Here are the last goodbyes every final year wishes they could have said to Newcastle

Newcastle will always have a special place in our hearts, what a city. The next couple of months were meant to be, for final year students, filled with bittersweet goodbyes and final memories, but sadly, the chance for a diss pic under the Arches, one last £2 Tuesday or a final walk down by The Quayside was taken away from us. There are so many more goodbyes we wish we could have said, so here’s a trip down memory lane, highlighting the very best things our beloved uni city has to offer which will never, ever, be matched. PSA: be prepared to shed a few tears. 

Jesmond

Where else could we begin? Of course, Jesmond. How lucky have we been to live in such a beautiful little student town. The convenience of living within a five minute walk of all your friends and bumping into them on every corner is something which you’re only going to get again if you make it into the cast of Made in Chelsea. Even the sight of a Jesmond back alley makes us feel something and the void which now exists is one which is going to be hard to fill anytime soon. Acorn takeaway, Arlo, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, 1901, Francescas, Avanti, Blanc, Osbornes, Spy, Pizza Express and did we mention ALL YOUR MATES, the list is endless. Absolutely not ready to say goodbye.

Seeing everyone you’ve ever met in Jesmond Tesco

There’s something special about seeing the girl who you sat next to in your first ever seminar, or that guy you got with in Soho last year on a social whilst you’re shopping for vodka and ice cream. Likewise, there’s nothing better than bumping into someone who you haven’t seen in so long and standing near the milk and catching up for ages as if it was just like it used to be. We have a weird feeling this just won’t be the same living in London with a different Tesco around every corner. 

£2 Tuesday’s

Sorry but where else are you EVER going to get this again. It’s such a Newcastle niche and is literally God tier in any student’s social life. You can literally get steaming for a tenner, yes please. It’s never just one bev is it and before you know you’re accidentally on your way to Soho or Hobo. Spontaneous Tuesday nights just aren’t the same in your small hometown or when you’ve got a real adult job at 9am the next morning. Literally over it already. 

House Parties

The Facebook notification pops up, EVENT: HALLOWEEN PARTY, and you’re absolutely gassed. Goodbye high school gatherings and hello Jesmond parties. You always either get there way too early and it’s semi awkward for half an hour OR you get there late and it’s rammed and you lose your mates before you’ve made it through to the kitchen. The good thing about parties at uni you end up knowing 80 per cent of the people there and the other 20 per cent you end up chatting the ear off before the end of the night. The clean up the next day is never fun and bonus points if you’ve had one shut down by police, something we won’t ever experience again.

Bank Holidays on Osborne Road

Pres at 8am anyone? Bank Holidays in Jesmond are unmatched. No-one tells you this before you come to uni but after spending a good three years in the city, you soon realise that bank holidays on Osborne Road are not for the faint hearted. You start drinking as soon as the bars open and you’ll start at one end, and work your way down it. Everyone is pissed, the sun is usually shining and everyone is as dressed up as they would be for going ‘out-out’. The busyness of it doesn’t bother you because everyone is in the best mood possible. Ahh back in the days when we could stand in crowds at the bar waiting to be served, take us back.

Pres

Some argue that this is the best part of a night out. You ask all your mates “pres at Lyndhurst Ave tonight?” and they all wander round at some time between 9pm and 11pm. Uni pres are just completely different to pres at home. Whether it’s a small one with some good tunes, a drinking game or two and some shit chat, or a bigger one with different friendship groups mingling, they are untouchable. They always go so fast and every time you say “we’ll start earlier next time”. That final pres would have been elite, all we can do is imagine.

Necking your bevs when your Budget Taxi is one minute away

“TAXI IS HERE, SEE IT OFF” is music to our ears. It’s a poem, a masterpiece, an ANTHEM and one which we will miss a lot.

Soho

Please just sit and imagine the final night you’d have spent in Soho, second floor, treb in hand. One friend would’ve been a mess, another making bad mistakes probs going home with someone from the rugby team, one is bound to have gone missing and the rest of you would’ve ended the night next door in Toon Express. The way things are going, clubs aren’t going to be open anytime soon so by the time they are chances are it’s going to be hard to get everyone back together. Go on have a little cry.

Trebs

Whether your heart lies in Bijoux, Soho, Empress or Shaker, one thing we all have in common is a love for trebles. Thank you for providing us with enough alcohol to be able to still have a mint night despite not drinking enough at pres. What we would give for one (or three) more blue trebs. 

