STUDENTS aren't generally known for dedication to their courses. A daily struggle with the alarm clock, followed by a sporadic bus journey to the campus is how we usually imagine life as an undergraduate.

But for one student at Burnley College a love for her course has generated an unparalleled dedication.

Dorothy Hodgson, 56, makes the 260 mile round journey from Cockermouth, Cumbria, in her Ford Mondeo to the classroom twice a week and has done for the past four years.

She has completed three upholstery courses and has won awards for her work. In the summer, examples of her furniture were featured in an exhibition at Towneley Hall and her work has been commissioned.

Every Tuesday and Wednesday Dorothy makes the trip to the college she has fallen in love with, and what started as a hobby is now almost an obsession.

She said: "Burnley College is the nearest one to Cumbria that does upholstery.

"It is the only one in Lancashire. There are none in Cumbria, Dumfriesshire or Newcastle."

After she completes her latest course, Dorothy will possibly go on to teach at Kendal College.

Bevan Guy, her tutor, said: "She is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. It is just a shame she lives so far away or else we would give her a job."

Her husband Jackson is a semi-retired vet. During the foot and mouth crisis he was called back into work but Dorothy kept herself busy with her college course.

"I just left him to it," she said, "I enjoy coming to the course. Not much keeps me from it. My husband reckons that the only thing that hasn't been re-covered is him.

"The atmosphere here is fantastic and that is down to the course tutors.

"Everyone is so helpful here, it generates a good feeling among everyone."

Dorothy has three adult sons who are all in the process of setting up home and have all requested her services.

One has emigrated to Australia but she is expecting a call soon asking her to transform their furniture.

"They suggested that I take up plastering next," she laughed.

So what is is that keeps Dorothy coming back?

"It is like everything -- the more you find out about something, you realise you need to know a lot more.

"My family have all grown up, so I thought 'just go out there and do it'. I couldn't be a coffee morning person. I have to be doing something."

Although there is and distinct felling of friendship between the students in the class, there are still those who are slightly puzzled by Dorothy's enthusiasm for the course.

As one one fellow student quipped, "She's travelled 36,000 to cover one chair."