Hild Bede...

Which college is best...? I know, i know its probably all been said before, but just wondering if there are any stereotypes i should know about...? Im applying this autumn for Maths and Philosophy, probably at Hild-bede,or hilde-bead as my friends insist on calling it...?! I want a friendly, sport fairly large and old college...suggestion...? Cheers me dears!

Reply 1

MrBigG

Well... how long have you got! Firstly colleges are somewhat separated into two distinct categories - those on the Bailey (Castle, Hatfield, Johns, Chads, Cuths) and then those on the Hill. Hild Bede is a slight oddity in that in fits into neither as its the other side of the Bailey to the 'Hill' colleges - and is a little way out of town. If its a big college you are after then Hild Bede is the place, since its the large and its the only college with its own squash court (but thats not the be all and end all since there are courts available elsewhere). In terms of sport, it depends what it is that you are into as to where might be a good place to apply. There is always 'Team Durham' if you want to represent the uni in certain sports but otherwise there is plenty of opportunity at college level to play. Anyway, I hope that goes a little way to answering your question, feel free to ask more... :smile:

Reply 2

MrBigG

Ps. As for old - can't really get older than the Castle, which is officially the oldest university building in the world!

Reply 3

silver~planet

1

xXxKatiexXx

Which college is best...? I know, i know its probably all been said before, but just wondering if there are any stereotypes i should know about...? Im applying this autumn for Maths and Philosophy, probably at Hild-bede,or hilde-bead as my friends insist on calling it...?! I want a friendly, sport fairly large and old college...suggestion...? Cheers me dears!

I've seen quite a few threads on this already, might be worth having a look round the Durham forum for them tbh. It seems that most people will automatically push their college as being the best *cough Cuths cough* though :cool:

For what you want, Hild Bede sounds about right from what I know, but I'm not at Durham yet so I may be wrong :redface:

Good luck choosing and applying!

Reply 4

lekha85

1

xXxKatiexXx

Which college is best...? I know, i know its probably all been said before, but just wondering if there are any stereotypes i should know about...? Im applying this autumn for Maths and Philosophy, probably at Hild-bede,or hilde-bead as my friends insist on calling it...?! I want a friendly, sport fairly large and old college...suggestion...? Cheers me dears!

Maths and philosophy? Interesting combination!
Hild/bede is basically a small town/village unto itself just outside central Durham. It does have very good facilities- 2 gyms, tennis courts, a decent hall/theatre...if it hadn't been so out of the way I probably would have applied. Certainly everyone I know there is very happy and they have a really good atmosphere.
As for the other colleges, the larger ones all enter teams in the majority of college sports so you will have a chance to take part in pretty much anything you like. The older colleges are all on the Bailey but that's not to say that the newer one's are lacking. To be honest they have better sports facilities than the Bailey colleges because there's simply no space on the Bailey.
Someone mentioned Team Durham further up...that's not something that is open to everyone I'm afraid. It is a scheme set-up for elite athletes who excel in their chosen sport (officially anyway! :biggrin:

) But if you want to know more about sport in the University have a look at the DUAU Website or PM me.
x

Reply 5

Mattmoy_2000

9

I would advocate going for any college on the Bailey, or with accommodation on the bailey. It's so good being able to go out and not worry about finding your way home or walking for miles or whatever. Just think: how far is reasonable to walk while drunk? Living on the bailey is awesome, not only because it's so easy to go out of a night, but because it's really close to the shops too, and not unreasonably far from the science site (I've walked there in 5-10 mins before, although if you have little legs, 10-15 is more likely. The hill colleges are beyond that.) In case you hadn't guessed, I live on the bailey, on Saddler Street, my room is the one above "The Property Shop" and it's really handy for everything. I'm sure there's good things to say about the hill, but I'll let someone who lives there do that for me:-)

Reply 6

Itchynscratchy

10

Mattmoy_2000

I'm sure there's good things to say about the hill, but I'll let someone who lives there do that for me:-)

Guess that's up to me then :rolleyes:

Living on the Hill is great if you are extremely lazy (Like me :biggrin:

) and have a lot of lectures on the science site. You can get out of bed at 8:55 and still make your 9:00 on time. Also if there is a gap between lectures it is still worth going back to college. Great if you need to cram before a tutorial.

