I officiated at the last degree ceremony of the season today, at our Scarborough campus. There was one vey surreal moment. The university was presenting an honorary degree to a very famous british actor called Timothy West. He has played a number of roles in long and distinguished acting career.

One of the roles he played, in a BBC production of the Alan Clarke Diaries, was that of Sir Robert Armstrong, a civil servant. Sir Robert (now Lord) Armstrong, is the current Chancellor of Hull University. So the real person was able to say in his closing address how the portrayal of him was very good, but all the facts were wrong! This can't happen that often.

On the way out Lord Armstrong was kind enough to thank me for the role I play in warming up the audience and telling them what to do, which was a nice moment for me.

We graduated around 430 graduands today, which with their families made for an audience of at least a couple of thousand I reckon. And now I can hang up my gown and get the suit cleaned....