British Culture

Britain has an interesting history and a long history of customs and traditions, some you may have heard of; lots of tea drinking, carrying umbrellas … The information below provides some key information on British Culture.

Food

  • The staple foods of Britain are meat, fish, potatoes, flour, butter and eggs. Many of our dishes are based on these foods.
  • All food in the UK is clearly labelled including details of ingredients, fat content and salt content.

Different Diets

  • Vegetarian - food items suitable for vegetarians are clearly marked in the UK with a ‘V' symbol, often printed in green, on the packaging. The mark can be found on many foods from confectionary to pre-packed meals.
  • Allergies - if a product contains nuts, the packaging will contain a blue symbol which states ‘may contain nuts’ or ‘contains nuts’. Some supermarkets and health food stores stock food items which are free of gluten, the product’s packaging will usually contain a wheat symbol with ‘gluten free’ printed next to it.
  • Halal - served in catering outlets on campus and in halls of residence. Halal produce can be purchased from several stores in the city.
  • Newcastle has restaurants serving food from around the world – Bangladeshi, Indian, Italian, French, Polish to name just a few.

Religion

Although the official religion of Britain is Christianity, Britain is a multi faith society in which everyone has the right to religious freedom. At Newcastle we have a University Chaplaincy that provides a focus for all religious faiths and also offers support for all students. Visit our pages on Religious Observance for further information.

Weather

Britain has a varied climate; temperatures don’t go much lower than 0 degrees in winter and above 32 degrees in summer, with the north generally cooler than the south. Days are short in the middle of winter (it gets dark before 4pm in December), and long in the middle of summer (it remains light until after 10pm in June). July and August are usually the warmest months and November to February the coldest.

Shopping

In Newcastle you will find a range of shopping facilities. Eldon Square in the centre of Newcastle has many different shops and the Metrocentre, just a short distance away in Gateshead, has over 300 shops under one roof.

There are supermarkets, post offices and banks located across the city.

Typical opening times are:

  • Mondays to Saturday -9.00am to 5:30pm, although some shopping centres stay open until 8 pm or later
  • Sunday -10.00am to 4.00pm.

Many supermarkets open from 8am to 10pm from Mondays to Saturdays and 10am to 4pm (or 11am to 5pm) on Sundays, some larger supermarkets are open 24 hours.

The language

The British accent varies across the country. Every region in Britain has its own dialect, and there are many cities in Britain where local people are considered to have strong accents.

When you first arrive in Newcastle, you may find some of the local people a little hard to understand as they use a local dialect which is unique to this part of England. In Newcastle there is a local dialect called ‘Geordie’. If you don’t understand something when you arrive, people are usually friendly, just ask them to explain or speak slowly!

Within the University itself, most students and staff come from outside the local region, so you will find there are a huge variety of accents.

The website www.ukstudentlife.com has been highly rated by students as a source of information on British Culture and life.

And finally, if you would like to sample British Culture...

HOST is a voluntary organisation offering international students an opportunity to sample the British culture. This is achieved through a network of UK residents who welcome international students in their homes for a weekend or over holidays such as Christmas free of charge.