Imagine turning a Nazi POW camp into a thriving university with 5,000 books, 90+ subjects, and exams recognised by Oxford. This wasn’t fiction—it was the life’s work of Edward Alderton , a coal miner’s son who transformed wartime imprisonment into a revolution in education. His journey from Durham’s "black county" to liberating minds in Hitler’s prisons reveals the unbreakable power of learning. A Humble Beginning in Wheatley Hill Born in September 1916 in Wheatley Hill, Durham, Edward was...

This year has been a slower year for the archive, as the focus has rightly been on reopening the hall and rediscovering Slems, both old...