WE looked back through our archives to find out what made headline news up to 150 years ago.

10 years ago

OFSTED: Parents questioned the standard of leadership and management of Corbridge First School. More than 60 per cent of parents who responded to an Ofsted survey did not believe the school was well led and managed.

BALANCE: There were fears the Railway Hotel in Haydon Bridge might not reopen amid speculation the site could be sold and converted into flats.

WALKERS: Sele First School pupils got involved in the Walk on Wednesdays initiative, which aimed to encourage children to walk to school at least once a week to keep cars off the road and exercise.

 25 years ago 

BAD TIMING: Months after a £5,000 Hexham Abbey facelift, the clock on the Abbey still showed the wrong time. The clock was eight minutes slow. 

JOB BOOST: Specialist paint firm Hammerite of Prudhoe created 80 new jobs. 

Hexham Courant: Sheep prices went into freefall at Hexham Auction Mart in the wake of a new BSE scare in 1998Sheep prices went into freefall at Hexham Auction Mart in the wake of a new BSE scare in 1998 (Image: Newsquest)

MISSING: A 72-year-old pensioner who celebrated his birthday by walking the length of the Pennine Way was the subject of a search team when he failed to check in at a hostel in Bellingham. He had been in bed at a bed and breakfast in Bellingham.

Hexham Courant: Hexham schoolchildren Hannah Barren and brother Ben launched a campaign to fundraise for a Tynedale speech therapy department Hexham schoolchildren Hannah Barren and brother Ben launched a campaign to fundraise for a Tynedale speech therapy department (Image: NQ)

GUARD GOOSE: Thieves who broke into a Haltwhistle allotment got more than they bargained for when they came face to face with the unusual security system of a guard goose.

50 years ago

CLOSURE: The National Coal Board confirmed Bardon Mill Colliery was to close in two months' time, putting 240 staff out of work.

BUST-UP: Geoffrey Rippon, then Environment Secretary and MP for Hexham, came under fire at a public meeting at the Beaumont Hotel for the Government's decision to delay work on the Hexham £9 million bypass.

75 years ago

PULLING OUT: Hexham Urban Council pulled out of the Joint Industrial Council, branding it undemocratic and authoritarian.

DEATH CONFIRMED:  The death of Hexham fighter pilot Woodrow Raine was confirmed seven years after he went missing. He was previously a sports writer for the Hexham Courant.

INEDIBLE: More than three per cent of meat turned out by Hexham's slaughterhouse over the previous month had been unfit for consumption according to Hexham Urban Council.

100 years ago

EVENT: Thunderstorms failed to dampen spirits at the 1923 Edmundbyers show which attracted more than 3,000 people. Standards of entries were high, reportedly being the best ever exhibited there.

125 years ago 

HARD RAIN: More than 100 panes of glass were broken in and around Stamfordham by hailstones up to three-quarters of an inch across. The storm during which the damage was done was reportedly the worst to hit the village for over 40 years.

KICK-OFF: A youth football team was set up in Simonburn.

FATALITY: William Marley, a screener injured after being run over by a shunting engine at Prudhoe's West Wylam colliery the week before, died from the accident.

MOURNED: Hexham corn merchant and provisions dealer William Temperley died aged 78. His son Thomas took over the Hexham business and its Newcastle branch was taken on by another son, W.A. Temperley.

150 years ago 

SPUDS: A whopper crop of potatoes was produced by Haydon Bridge cobbler Joseph Turnbull, the largest weighing 11b 3oz.

DOG DIRECTIVE: Hexham magistrates issued an order requiring all dogs in the district to be locked up except when under supervision. The order was prompted by recent cases in Haydon Bridge and Stamfordham of rabid dogs biting other dogs, cows, a horse and a man.