in the flat (one in the bathroom as well as the dedicated WC). There's a decent sized mirror and a window in every bathroom. The shower is great, its not super powerful or anything but it does a good job.


Shops/food in close proximity

There is a corner shop behind Whitendale called OneStop, it's not the cheapest of places but it is perfect for food (microwavable ready meals, fresh sausages + bacon, noodles + pasta, frozen food, smokes, booze). Conveniently it's open from 7AM to 12 midnight - and sells alcohol throughout these hours. There is a good sized chinese supermarket next to OneStop as well as Mighty Bites - a typical northern butty bar (**** jacket potatoes but a really good full monty sandwich - bacon, sausage, egg, beans for under £2.50).

For fast food, Manzil's is a 2 minute walk. They sell good burgers and decent pizzas. Chesters is a bit further (about 4 minutes you lazy sods!) but it's the spiritual home of red salt (this amazing magical powder which makes chips taste incredible) and do a very cheap pizza meal - 12" with three toppings, two chips and two cans for £5.49. Dominoes is for suckers when Chester's is so close.

A big negative for Preston is it's lack of supermarkets. The nearest supermarket is Asda which is a 30 minute bus ride away - which is a BIG no no. However, the city has about a million Icelands and Aldis so you can get by. I would definitely point new students to Preston's indoor food market. It's a good idea to check this place out during freshers week(s) as you can get some bargain fresh food.


Laundry

Your nearest laundry to Whitendale is at Ribble (some student halls about 150 meters away) £2 per wash, £1 a dry - or the other way round; I constantly forget. Nothing much to mention here, however leaving clothes to dry in your bedroom is something that, from experience, will take days. It's a good idea to pay the extra for a dry. The dryers, as with any bad ass dryers, do have a tendency to shrink some clothes. Occasionally a t shirt will be a little tight for 10 minutes or so!


Other need-to-know knowledge!

Now for some insider info (the stuff that actually matters!). The kids across the road in IQ Kopa (and private halls) do tend to sneer down on those in Whitendale. To many, it amazes them how we put up with sharing a bathroom, not having lifts and the size of our rooms.

However, over here at Whitendale, we have a lot of friendly staff (Michelle, the halls manager - lovely lady and always up for a bit of goss. Steve + Stuart, two of the security guards - don't be a douche and enjoy the banter, they'll like you), the court yard (great for having a beer, cig or just relaxing) and (whilst there's many awesome people over in Kopa) the people at Whitendale are in almost every case - ****ing brilliant. [Too many clauses for one sentence, but it'll do!]

Something else to note, some rooms at Whitendale are on the inside. In my block, this may not be the case for many (and I mean many) people, most (rooms 1, 2 and 3) are on the outside of the building. Now due to the shape of the building, if you are on the outside, you could get a view of Greenbank building and it's carpark - which isn't a pretty sight. Or a nice little grassy area with trees behind the building. Or a view over another car park and shops. However there are pluses to being on the outside.

The inside is noisy. Due to the shape of Whitendale - being an almost closed courtyard - any noise as loud as quiet shout will be heard by 150 people who live on the inside should they have their windows open. However it does have it's perks. I personally enjoy being able to throw a key down to people below without having to go into the kitchen (which by the way you'll be doing a lot, I explain more talking about the buzzer)! No fear though, you'll quickly get used to the noise, especially if you're from a big city.

The buzz-in system at Whitendale does have a bit of issues, mainly in my flat's case, it simply doesn't work. This possibly might be due to the face they make excellent door stops (which you're not supposed to do). Any how, I've never come across a phone that works. The standard method of letting people in is throwing down a swipe card (used to be let into the block) to people outside. It sucks at first but everyone has become used it. Just to let you lot know, the doorbell/buzzer does make a sound.

For those who smoke out there, smoking in all UCLan buildings is against the rules, but you'll often find most students aren't exactly law abiding citizens anyway. This year, we have had smoke detectors in the hallway and heat detectors in the bedrooms, the kitchen and the bathroom. Now I don't want to encourage anyone to smoke, however I shall say: Heat detectors do not detect smoke. That is all. (Being caught smoking is a £50 fine. The university are friendly and let you pay this in your own time, however fine's do increase the more times you break the rules. For those smokers who don't want their parents to find out, a letter does get sent home for every fine. On the plus side for men at Whitendale, the lady who you pay your fine to has been described as one of the most attractive staff on campus.


Barm cakes and clocks (VERY IMPORTANT)

A generic warning about Preston (and the north) is barm cakes and batons. Many will think this is a silly, but just as a warning for southerns: barms are rolls, cobs and baps. Batons are sub rolls. And please don't do what I did and ask for a bah-ton!

You probably won't notice this until Christmas if I don't say so now, but there is a big clock on Whitendale. When you do spot it (no doubt several weeks into the first semester) you'll be shocked you've never seen it before!


A final note

Ten times more important than the size of your room, decor in your kitchen or the price of your accommodation - is the people you are with.

It would be very realistic to say, that the people you meet during freshers week will be the people you move in with in second year, the people who will be your best mates for the rest of your life, the people who you live with after uni (whilst actually having a job worth boasting about) and perhaps even the person you'll spend the rest of your life with.

You'll eat, drink, dance, party, laugh, cry, fight, and maybe even sleep with those people. Knock on all 90 odd flats or get slashed with people you spot in the courtyard. Whichever way you do it, make as many friends as possible. You won't think it when you meet them, but those people will become really special in a matter of weeks.



This has turned into some what of an essay - I've been pretty bored since I finished (oh yeah, UCLan students are finishing the year around now) but I hope that I helped people feel more assured of coming to Whitendale and UCLan. I may just post this as a thread tomorrow.

If anyone has any questions what so ever, just ask.

Phil
BA Hons Journalism