What were the Hexham Courant headlines 150 years ago?

10 years ago

PLANS REJECTED: Plans for a four-star holiday accommodation complex along Hadrian's Wall were refused. The 18-bedroom holiday accommodation was considered excessive and not in keeping with the countryside. 

CLOSURE: The Crown and Anchor pub in Horsley was shut after being the heart of the community for 200 years. The site was to be transformed into offices and was sold for around £250,000. 

HISTORY FEARS: Consultation got underway on plans to reform English Heritage. The Department for Media, Culture and Sport wanted the organisation to operate as a charity, funded by an £80m cash injection, instead of relying on taxpayers' contributions.

POTHOLE REMOVAL: A surprise £600,000 funding package was announced to clear a backlog of more than 12,000 potholes across Northumberland.  

25 years ago

CAR BLOWN OVER: A huge gust of wind blew over a car travelling on Ovingham Bridge. Freda Bell, of Bewick Lane in Ovingham, lost control of her car before overturning. Mrs Bell, 49, was trapped in the car for nearly 20 minutes while firefighters from Prudhoe and Hexham tried to free her. She was treated at Hexham General Hospital for a fractured knee.

BLACKOUTS: Parts of Tynedale lost their electricity supply again as gales lashed the district. Nearly 2,000 homes in Allendale, Catton, Bardon Mill and Haydon Bridge were blacked out when a tree came down on a main supply line. 

Metal detector club members Kevin Whelan, (L) and Stephen Patterson demonstrate how they discovered Anglo-Saxon coins (Image: NQ)

METAL MEN: Two Hexham men struck silver when they unearthed a hoard of buried treasure in Northumberland. Stephen Patterson and Derek Kew were at the forefront of an astonishing find of Anglo-Saxon coins which were possibly worth thousands of pounds.

50 years ago

WATER SUPPLY: Water from the controversial Kielder reservoir scheme would provide water until the year 2000, supplying the North East as well as Yorkshire it was claimed.

JOINT PROPOSAL: A commune to house elderly and disabled people in Haydon Bridge was suggested by village doctor Robert High.

75 years ago

ADULT LABOUR: Hexham newsagents faced with the problem of the withdrawal of child labour for the delivery of morning newspapers, decided the only way to maintain the service was to employ adults.

FARMSTOCK REJECTED: Slaley show members at their annual meeting decided not to introduce the farmstock section of the show. 

OUTDOOR CONCERT: Northumberland Junior Orchestra played for the first time outside of Newcastle to a delighted audience in Hexham Abbey.

100 years ago

UNITED: Hexham and District Farmers' Ball held at the Queen's Hall was a colourful affair attended by more than 300 people.

FUN EVENT: Directed by Miss Mollie Cochrane, the 1st Corbridge Brownies gave the operetta Beauty and the Beast in the parish hall.

TENNIS TOPS: Bellingham Tennis Club were the first winners of the Straker-Smith cup as champions of the newly-formed Hexham and District league.

125 years ago

TRADER BALL: The Prudhoe Tradesmen's Ball was held in St Matthew's Hall which ended at 5am.

SHEEP HEAD FEAST: President Dr Duncan Stewart presided at the annual dinner of Hexham Burns Club in the Royal Hotel. On the menu were cockieleekie, sheep's head broth, haggis and trotters.

150 years ago

NEW SCHOOL: The ratepayers in Allendale at a meeting at the Kings Head Inn decided that a new school be built in East Allendale on a site to be obtained by the ratepayers and to become their property.

BOARD ELECTION: Hexham was to undergo its first school board election.

POOR CONDITIONS: There were overcrowded and ill-ventilated houses with a great lack of cleanliness on Gilesgate.