The Durham Difference

Book excerpt: The Durham Difference spans the birth, infancy and maturity of the country's third oldest university, from its roots as a monastic institution and the award of its Royal Charter in 1837 to become one of the most highly regarded universities in the country with an outstanding record both in teaching and research in science and a great many other subjects.The author, Nigel Watson, a graduate of the University, has thoroughly researched original records and drawn on hitherto untapped reminiscences of staff and students from various generations, which bring the book brilliantly to life. In his foreword, the Chancellor and world-famous author, Dr Bill Bryson, says: ''It is my private conviction that you can tell that you are in a good university town from the moment of arrival, in much the way you can often sense the presence of sea before you actually see it .... And nowhere that I know of is that happy air of productive, brainy toil more winningly offset by architectural glory than in Durham. What other universities, after all, can claim a castle and cathedral at their very heart ...... ''