It’s 1959, and Durham University is still a federal university, with colleges in Durham and Newcastle. And expansion in Durham was underway. Elvet Hill, just south of the River Wear, had already seen St Mary’s College move in 1952 from its old site; and now a new college was being built.
The college was to be named Grey College, after Charles Grey, Prime Minister when the university was founded (Grey may also have been the earl who inspired the eponymous tea). The name was subject to some controversy: the alternative was Cromwell College, after regicide and Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell; Grey won by one vote.
And then on 6 March, catastrophe. There’s lots of detail in the report in the Shields Evening News, but the long and short is that the building was burned out. Notwithstanding the reviving tea that the firefighters were able to get. It was due to admit its first students in the next academic year, just six months later. And it did!
Clearly a get up and go spirit was needed, and that appears to be what happened. The college opened; the master paid from his own pocket for the hall to be panelled. Felix the Phoenix was adopted as a mascot.
The college expanded rapidly – this is, of course, in line with the general growth in UK HE at that time. By 1964 it had over 350 students, all men – a sevenfold growth in five years. And in 1966 it became the base for the USSR football team during the world cup. Their group games were played at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough and Roker Park in Sunderland, so staying in Durham made sense. This was the USSR’s most successful world cup: they made it to the semi-finals, where they lost to Germany. There’s a nice – if somewhat long – telling of the story here.
Grey admitted its first women students in 1984. The title of its head changed from master to principal when Professor Sonia Virdee was appointed to the role in 2023. Heidi Alexander, at the time of writing Secretary of State for Transport, is an alumna; Nish Kumar, comedian, is also among its alumni.
And here’s a jigsaw of the card for you.