Upcoming UK grad school

[wab003]

UK brethren,...

My daughter may be attending grad school at N Umbria in Newcastle on Tyne in the Fall. Any recommendations as to both temporary or extended lodging for her stay? (Would ultimately be through May 2015 but school year only. Or places to avoid for that matter. ;-) Newcastle a decent aerodrome for int'l. arrivals or better to use Edinburgh? Other suggestions? Appreciate any insights offered.

 

[nruzic]

Re: Upcoming UK grad school

BB perhhaps you should visit the UK fly-in and directly ask the participants and thus get the inside scoops.
I am sure this is a good enough reason for your hoe and work authorities to accept this trip as legit. :<)

 

[Lawrence Rippon]

Re: Upcoming UK grad school

Bill

You may find that although Newcastle is a nice airport that direct flights from the USA are a bit thin on the ground and Manchester or Edinburgh or Glasgow may be better bets on that route. Train transport in the UK is fast and regular compared to the USA so moving between these cities is not a problem.

Newcastle its self is a city of many different sorts of area. There are bits of it where I wouldn't leave my car parked and expect to find it there when I returned and there are other bits where you would not be able to see the houses from the street because the driveways were so long. Whatever your daughter does, she will enjoy herself it is very much a "Party" town.

Northumberland as a county, has some very nice areas outside of the city of Newcastle. I would expect the university is the best place to ask for accommodation information, they will have a department dealing with this sort of requests.

Some basics you need to know:

It's not Fall it's Autumn.
Newcastle is pronounced as one word, most people would read it as New Castle but locally it is run together as it is spelled with the emphasis on "a" of castle.

 

[wab003]

Kind thanks Lawrence. Sid, looking forward to ongoing visits. Make regular pilgrimages just a few clicks north for biennial fugues of beating small white balls into submission. Even have my lefthand traffic roundabouts mastered. Haven't " shifted a door" in decades. LOL. Lovely part of the isle and avoids the London traffic.

 

[nruzic]

Re: Upcoming UK grad school

Oh BB be sure to visit in summer so you get a tatse of the rivalry of ages The Ashes cricket series - England v/s Australia.

Its much older than the Ohio State v/s Mich football games or even Army Navy! I'm sure there'l be locals who'd intro you to the nuances of the heady 5 day match!

 

[rob egph]

Re: Upcoming UK grad school

Hi Bill,
(Have not been around the forum for several months - busy)
Edinburgh is reasonably convenient and quick with a wider choice of arrival times. It's a two hour drive to Newcastle. Happy to help out if that would be useful.
On the other hand, Newcastle gets daily flights from the three main London airports, Amsterdam and Dublin. There are some benefits travelling through Dublin that might be worthwhile as it's possible to avoid the arrival lines in the USA by doing it before you get on the plane in Dublin for the return trip. Paris is possible but well worth avoiding as baggage handling resembles the event horizon on a black hole.
Have a number of friends in the area who might give advice on accommodation.
Rob

 

[rob egph]

Re: Upcoming UK grad school

and you'll be right at home with the Geordie dialect (Geordie cos the locals supported an english king George way back rather than support the Scottish Jacobites...yawn, been known as Geordies ever since) It's a mix of English, Scottish and Scandinavian...toon for town, canny, bairn, you get the idea.
And they serve an evil brew called Newcastle Brown Ale (Broon)
Check out Durham too! And Beamish...the area that spawned Steam locos. Was there for a car enthusiast weekend a couple of weeks ago

 

[wab003]

Thanks Rob. We plan to bring her over a couple of weeks early and give her a tour of N.England and Scotland. Will start w/ a few of the favorites (favourites. ;-). Edinburgh, St Andrews, Berwick, Greywalls, Turnberry, etc. Odd,... Most have access to a local golf pasture or two. Hope you will be in residence at some point in the tour as I still owe you a dinner (or three) for the aerial adventure last visit. Will look forward to seeing you.

 

[Howard Freeman]

Re: Upcoming UK grad school

Hi Bill

Newcastle is a great place for students - Northumbria Uni is in the centre of town and their own accommodation/flats are relatively new. A good student area is Jesmond with loads of converted properties to let/share - Groves Estate agency one of the better ones. NCL Int has good connections to Heathrow but no regular flights to the states. Manchester is probably a better option than Edinburgh with trains running from the airport direct to Newcastle. Maybe quicker from Edinburgh to Newcastle but probably more flight options to Manchester.

Please let me know if you need any more info or email me direct

Howard Freeman

 

[wab003]

Thank you kindly Howard. The Manchester data is extremely helpful information. Looks like she will be staying in the newer Student Castle flats you mentioned in the center of town. Based upon her research, sounds like a reasonable fully bundled package of space and services.