MEMORIES 280 told the story of the world's oldest quoits club – Darlington Quoit Club – which was formed 170 years ago in Mrs Berryman's public house, the Old Dun Cow in Post House Wynd.

But search as we might, we could not find a decent picture of the Cow – even though it was trading under its St Cuthbert-inspired name as far back as 1838.

And even though it is said to be haunted by the ghost of an old man.

We weren't seeking photographic evidence of the ghost, but we were hoping for something from the pub's time in the limelight during the 1983 Parliamentary by-election, when it became the headquarters of Screaming Lord Sutch, candidate and leader of the Monster Raving Loony Party. When he wasn't campaigning against Michael Fallon, the Conservative candidate, and Ossie O'Brien, the victorious Labour candidate, Lord Sutch was putting on impromptu concerts in the Dun Cow.

In the late 1980s, the pub rather dubiously came to national prominence when a red-top tabloid newspaper discovered that when the regulars went on holiday, they sent back photographs of themselves exposing parts of their anatomy that really shouldn't see the sun. The landlord pinned these exhibitionist pictures behind the bar creating a display that so shocked the tabloid that it had to print a picture of it, saying it brought shame on the good name of Darlington.

Perhaps we should be thankful that there are no surviving photos from this period.

Anyway, we did find a fine selection of pictures that showed what the street – a cut-through between High Row and Skinnergate – used to look like.

Hopefully, there will soon be the chance to take a photo of a newly restored Dun Cow. After lying empty for a couple of years, at the back end of 2015, a decorator was spotted applying undercoat to the classic Victoria pub woodwork of the exterior. Despite his "wet paint" notices hanging around for weeks, the top coat was never applied.