Town isn't that far away, 15-20 mins to almost anywhere in town . The one major drawback however is the lack of a cash machine, very very irritating sometimes. I think the hill colleges have nicer rooms, but i may be wrong there. (opens floodgates to angry bailey people who have very nice rooms)

If your planning on Hilde-Bede be prepared to get up early, v.early.

My advice (In a totally objective way :wink:

) is to apply to Mildert. But that's just me

Reply 7

Mattmoy_2000

9

I have a nice room on the bailey :-P

Reply 8

dobbs

17

Itchynscratchy

. The one major drawback however is the lack of a cash machine, very very irritating sometimes.

This isn't a major problem - many colleges have shops where you can cash cheques for a small amount of commission, and I know some have or are getting Chip & Pin in their shops/bars so you'll be able to get cashback when you buy stuff :biggrin:

(Trevs is currently looking into getting this and if all goes well we'll have it by October yay!)

Reply 9

katini

Itchynscratchy

My advice (In a totally objective way :wink:

) is to apply to Mildert. But that's just me

I concur!

Reply 10

dobbs

17

...I have a nice room on the hill :p:

(in the hexagonal palace! :biggrin:

)

Reply 11

cobra

14

dobbs

This isn't a major problem - many colleges have shops where you can cash cheques for a small amount of commission

At aidans you dont have to pay any commision!

Reply 12

cobra

14

Rebecca/Becca

Hehe, Trevs is the Castle of the Hill!

I think u'll find aidans is king of the hill, hence also castle of the hill

Reply 13

cobra

14

Rebecca/Becca

Since when is Aidan's king of the hill? I've never heard that one before!

dunno, but i heard it sumwhere

Reply 14

Lauri21

Right, in all fairness I don't know what the hell any of you are going on about! Hild Bede is closer to the city centre than any of the hill colleges, and about the same distance from McDonalds as Cuths is.
It's really not far out at all. Plus it's closer to tescos, the racecourse, swimming pools etc, and pretty damn close to Elvet if you go past the swimming pool.
Agreed that for the science site it's a trek, but only equal to the trek from town end of the bailey colleges, and it still only takes 15-20 mins to get there.
The community at Hild Bede is immense (please don't put a "-" inbetween, it's not one word) as I'm sure it is in many if not all of the colleges, the bonus with hild bede being a cinema type idea, squash courts, tennis courts (4), loads of grounds and lawns, a fantastic view of the cathedral, 2 sports halls, a gym... and in fact most of hild bede sports teams do really well (obv. there are exceptions). I couldn't imagine being anywhere else in summer when we've got all the grounds around us, also for winter in the snow...

So there you go, Hild Bede from someone who knows, not someone who's guessing.

Reply 15

Lauri21

Plus it's pronounced Hilld (if you like) beed

Reply 16

lekha85

1

Rebecca/Becca

Eep. Scary lady. But she knows her stuff! :biggrin:

^Agreed, v. scary.

Still not comvinced about the distance thing but I guess you would know better than me.

Reply 17

durhamdosser

4

Rebecca/Becca

I only have little legs and I'm literally the slowest walker in the world. Ever. So I think living at HB would be bad for me! It takes me 10 mins to get from Castle to Elvet for God's sake!! Lord knows how I managed to complete a full college bar crawl!! :confused:

It's weird how I manage to walk anywhere when I'm drunk! I've lost count of the number of times I've been unable to account for bruises and scratches after a night out. One particularly bad night was when I couldn't move my arm the next morning and had a massive graze on my hip. I swear I'm not an alcoholic really :redface:

Reply 18

durhamdosser

4

Rebecca/Becca

Ah, unidentified drunken injuries. So confusing! :confused:

And often painful. They tend to be the thing that draw disapproval from non-drinking friends the most...