5 Things you’ll miss about Durham in the holidays

Though you think you’re dying to burst out of the bubble, Tom Ansell has 5 reasons you’ll be longing to come back all too soon.


So the holidays are nearly upon us, and whilst many might be straining towards the train station (or waiting for their parents to drive up, the lucky bastards) there are still those things that, when you’re sitting in your nicely heated cottage somewhere south of Birmingham, will undoubtedly give you pangs of nostalgia for our frozen little town. Here are just a few of them:

Klute

No matter where you’re from, or where you’re going home to, no club can quite match the strange allure of Klute. Small, sweaty and cheesy (much like some people you meet in there) and officially voted ‘the Worst Night Out in Durham’, it is nonetheless completely addictive. Grab a quaddie (or three), hit the dance floor hard and experience a heady mix of 90’s music and oddly mesmerising lights which dance off people’s glowing faces.

Oddly beautiful

College food

Some say that college food is Michelin-starred. Some say that there are secret celebrity chefs in every college. Others say that you won’t find a carb-ier meal anywhere in the UK. Although only one of those may be true, there is still something amazing about going into the dining-room for each meal to find endless steaming piles of actual, edible food, something that even Mummy and Daddy can’t offer you. You can laugh, but you’re going to miss it when you live out.

Unconditional love

The Weather

Alright, this one’s a long-shot, just hear me out. For all the windy, rainy walks to Maiden Castle/The Science Site/Palace Green (delete as appropriate), there is nothing that is quite so glorious as the sun rising or setting over the Cathedral when there finally is a clear day. Why not try going alfresco for a coffee before you go? Trust me, it’s awesome. Though obviously still bloody freezing.

Have to admit, fairly nice

Wednesdays

At home, there’s a disgusting glut of choice on a Wednesday- places to go out, places the stay in, people to see, I could go on but the mere thought repulses me. However, Wednesday in Durham is a much simpler option: Lloyds or Loveshack? Whatever your choice, you defend it fiercely and know exactly who you’re going to see in there. No surprises, stock good night out.

Familiar, or not if you’ve done the night right

The People

And finally, the thing that makes Durham Durham: the people! Whether it’s that person you keep winking at in your seminar, the recipient of your drunken “I LOVE YOU” texts, or just the plain normal (probably not) people you’ve lived with, eaten the aforementioned college food with, drank with and stressed with, ultimately you can’t live without them. There’s nothing like the supercharged bubble of Durham to incubate friendships.

10 points if you can spot me