Being in Durham in the summer is awful

Turns out some people actually live here all year.


As all Durham students know, the first thing you are told in freshers is “don’t bother doing any work, first year is a piece of piss mate”. Wide eyed fresher I was, I took this to heart. I may have taken it to heart a bit too much, as apparently you have to pass exams to get to second year.

Having learned the hard way that second years don’t actually know everything about life, I found myself in my new Viaduct house by myself. In August. Summer is supposed to be a time for late nights and new adventures. What it is not supposed to be is five hours of revising and a cheeky trip to Tesco for a bit of fun.

I’ve already deleted snapchat off my phone as any more pictures of a table full of budget cocktails from your trip to Kavos may lead to my arrest. The most Snapchat worthy event that I’ve had was when I found my house came with two Sports Direct mugs in the cupboard. Which was useful as they were big enough to hold my tears from my bi-daily crying sessions.

still looks shit in the summer

I thought it was impossible, but the Durham Tinder scene is actually worse in the summer. Discount the 19-year-olds who let you know in their bio that they’re “actually 16 lol” then there’s no one our age here. On one lonely night last week I had to extend the age range to 55+. But needs must, and Glenys the 66-year-old retired receptionist keeps me company in the lonely nights.

It’s only when you come here out of term time that you realise that all the red chinos and the echoes of “don’t worry, Daddy is sending me an extra three grand up on the weekend” are quite comforting. Being a southerner up here in the summer makes gives you a new appreciation of the Tilleys and the Quentins who usually plague the streets.

If you want to truly understand how Tom Hanks felt in Cast Away, then fail your exams and come back up to Durham in the summer. I may not have a Wilson, but what I do have is an angry Geordie couple who have at least two arguments every night to keep me company when I go to bed.