The Student Room Group

Durham Nightlife/Social

I went to Durham for an Open Day and was pleasantly suprised by all the pubs up there. There are the usual ones like Yates and then there are some more unusual ones like that Australian one!

Anyone who goes to Durham, what sort of atmosphere do you generally have at the pubs and stuff? Is there any like night-clubs. I heard that the Durham nightclub was voted one of the worst in Europe :eek: Is that really true? Or is it nice and cheesy!? lol

What about in terms of clubs, and where people hang out?

I'm going to Collingwood, specifically, if that helps at all. Thanks for your help! :smile:
Reply 1
AdamC
Is there any like night-clubs. I heard that the Durham nightclub was voted one of the worst in Europe :eek: Is that really true? Or is it nice and cheesy!? lol

What about in terms of clubs, and where people hang out?

I'm going to Collingwood, specifically, if that helps at all. Thanks for your help! :smile:


Many students drink in the college bars. Most nights any student can get into any college, but if there is a special event the bar may be restricted to members of that college only.
The Students' union has Kingsgate bar open each night, and on a Wednesday & Friday they open up another 3 bars with music and late license
The Union Society who run all the debates have a bar on the bailey itself. The 24 North Bailey club is technically members only, but they never check.
There is also a bar down at Maiden Castle sports centre.

In addition to the student/university run bars the following in town are popular

New Inn, popular with sports teams. Nearly 100% student
Swan and 3 cygnets. Popular with students and locals alike. Very nice
Hogshead & Varsity popular with bailey colleges
Market Tavern, quieter but nice
Walkabout, serves till 1. Very popular.

Students in Nevilles cross often drink in the Duke of Wellington
Students in the viaduct area can be found in the Colpitts Inn (cheapest pint in town I think)
Don't know much about the pubs in Gilesgate

The Court Inn does great food.

The places to avoid as a student though are the Fighting Cocks, Yates, The Saddle Market (may have changed name?)

As for clubs, yes Klute was voted worst in Europe but is strangely addictive. Durham students seem to accept that the clubs are laughably bad. Serious clubbers go to Newcastle.
Reply 2
Thanks for that. Very informative!

Why do places like Yates get avoided then?
Reply 3
AdamC
Thanks for that. Very informative!

Why do places like Yates get avoided then?


Durham is a very small city, and certain pubs gain a reputation for being student-only and certain pubs gain a reputation for being locals only. Unfortunately some students with the attitude of "My daddy could buy the lot of you" don't help town/gown relations. Once such reputations are gained they become self-fulfilling as the kind of local who doesn't want to hear about daddy's business empire will go to one type of pub, and the kind of student who considers all locals oiks will either stay in the college bars, or go to almost 100& student places such as the New Inn. When I was in Durham over the summer I drank in the so-called "local-only" pubs with no problems whatsoever.

There is no real trouble between students and locals because both keep themselves to themselves for the most part. North road is basically the area that most locals frequent. On a Friday / Saturday it gets really busy as everyone from the surrounding villages descends on Durham for a good night out.

I would say the golden rule if you wish to go out in North road is never consider yourself somehow "better" than the locals as that will lead to trouble, and don't go out in large groups. If a couple of students want to drink in the Fighting Cocks (worst reputation amongst students) then thats fine, but if you bring in a drunken rugby team in full kit chanting "Who the f**k are hatfield college" you will be asking for trouble.
Reply 4
LoL! Ohkies.

Why do "rahs" have such a bad reputation at Durham? Surely they add some sorta prestige to the place?

Or is it like constant boasting and stuff that gets on people's nerves?
AdamC
LoL! Ohkies.

Why do "rahs" have such a bad reputation at Durham? Surely they add some sorta prestige to the place?

Or is it like constant boasting and stuff that gets on people's nerves?
The latter! :tongue: Fortunately they mostly seem to be confined to Hatfield and Castle! (stereotypes, obv)
Reply 6
LoL.

Not that we're stereo-typing the entire "rah" issue anyway. Hehehe
Reply 7
serendipity
The latter! :tongue: Fortunately they mostly seem to be confined to Hatfield and Castle! (stereotypes, obv)


Noooooo, im going to castle!
Reply 8
Valen
Noooooo, im going to castle!


Aww, well, you'll be the exception then James dear.
Reply 9
AdamC
LoL! Ohkies.

Why do "rahs" have such a bad reputation at Durham? Surely they add some sorta prestige to the place?

Or is it like constant boasting and stuff that gets on people's nerves?


I think its a combination of the constant boasting, and the lack of parity in wealth between the richest students, and the local residents

Student accomodation is a big business in durham, and has been criticised by the MP Gerry Steinberg http://www.durhamlabour.org.uk/steinberg/press.htm#MP%20Demands%20Action%20(student%20housing)

The price of houses to buy has been driven up by the landlords.
Assuming for a supposedly 2 bed mid-terrace house in the centre of town you could get 4 students living, 1 in each bedroom, convert the attic and 1 in the front room. Rent for the absolute centre of town could be say £70 per week, for the full 52.

