I just looked around and he was gone : 1979 : Jerry Dennis, Durham University

"I am here for the Accommodation Office, please," I said with trepidation to the uniformed man behind the huge wooden reception desk in the lobby of the Old Shire Hall. On the front of the desk, elaborately carved nineteenth century working-class scenes from Durham's coalmining industry seemed to clash with this building's present users - high-flying academics and the children of Britain's upper classes.