What it’s like being a Northerner in Edinburgh’s poshest halls: Pollock

‘Oh you’re from the North? Yeah, I went to Oxford once’


On my first day at Edinburgh somebody asked me whether Preston was north of Watford. I found out the same day I was one of three Northerners on my corridor of 47 people. I remember feeling so lost in this world of ‘lunches,’ ‘dinners,’ ‘suppers.’  Everything was askew, but from this isolation sprang a resilience. One that prompted me to strive to find more of my kin.

When I asked one of my friends from London what she thought it was like to be a Northerner in Pollock Halls, her response was that it could be condensed down to the following phrase: “It’s really, really shit.”

I decided to see if I could possibly flesh out that idea at all by speaking to some of my fellow rare Northerners dotted around Pollock, and see how they were finding their time in Scotland’s very own little Southern English bubble.

Thom a.k.a ‘Nonerz’, English Literature and Russian

Where are you from?

Wazza represent (Warrington)

What do you miss most about being in the North?

Proper pies, proper hotpots.  Stop making coconut chicken you sadists.

What’s the most Southern thing you’ve heard at Edinburgh?

“Oh you’re from the North? Yeah, I went to Oxford once”

Why do you think we’re so under represented here?

I think perhaps people tend to choose places close to their friends. Most people from home went to Leeds or Sheffield, and consequently more people from the North might follow others to those unis.

Emma, Economics

Where are you from?

Preston, Lancashire

What do you miss most about being in the North?

Chips and gravy and takeaways being open past 3am – what is with that?

What’s the most Southern thing you’ve heard at Edinburgh?

“I wouldn’t associate with anyone who calls the sitting room ‘the lounge'”

Why do you think we’re so under represented here?

Everyone I know seemed to congregate to Leeds/Manchester/Lancaster, Northerners like to stay in the North where they know there’s guaranteed gravy and cheap drinks.

Harry, Medicine

Where are you from?

Newcastle

What do you miss most about being in the North?

Greggs and Trebles.

What’s the most Southern thing you’ve heard at Edinburgh?

“I don’t understand how any person can actually survive earning less than 100 grand a year.”

Why do you think we’re so under represented here?

It’s a posh uni and probably attracts the sort of people that also applied to Bristol and London from the South. Also I think culturally, or cause there’s less money in the North, people tend stay more local too. Most of my friends went to Northumbria.

Seb, International Business

Where are you from?

Harrogate

What do you miss most about being in the North?

I miss the taste of Harrogate spa water running down my throat.

What’s the most Southern thing you’ve heard at Edinburgh?

People using the word dinner to describe tea.

Lydia, Biochemistry

Where are you from?

Leeds! You what? You what?

What do you miss most about being in the North?

Leeds Rhinos and Ubers without the 2.5x surges.

What’s the most Southern thing you’ve heard at Edinburgh?

“I didn’t realise Durham was further north than Manchester to be honest. They only taught us important things in private education.”

Why do you think we’re so under represented here?

Those born in the North generally stay in the North. Why on earth would you ever leave God’s own country?

Harry Noone, Chemistry

Where are you from?

Newcastle

What do you miss most about being in the North?

People not adding an ‘r’ when there isn’t one e.g bath.

What’s the most Southern thing you’ve heard at Edinburgh?

Something along the lines of someone saying “I actually really fucking miss Waitrose”.

Why do you think we’re so under represented here?

Most of my friends stayed in the North i.e in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool or stayed in Newcastle, maybe it’s because they’re comfortable there and know the people are sound.

We went further North, we found ourselves further South than we could have ever imagined.