Leaning on the signpost of a new life at university

Son and heir goes to university at the end of the month, ready to write the next page of his journey in the historic city of Durham.

- Kate Wobschall

And because his mother is eager to add her own footnotes to that page courtesy of a visit or two to this chocolate-box-pretty metropolis, we made a whistle-stop tour there last week.

It is, ahem, some years since I was at uni; those halcyon days spent desperately trying to stay awake over some absolutely dull cack on the essential reading list and getting back to the student halls to find a water fight in full swing.

There's nothing like a water bomb of freezing cold tap water smacking you in the face to revive you after an afternoon of ploughing through one of Joseph Conrad's hugely unentertaining tomes.