A round up of everything that happened at Durham Uni in 2017

Durham might be tiny, but a LOT has gone down in 2017. So why not take the opportunity of the New Year arriving to get a bit nostalgic about the city we love?

We give you this definitive list of the biggest things that happened in Durham in 2017 – and here's to a bigger, better 2018 🙂

Shawn Mendes got into a Twitter fight with a Durham student

After ridiculing the pop sensation (for tweeting: 'Love you guys. Goodnight xx'), Shawn Mendes' army of fans came for Tom Harwood, then a second year at Mary's. But Mendes' sarcastic reply to Tom's tweet couldn't even get his uni right. Tom told The Tab: "Idk why Shawn Mendes is so obsessed with me."

McDonald's came to Durham … except it didn't

Ha! We got you there. The Tab's ingenious April Fools trick had many a Durham student in feverish excitement at the thought of finally chomping on some mouthwatering nuggets. But alas! they realised the date, and saw it was not to be. So no, we still don't have McDonald's in Durham.

Someone got locked in the Billy B overnight

A Josephine Butler student got stuck in the Bill Bryson library for five hours overnight. He got scuppered in the end though, when a security guard overheard him singing at the top of his lungs next to the 'shhh!' sign.

Tom Harwood ran for NUS President

After his 2016 delegate campaign with its promises to defeat ISIS and build a gigantic statue of then NUS President Malia Bouattia on top of Durham cathedral made the national newspapers, Tom went for the big prize. But though Malia didn't win, neither did Tom. Ah well: there's always this year…

The Avengers filmed at Durham cathedral

Arguably the biggest event of the year involved Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston coming to our tiny city, alongside dozens of film lorries, vans, crews, and fans, for the filming of Avengers: Infinity War. Some lucky Durham students bumped into Chris Hemsworth in Bills, while one fan of his from Chad's got a special autograph for her mother.

Jeremy Corbyn came to Durham, twice

Wahey, of course he did! The Absolute Boy (as he was known then), popped over to Durham to tell Theresa May to resign, and he came back the following month to speak at the annual Durham Miners' Gala.

Loveshack closed its doors, forever

You young fresh won't even remember what it was like in this glorious neighbour of Lloyds and Missoula. Wednesday nights happened here. RIP Loveshack.

Some students had a weekly shitter visit their house

Yes, fresh from their summer away, these students took to Overheard at Durham Uni to expose a mysterious night-time visitor, who had taken a shit on their wall for the second week in a row. Disgusting!

Uber came to Durham

Woo! All four of those drivers! While they were busy getting shut down in London, Uber had our back up here in Durham, expanding neatly to our area.

Trevs… well, things happened at Trevs

First they had a formal which went OTT with food thrown and a very angry email from the JCR President. Then their rugby club got banned for the term, angered the Durham Miners' Association, incidentally changed university policy, and brought on the wrath of the entire nation through widespread coverage of their planned Thatcher vs. the Miners social. Needless to say, the event did not go ahead as planned.

There was a bomb scare

Elvet Riverside was shut down by police for several hours, and students evacuated, all because someone had handed in some old unexploded Second World War bombs at the police station. They were swiftly taken to Maiden Castle and detonated safely.

Students and locals out-protested the EDL

When two local white supremacist, anti-Islamic groups came to Durham to protest about the allocation of housing to Syrian refugee families, counter-protestors from the Durham Anti-Racist Coalition, as well as Durham students and the Dean of Durham cathedral, saw them off loudly and quickly.

Lumiere came back, and opinions were mixed

A free, weekend-long festival of light that crammed thousands of people into the dark streets of Durham. Yes, it was mesmerising at first. But Kyle, a student at Hild Bede, summed it up well, when he said: "The only thing worthwhile at Lumiere was the plum cider."