The Sussex Thing

My theory that every University has a 'thing' that you can discover on an open day visit was tested again when we visited Sussex. In previous visits we had noticed that the 'thing' for Bangor was tea,  toast for Essex, buses for Nottingham and sports in Surrey.

At first, we thought Sussex was missing a thing. 

I confess that I wasn't expecting to like it. Another parent had told me that they thought it was 'scuzzy' and a long way from town. The Long Suffering Husband walked around saying, "I'm not sure, there's something missing," which it turns out was a lake.

Once we started talking to people and the 'thing'started to become clear, however, my son loved it.

Sussex university's toast is cycling.

They are bonkers about bikes. 

Being in the only constituency controlled by the Green Party, situated in a National Park (the South Downs) and a 10 minute cycle ride (or 25 minutes on the bus) to Brighton, bikes are a very attractive option. Everyone told us how obsessed they had become with cycling since joining this University. They could all mend a puncture and fix a chain.

And as my son told the LSH, "Who needs a lake when you are only ten minuites by bike from the sea?"

There was a 'thing' that no one mentioned. A quite sinister 'thing'. A 'thing' you could hear wherever you went. A 'thing' you silently marvelled at but were too stunned to mention. 

There are evil looking seagulls the size of small dogs.

Recently, there have been reports of seagull attacks in the press. Two pet dogs and a tortoise have been killed, a small child lost a finger, a pensioner was knocked over and even David Cameron has called for a big conversation about seagulls. He loves a big conversation! However, Sussex University are taking the opposite approach. 

Don't mention the Seagulls.