JUST like the first day back at college, there is an air of expectant excitement as students meet up again, ready for the new term.

None is more enthusiastic than Averil Hughes who cannot wait to get back behind her desk and have a break-time natter with her pals.

In her 92nd year she has an unquenchable thirst for learning, and is thought to be Britain's most mature student still studying regularly .

The retired inspector of art education has attended more than 150 courses since 1999 at Dilington House’s residential centre for adult education and art.

She has now just started a course on the History of Morocco. To follow are classes on: Beethoven in Vienna; From Altamirato, The Avant Garde: A History of Spanish Art; The Ancient Kingdom of Aragon and she has signed up for Summer school, too.

When Averil was born, during the First World War, education for girls wasn't high on the national agenda and women were still fighting for the right to vote.

"I was very indifferently educated in my youth and never properly taught," said Averil, who lives alone in nearby Hinton St George.

"I always wanted to learn languages, and about places, travel, history and philosophy and this form of adult education has given me a wonderful opportunity to do so.

"It has also been very good for my social life because I meet so many people here and the lectures are marvellous. I wouldn't come if I didn't like it. And of course the home-made cakes are fantastic."

Dillington House director, Wayne Bennett, said: “Averil is a lesson to us all as her enthusiasm and eagerness to learn is remarkable."

Increasingly, something is stirring among the over 50s as men and women such as broadcaster and writer Valerie Singleton are visiting Dillington to attend courses and artistic events to broaden their horizons and stretch their minds, he adds.

It is also one of the South West's leading conferencing centres, attracting heads of industry, commerce and the public sector and their staff from Bristol, Plymouth, Exeter to its five-star amenities and surroundings, which include The Hyde, a stunning, new £2.4m state of the art, eco-embracing amenity, featuring 15 boutique-style bedrooms, two lecture/art/music studios and a spacious dining room.

All with sweeping views across the Rive Isle floodplain towards the misty and mysterious Somerset wetlands and media queen Rosie Boycott's organic food producing gardens.

"Imagine, the mortgage has been paid, the kids have long fled the nest, and now its time for something completely different that will keep the mind active and the spirit refreshed in an increasingly dumbed-down crazy world," says Mr Bennett.

"This business of staying engaged and mentally active is something which educationalists, the medical profession and politicians are now recognising as vitally important to the well-being of the country and its growing generations of middle-agers. Why does learning have to stop at 21 and why does learning have to be about acquiring NVQs?

"This is not learning for work but learning to live. Dillington House may seem to be on a cutting edge today but in reality it has been championing this philosophy for 60 years."

The Dillington Experience is for grown-ups like Averil with a positive attitude to life. For the leaders of commerce and their staff too it's a safe haven away from the stormy waters of the office and a place to look at life and business and to make plans for the future.

Mr Bennett added: "Dillington House isn't a hotel, but it does have residential accommodation which is second to none.

"It's a little like a cruise liner; here you can relax with the marvellous views, eat wonderfully well and attend exciting courses or run corporate events without distraction.

"We find that much of what we do appeals to the discerning over 50s with active interests. Unknown to many, there is a quiet revolution taking place which reflects demographic change and an unease with a youth-obsessed political focus.

"Furthermore, with the state of the economy and a collapse of the euro exchange surely it's cool to stay in Britain and make the most of what we’ve got here. You don't leave with a degree from Dillington but we can guarantee you will drive away enriched with a refreshed mind, more knowledgeable and thoroughly prepared for the hurly burly of normal life."