THE last time Connie Ayre entered the red brick walls of her former college, King George V was on the throne and the Second World War had not begun.

But yesterday, in celebration of her 91st birthday, she returned to Armstrong College, which is now the University of Newcastle, to collect the dissertation she wrote there in 1935.

The university got in touch with Mrs Ayre last year when vice-chancellor Professor Christopher Edwards sent her a 90th birthday card.

Prof Edwards had been alerted to Mrs Ayre's whereabouts by her son-in-law, David Budgen.

When officials looked into Mrs Ayre's academic achievements they discovered that the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology was still in possession of her work, entitled A Dissertation on Upper Weardale.

Nearly 70 years on, Mrs Ayre's dissertation, which includes hand-drawn diagrams, has become an item of considerable interest to historians of Upper Weardale's industrial heritage and landscape

Once Mrs Ayre has had an opportunity to reacquaint herself with her undergraduate research, the dissertation will be loaned to the archive at Killhope Lead Mining Museum so that it can be studied and enjoyed more widely.

Joel Burden, alumni development officer at the university, said: "The dissertation is a beautiful object in its own right, as well as an excellent piece of research."

Mrs Ayre, who lives in Stanhope, County Durham, said: "Weardale is a very good place to live, particularly Stanhope, and I'm interested in what I said in those days to compare the past with the present."