This gives income of just over £14k per year. Allowing for repairs etc, you are looking at the property bringing in £10k per year. You only need to own 3 outright and you could live off the rent. Allowing for mortgages on the properties and you could be looking at 5-6 properties making a nice business. The potential income from city-centre property drives the price up considerably. Looking at estate-agents last year properties were being sold for around £180k for 2 bed mid-terrace, even with the killer clause "Ideal for rennovation" on the advert (estate agent speak for "How is it still standing?")
When salaries in the area are not high, property priced like this is causing the next generation of locals to be priced out of their own city by the students (and more importantly the landlords). This is leading to resentment and many areas of the city are practically dead in the summer.

A friend of mine was considering getting into the market, when he saw a property advertised for just over £600k very near Maiden Castle. As it was a large farmhouse with long barn he was trying to work a business plan based on 20 students per year. In the end he ended up being elected Treasurer of the student union instead.
Reply 10
shilling
Aww, well, you'll be the exception then James dear.


Why thank you... this a scary thought though :frown: (imagines self mysteriously turning into a rah)
Reply 11
There will at least be two 'normal' non rah people @ castle ( me being the second) I got shunned by several rahs on the open day due to my common midlands accent and severe lack of pashmina and such like !

Oh well,
Reply 12
whateva144
There will at least be two 'normal' non rah people @ castle ( me being the second) I got shunned by several rahs on the open day due to my common midlands accent and severe lack of pashmina and such like !

Oh well,


Well i did use my northen accent a lot when i was up there. My best mate is from leeds, and he cultivates a great northen accent, and a lot of it has rubbed off on me. And i found a few non rah's when i was up there, and the rest... well the rest we shall have to convert!
Reply 13
Lol... Durham and it's pashminas and scarfs... *laughs*


I'm no 'jugged commoner' but i'm no son of a millionare either. I'm just sorta middle! And I come from "saaaaaafend" in Essex, the place where the people off Eastenders go on holiday, so thats not very 'rah' really...
Reply 14
the rah element in durham is really overstated you know. fair enough, it was like that a few years ago, but since durham got filled with rahs it lost its appeal to a new generation of rah who now go to places like newcastle (where im from) to "see how the other half live", or so im told anyway.

And as for Klute (the worst nightclub in europe), rumour has it that it was beaten to the most esteemed mantle of biggest dive in europe by another bar in eastern europe - until it subsequently burned down.

The point is, its worst by default. Altho its small and cramped, it is ludicrously cheap during term-time (though not so on Open Days) and the sheer cheese factor should be a big draw. But like someone said, the serious clubbers go to Newcastle and i can promise there's nothing like a night on the lash in Newcastle, and the last train to Durham is at half 2 in the morning. :smile: . Can't wait till October, not long now (ish)

Marc
There's a lot said about the serious clubbers going to Newcastle but what are the music venues in Newcastle like, for rock et al? Are there a couple of good gigs a week to choose from or do bands perform there less often? Hopefully it'll be cheaper than the gigs down here!
Reply 16
well....

in terms of rock bars in Newcastle there are at least 4 good ones i can think of, like trillion's, bottle of fosters, £1-50, buy one get one free! hurrah!

In terms of gigs, there is the metroradio arena where quite a lot of big names play IF they ever step outside London, Birmingham, Mancester and Glasgow when the tour the UK in a huge number of 4 cities. But yes, there are a lot of big names who come to Newcastle although i should warn you, there is a lot of pop!!

As far as smaller venues go, there are the 2 newcastle universities' Student Unions and they attract a lot of quality rock and indie who might not sell 1000000000 seats, but are still in demand and in the charts. There are also your usual giggy pubs where the local scene thrives. On top of ALL that, theres the city hall where people like clapton and sting right through to jamie cullem play.

hope that helps

marc
Ah coolies, much appreciated thanks!
I think that's the only thing I'm gonna miss about London, the massive choice in venues and bands but now....Newcastle doesn't sound completely obsolete! :tongue:
Reply 18
regrettably, tis true. you wont find such a massive range of big name bands in newcastle as you will in london, but the local scene more than makes up for that. And in anycase, newcastle is:
A) Cheaper than the WestEnd by miles.
B)Cheaper than London in general by not quite as much but still loads.
C)Better than London as far as a good night out goes. On top of good quality local DJs we have events like Godskitchen et al and judge jules and roger sanchez play regularish sets up here at certain clubs, for those of you who are in to the harder dance/trance - am i using the correct musical terms ? Dunno. Am i rambling ? Yes. Am i gonna stop now ? Yes. :smile:

Marc
tkfmbp
regrettably, tis true. you wont find such a massive range of big name bands in newcastle as you will in london, but the local scene more than makes up for that. And in anycase, newcastle is:
A) Cheaper than the WestEnd by miles.
B)Cheaper than London in general by not quite as much but still loads.
C)Better than London as far as a good night out goes. On top of good quality local DJs we have events like Godskitchen et al and judge jules and roger sanchez play regularish sets up here at certain clubs, for those of you who are in to the harder dance/trance - am i using the correct musical terms ? Dunno. Am i rambling ? Yes. Am i gonna stop now ? Yes. :smile:

Marc


I agree with the cheaper....but tis not better! :eek: Never! Never! London will always win hands down in terms of sheer choice for the wonderful rock-stuff so ha! :tongue: All the same....so looking forward to a night out in Newcastle!