Hobo

Of course, the Holy (Hobo) land. No matter who is at pres with you or whatever the common factor for your group is, Hobo is always the place to go. Whether it be on a 2-4-1 Tuesday, a social, for phat roast dinner or even for a boogie on a Saturday night, Hobo is definitely up there in the rankings of places to go. It’s cheap and cheerful and you always had a good night in here and WOW we’re gonna miss it. 

Causing chaos in the takeaway after a night out

Does leaving uni mean that we have to start… behaving? Sounds boring tbh. Is there anything more iconic than ending up in Munchies or Maccies, face covered in garlic mayo, someone having a go on the punch bag and someone else complaining their chips aren’t cooked yet. Absolute chaos but the best kind which you’ll look back fondly on.

Afters

Love it or hate it, afters is a weird place. Half the group should have just gone home and are now passed out in various corners of the room and the other half are on a whole range of different levels and vibes. Afters just scream uni behaviour and are surely not going to be a thing now its over. No more hating your life when you wake up at 3pm the next day. No more housemate arguments when someone has a 9am and is a bit raging you’ve bought people back. No more daylight Uber rides home – sad times.

The Metro

GET OFF THE METRO NOWWWW. What we wouldn’t give to see “£3.10 Nexus Travel Shop” on our Apple Pay just one more time.

Running to West Jes station to make that final Metro into town is the sort of excitement we all need back in our lives. Those times when you’ve had too much to drink at pres and you get shouted at by the staff for being silly on the Haymarket escalators will be the memories we will think of and smile. Getting the Metro, no matter how busy it is, will always be a place where you’ll bump into someone you know and it’s nice to see a familiar face on the way into uni. It is literally four minutes into town and we’re all guilty of taking that for granted. Can’t wait to have to drive for half an hour to nip to Topshop when we move home. 

Blanc

Osborne Road in its entirety will be sorely missed but Blanc itself just deserved a point of its own. It’s just a different kind of “local” to any we’ve known before and will know after uni. When again will your fave pub be filled with your mates, rahs and sports teams all whilst providing the cheap bevs. Blanc we will be back, you haven’t seen the last of us.

The beaut walk through campus

Whilst the nights out are untouched, the simplicity of little things will be what we really miss about being in Newcastle despite it not being that cool to admit. No-one can deny that walking through campus on a beautiful sunny day brings so much joy. It brings a little tear to our eye that when we return, whenever it may be, for graduation ceremonies, it won’t ever be the same but we can still appreciate the happiness wandering through the arches between lectures bought us.

Sitting in your house talking shit with your housemates till stupid times

Chances are, the majority of us have spent immense amounts to live in a rubbish maisonette in Jesmond, Sandyford or Heaton. It seems that none of us got to say our final goodbyes to those who we lived with or the gross walls we lived in and this is so sad. Why is it that staying up till ridiculous times, chatting about absolutely everything and nothing, having the communal panic “we can do this” chats in the kitchen during exam periods and putting up with ridiculously loud pres is everything we’re all going to miss the most. All of these things, us final years were robbed of saying goodbye to and appreciating them fully at the time. What we would give for one last chat in the kitchen with a cuppa laughing our heads off.

The Robbo

Our love/hate relationship with The Robbo is simply one of a kind. What a place. How many hours of our uni days have been spent in the cafe having a breakdown or in the silent study trying really hard to whisper to your mates. Is it weird that we actually wouldn’t mind facing the rollercoaster of emotion you felt on one of those all nighters just one more time?

Exhibition Park

You’ve sat in a sweaty lecture theatre, you’re walking home and you think “let’s stop off and have a bev in the park”. That is what you’ll miss. Being sat as the sun as it’s slowly setting and it’s still warm, being surrounded by your favourite people and you have a tinny in hand in the best city. 

The Quayside

One of the things which makes Newcastle the perfect, most stunning, out of any other city’s league, need we go on, is that it literally has it all. The Quayside, located a five minute walk from the bustle of the city, is an absolute gem. Not only is it perfect for a peaceful walk in the sun, but it’s also packed with fun bars and restaurants making it the perfect place for a boujee sesh.

Newcastle, we will be back one day to bid our farewells to all these special things which have made our three years truly untouchable. For now, thank you and goodbye.

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