Durham University

Durham

Another College Thread (sorry)

I want to apply to Durham to do history, but am stuck on which college to choose. I'm assuming that it would be wise to choose a college close to the history department , but I prefer the look of the Hill colleges, in particular Collingwood. I would just like to know if this would be practical in the real world. Also, I'm not yet completely sold on which college to choose, so if anyone has advice on a choice for someone who appreciates a good bar, nice facilities and has an aversion to all forms of pomp and ceremony I would appreciate it.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

southernlight

I can't advise on a good college for you as I'm not at Durham yet... but I'm applying for 2008 entry - and I just chose the college on which I liked best. Probably not the best idea in retrospect as it's quite far away from the science buildings....

Durham University

Durham

Visit website

Reply 2

Fields

I wouldn't worry about distance, as Durham is ridiculously small. Collingwood to Elvet Riverside/History Department takes about 15 minutes, probably. Maybe 20.

Ha, I can see into the history department from my window :biggrin:

Reply 3

Wez

While it is a good idea to go for a college near the history department, these are the colleges that tend to be over-subscribed so are also the hardest to get into (although this won't affect your chances of getting into the university as a whole). Also, at least in my first year, I have some history lectures in the science site and if you choose any modules from other subjects there's a fair chance that they'll also be in the science site, which is nearer the hill colleges than the Bailey ones.

With pomp and ceremony the hill colleges tend to be quite apathetic. I'm at Aidan's and we don't have gowns, have relaxed formals and are about as unpretentious as it gets. :smile:

I won't advise a specific college (you'll love whichever college you choose) but hopefully the above is useful.

Reply 4

DrDuck

Thanks everyone, I guess that now it's time to take the plunge and go for one.

Reply 5

TKR

we have gowns and proper formals at trevs so you might want to avoid that one - do collingwood even have formals?

Reply 6

southernlight

How far is it from St Cuths to the science site? Was it a bad choice....?

Reply 7

bravenewcentury

southernlight

How far is it from St Cuths to the science site? Was it a bad choice....?

Depends which bit of Cuth's you're put in- the college has residences all over the city, IIRC. But as everyone else has said, it really doesn't matter whereabouts you are, as it doesn't take long to get anywhere in Durham.

Reply 8

LastGrape

southernlight

How far is it from St Cuths to the science site? Was it a bad choice....?

Bailey(fully catered) isn't far, Parson's Field is really far away apparently.
I would say to you 15mins Parson's Field to Science Site but I'm getting close to 5mins (feel free to read into that and how late I wake up, but I also rush back to check for exciting post).

This 15mins/5mins can probably be applied to every college/site.

Maybe add 5mins for Hilde Bede to Science Site, or top hill colleges to Old Elvet

Reply 9

dobbs

LastGrape

Parsons Field is just as close to the Science Site (if not closer) as the Cuths Bailey accomodation. All you do is go up Whinney Hill and you're straight out at the main road entrance on the far side of the Science Site (bottom corner of the Chemistry building)

Whereas from the Bailey you need to go down across Prebends then along the road (which I'd say was the same distance as Whinney Hill) to the library.

Not much difference really :smile:

Reply 10

iliketurtles

You can also take the short cut through the trees behind Brooks House, saves at least 5 minutes compared to walking around near the Magistrates Court and back up past the prison.

Reply 11

deathlyhallow

Haha, it's too late now, and I really shouldn't be worrying about this as yet, but is Trevelyan close to wherever the law lectures are held?

Reply 12

Lychee

do collingwood even have formals?

Yes! of course we do! But we dont have any rules at all for them (eg, you can get up when you like, we dont have a high table etc) They tend to be 1 'formal' (ie black tie/cocktail dresses) followed by 1 fancy dress themed one. We dont wear gowns and are probably the least 'pomp and ceromony' college although Aiden's/ Mildert may disagree.

On the whole I think it is far more important to be somewhere you want to live than be able to stay in bed 5 mins longer in the morning and the hill really isn't far from the bailey so pick whicever one you like the look of best.

