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So i'm moving to Newport next month for uni! Tell me all about it - where to go, where not too, best shops, best food, best bike shops and most importantly where to ride
Has to be done
One of the loves of my life lives around there somewhere. You'll find him out in the country communing with buzzards, ravens and other wildlife.
run, run very far away!!!!
Good god - Newport?!!
Where to go? Anywhere else...
Not much, Murenger is a decent old skool pub, Le Pub is ok if you like the grungy alpine cabin sweat lodge feel. Shops? there are none besides the £1 variety. The best bike shop is PS Cycles up in Abercarn, can't stand Broadribbs (Broadpockets). There a re a few good kebab shops.
I have nothing else to add.
Ok on the plus side there's plenty of riding on your doorstep, unfortunately you need to be a member of the inner circle to find out where it all is.
One of the loves of my life lives around there somewhere
I never knew you felt the same way as me?! 😯
You need a car but...
http://www.bikeparkwales.com/
http://www.pedalabikeaway.co.uk/
How reassuring
Tell me all about it - where to go
Cardiff
I have to say, it's not one of my favourite towns.. I can show you some riding though although most likely not the choicest bits, they are secret even to me and I've lived in Cardiff for years 🙂
Sorry to hear of your bad news Rosss 🙁
Be afraid, be very afraid...
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Seriously - Newport is a bit rough and ready but you've got some great countryside and riding on your doorstep in the valleys, Black Mountains and Beacons, not too far from some good beaches either. Sure it will all be good.
Used to have a cracking local music scene too - had many a fond memory of nights TJs in the early 90s. Is it still going?
Ok first off Newport is a dump a total and utter shit heap.
Where will you be working? Could be the IPO?
Places to Live in Newport are the Ridgeway if you have loads of money.
Places nearby would be the valleys up towards Blackwood, ie Rogerstone, Risca, Crosskeys it splits then Cwmfelinfach or Cwmcarn.
I wouldnt go out towards Cwmbran and Pontypool but further out that way is Goytre and Abergavenney. Usk is nice but all the money.
Basseleg, Rhiwderin Machen is ok.
Places to eat are the Chandlery some nice family owned Italians and then the usual stuff.
Riding spoilt for choice and where to start, canal goes up past 14 locks then up to Cwmcarn, trail centres nearby, Forest of Dean and lots of fun plcaes around Trelleck and Wentwood is above the Celtic Manor hotel.
Places to avoid Ringland, Bettws, Pill, Duffryn, Caerleon can get a bit bumpy.
Hope this helps
oh deary deary deary me! should have done your homework son before deciding on going to "uni" in zooport
sadly newport is a sh*t hole...
pigface has good info above, if you want a good night out head to cardiff.
but you are in the right place for amazing riding there are hundreds of miles of natural stuff that our gang use on a regular basis, obviously there is Cwmcarn (couple miles) and Afan argoed (West down the M4) then black mountains etc etc etc
Post back up on here when your settled and i'll get you into the inner circle 😉
Just for balance, I went to uni in Newport (admittedly at the end of last century) and I had a cracking time there. It IS a bit rough and ready (says someone from Hull) but I actually found a lot of the people there really friendly.
Saw LOADS of good bands there, mostly in Le Pub and TJs, and it's not far at all on the train to Cardiff which is a really nice city.
Admittedly I did spend a lot of my time there quite drunk.
Where to live in Newport? the Celtic Manor.
Our club has been there for the last for years for the velodrome, the only place I've been to where locals have advised not going out in town and then spent a good five minutes trying to think of a decent restaurant and only come up with one - Vittorios, btw
It's alright, town centre a bit rubbish) don't go out there for an evening out (TJ's is a good live music venue (if still open) other stuff to do around there plenty of riding etc)
Cardiff is only 10 mins on train too, Bristol 20 mins.
Sorry didnt see you were a student, Dear God why did you pick Newport. Caerleon Road or St Woolos will have the most ammount of house shares flats. Unless you are minted be prepared to live in a dive in a miserable part of a miserable place.
You should have fun though, Hornblower is the pub if you like your metal.
A serious word of advice with Newport County back in the football league some of the neanderthals are looking to make a name for themselves, avoid The Riverside and Rodney Parade on match days.
Loco John Sicola died a few years back TJ's has been closed for ages.
Don't listen to them Rosss; it's glorious*
*I may not be telling the truth**
** I'm not telling the truth
On the plus side if all you do is ride, you'll be fit!
John Sicola died a few years back TJ's has been closed for ages
🙁
Where will you be working?
He's going to uni there, so I expect he won't be bombing up and down the M4 every weekend in his car, or living too far away.
You do have the velodrome though too, which is fantastic as there are only like 5 in the UK. And as above, good natural riding although it's a bit of a ride to get to it without a car (closest would be about 6-7 miles I reckon). However Cwmcarn is reachable by train nowadays, not many stops from Newport either.
Depending on how rich you are you COULD live in the middle of Cardiff and get the train to uni, but it'd be a bit weird to be away from all your actual uni mates.
Newport isn't all that great 😕
But... the riding you have available to you should at least distract you enough for three years.
