Two of the most popular women at Durham when I was a student there were The Gobbler and Black Dog.  I didn’t know their real names – I wasn’t in their company long enough to find out.

But they were good sports and did their best on the back seat of the rugby coach as we returned from away matches to commiserate with the team if we’d lost or celebrate if we’d won.  The remedy was the same.

These days their achievements would be recorded by mobile phone camera and posted for the world to see on YouTube.  But they’ll be in their 60’s now and merely enjoy a warmth of memory among a constituency of 20 or 30 souls.

Ladies, I salute you.