Reply 13

bravenewcentury

deathlyhallow

Haha, it's too late now, and I really shouldn't be worrying about this as yet, but is Trevelyan close to wherever the law lectures are held?

I would assume that most law lectures are going to be in Elvet Riverside (someone correct me if I'm wrong), which is 10-20 minutes walk from Trevs, depending on how fast you walk. Or if you bring a bike, and have a minor death wish (like a friend of mine who was living in Collingwood last year), it'll take about 30 seconds.

Reply 14

~JC~

Fields

As someone who is clearly actually at durham, can i just ask whether Josephine Butler and St Cuths are the only 2 to offer self catering? really dnt want to be catered!

Cheers!

Reply 15

iliketurtles

~JC~

As someone who is clearly actually at durham, can i just ask whether Josephine Butler and St Cuths are the only 2 to offer self catering? really dnt want to be catered!

That is correct

Reply 16

dobbs

bigred

You can also take the short cut through the trees behind Brooks House, saves at least 5 minutes compared to walking around near the Magistrates Court and back up past the prison.

A shortcut that I don't know about!!! Are you talking about taking the little path which takes you near to Maiden Castle? If not, where does it come out - somewhere on Whinney Hill? :confused:

bravenewcentury

Or if you bring a bike, and have a minor death wish (like a friend of mine who was living in Collingwood last year), it'll take about 30 seconds.

Haha I used to love the bike rides to Elvet Riverside from Trevs! :biggrin:

You only have to pedal along Church Street as the rest is all downhill, and yes it's dangerous but once you get used to the sequence at the traffic lights (they used to be much better but back in May were changed, grrr!) then you know whether it's quicker to slow down or to hop onto the path and cross over with the pedestrians. Then it's just a matter of not getting caught at the zebra crossing, nipping around the cars by the narrowed road by the DSU, then getting into the little cycle lane thingy by Elvet Riverside :biggrin:

If it's in the evening/very early morning when the roads are empty, I honestly would agree that you could do it in about one minute! :smile:

As someone who is clearly actually at durham, can i just ask whether Josephine Butler and St Cuths are the only 2 to offer self catering? really dnt want to be catered!

Yes they are the only ones. However Butler is the only one which guarantees to be Self Catered, whereas Cuths has some catered and some self catered options, depending on where you are located. You can say where you would prefer to go, but this doesn't guarantee you to be in that place. Butler means you will definitely be self catered :smile:

PS. Catered isn't so bad!

Reply 17

iliketurtles

dobbs

A shortcut that I don't know about!!! Are you talking about taking the little path which takes you near to Maiden Castle? If not, where does it come out - somewhere on Whinney Hill? :confused:

If you walk through the trees between Brooks House and Fonteyn Court/PFC, but head up the hill (instead of towards Maiden Castle) you end up near the Prison carpark next to the school. It's also slightly faster if you walk through the car-park, which is a little weird as the cars always seem to be parked in such a way as to block other cars in (you can sort of see this on the sat map below). It gets a really muddy when it rains (and I fell over getting absolutely caked in mud once).

I've made a map here (I hope that link works)

Walking this way saves 215 meters walking, or 430m per round trip. Which if you have to go to the science site every weekday, saves 2.15km of walking per week - or roughly 65km (40 miles) of walking each academic year!

Reply 18

dobbs

bigred

Hahaha thanks for that - I was going to look it up on Google Maps but clearly I wouldn't have been able to see that without your little markings! Cheers! :biggrin:

Though kinda annoyed now, because I always thought there should have been some sort of shortcut through there - can you get from Brooks House onto the other end of Green Lane - or is the only way out through the main entrance by the Magistrates? If you can get out near the other end, that's even more annoying because Trevs boathouse is down that way and I went down there easily a couple of hundred times during my time at Durham!! :rolleyes:

Reply 19

iliketurtles

dobbs

Yup, you can walk down the shortcut in the map, then you're at the turning circle near the laundry. Just walk through the Inland Revenue carpark. It's got some barriers and maybe some bins in the way, but it's quite easy just to duck under them. I've updated the map with this new route shown in pink.