In addition to the suggestions above I would suggest meeting up with the Cardiff Uni MTB club (other unis always used to be allowed to join) to learn the trails nearest Cardiff and join up with the Castle Bikes group rides out of Caerphilly for some great company and rides anywhere from Castel Coch/ Garth over towards Cwm Carn and everything in between
[url= http://castlebikes.co.uk/ ]Castle Bikes[/url]
P.S. After the first year you will probably find most people move to Cardiff anyway
I stopped for petrol in Newport while getting low on the way to Cardiff once, I escaped unscathed, just 😀
Other than that, I have nothing to contribute!
Cheers, Rich
It is a bit rough and ready, the place has suffered the same fate as most places where there used to be a lot of heavy industry and jobs, but now most of these are gone. There is loads of riding locally - Cwmcarn, Machen - a bit further afield but all within an hour are Afan, Bike Park Wales, Forest of Dean, Brecon Beacons.
I chose Newport because, head over heart, the course looked by far the best for what I want to do with the grades I could achieve but i'm starting to think I should have gone to a worse course in a better area. I'm based on Usk way for the first year. I might look to moving to Cardiff if the commute isn't too far in the second year. How long would it take to ride from cardiff to Newport, or by train or car?
Are you at the Rhadyr? What are you studying?
Tjs is closed. Nightlife was banging 10years ago it's aweful now, revs is probably the best club to end up in the night. Spoilt for choice with food. Whilst it is a shot hole you are dead center to all the trails. I live here and it's 10 minutes Drive to all the goodness.
Don't worry Rosss I went to uni there and had a great 3 years. Bit of a shit hole admittedly but good fun. Are you studying something creative?
I might look to moving to Cardiff if the commute isn't too far
Train from Central to Newport takes maybe 8 or 9 minutes or something. And there are loads of trains. The student areas of Cardiff are great, and about 15-20 mins walk from Central station or 5 mins on a bike. I'd only be worried about wrecking the community spirit of uni, but if lots of Newport students do the same you should be ok.
I'm not too worried about nightlife, I'll head to cardiff for that. I'm not taking my bike in the first few weeks as I don't know who i'll be around but if I can get it in my flat it'll be there after a few weeks. I'm doing business and accounting.
If you go there expecting to have a horrible time because it's a ****hole, then you will. If you go there with an open mind, meet lots of people (and hopefully get on with some of them) and generally try to make the best of it then you'll probably have a great time. Same as anywhere, really.
By the way, my first year house (Uni owned as there was no room in halls) in Cardiff was a total shit hole too and student life is hardly about glamour 😀 FIrst year is such a mess it hardly matters where you are!
Other bad thing living in Newport to go out in Cardiff is last train is 12:30ish. Might be better off keeping going until the 4:30ish train 😀 Not sure the taxi price Cardiff to Newport...
Basically, I would imagine you will look to move to Cardiff and will probably find your new friends will too 😀
First train is 4.25 I think 🙂
Btw it's a fairly easy cycle between Newport and Cardiff too, you could save a bit of money and get fit. Quite a fast road in bike terms.
Hmm, my little bro went to uni there. He and a few of his mates got randomly mugged on separate occasions, 2 of them were stabbed.
Cardiff is generally pretty safe by comparison outside of Splott and Butetown ish areas.
I think the worst I saw in several years in Cardiff would be a drunk old woman falling off her bar stool in Lloyds, the bloke she was with turns round and see her on the floor and punches the next nearest bloke in the face. Both the man and woman get up, they all say sorry and have a drink together. Of course general scuffles and wot not will always happen in the Centre but people seem reasonably well natured in Cardiff (at least in the areas students would tend to frequent) 😀
If you are in Newport i would strongly suggest having a go on the velodrome. If only once just for the experience.
If you are in [s]Newport[/s] South Wales or the West i would strongly suggest having a go on the velodrome. If only once just for the experience
My son goes to uni in Newport. Its a good course that's why he chose it. Didn't need much encouragement to stay in Cardiff though, catches the bus or the train if he's feeling flush.
Worth going to Cwmcarn Paragons clubhouse on a Thursday. Great group of guys from surrounding area. Different groups do different types of riding. Road/Mtb ..
I would guess that most first years have moments when they think they’ve made a huge mistake when choosing their university and at other times they think they’ve chosen the best place in the world.
Hold on to the good times and when you’re at your lowest, thank your lucky stars that you’re not in Port Talbot.
Bit of an update. Been here a few days now and just about settled in on usk way. I'm at city campus which is absolutely lovely and literally just 3 minutes away. I haven't got my bike with me yet and I just ventured into the town centre - it's a little more up to date then I expected but put it this way I'm glad I've got GTA on the way.
Welcome Rosss and ignore them up there 😉 . I'm far too old to comment on the nightlife (Wetherspoons doesn't count 😆 ) but I could (and often do) ride around the city for hours. Cycle paths aplenty, loads of little woodlands, alleyways, steps, etc (check out Google Earth and go exploring) and it's not all flat. FOD and I'm guessing Bike Park Wales (although I haven't made that trip yet) are all within easy reach by train too.