10 YEARS AGO

ROAD CLOSURES: Allendale councillor Colin Horncastle feared some key routes in Tynedale may have to close for safety reasons, due to severe potholes and deterioration.

ABANDONED REHAB: Tynedale Cyrenians decided not to appeal a decision by Tynedale planners to reject a scheme to develop a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics on the outskirts of Otterburn.

POET LAUREATE: Tynedale poet William Radice, from Riding Mill, launched a campaign to become the next Poet Laureate.

FUR FLIES: A cattery owner was furious after his planning application for a sign advertising his business was turned down by the council’s development control committee, after councillors approved two similar signs at the same meeting.

25 YEARS AGO

WE’RE RIGHT: Tynedale planners gave themselves a pat on the back and claimed they were doing a good job – despite the fact that their own market research showed most people were overwhelmingly critical of their decisions.

SAFEWAY PLANS: Plans to build a massive new Safeway supermarket a Bridge End in Hexham, replacing plans for one at Tyne Green, were set to be recommended for rejection by the council’s director of planning.

SCHOOL EXTENSION: A £300,000 extension was being planned for Hexham’s Queen Elizabeth High School, with a six-classroom, split-level geography block which would provide a link to the main building, proposed by Northumberland County Council.

WATER FURY: Residents on a Haltwhistle estate were flushed with anger over the long-running saga of discoloured water supplies.

50 YEARS AGO

FALLING DOWN: Churchgoers at Hexham Abbey were facing instant retribution from above – retribution for not keeping the building in order, that is. A stonemason completing construction work on the south west transept said a stone ball on a pinnacle at the east end of the building could fall at any time.

ROAST BEEF: Electricity board officials were investigating the electrocution of four cows in a byre at a farm in Catton.

SHORT SHRIFT: The 200 workers at the Airscrew-Weyrock factory in Hexham turned down the four-shift, seven-day working which management claimed would increase production by a quarter.

75 YEARS AGO

TAXING QUESTIONS: Hexham Rotarians had a barrage of questions for the town’s inspector of taxes after a speech on the new ‘Pay as you Earn’ system of income tax.

POKER FACED: A 32-year-old Hexham woman was charged with inflicting grievous body harm on her elderly mother following an alleged attack with a poker.

FIRE HERO: Bombadier Ainsley Cleminson, from Fourstones, was awarded the Military Meal for extinguishing burning trucks under heavy shelling on a ship approaching Italy.

100 YEARS AGO

CRUEL HUSBAND: Haltwhistle Petty Sessions ordered a father of 11 to pay his estranged wife 25s a week after hearing how he used to beat her every day until she left him.

NOT FRUITFUL: The Leazes Nurseries in Hexham were put up for auction, but withdrawn when the highest bid reached only £2,900.

PARTY’S OVER: The Alston Ladies’ Working Party disbanded, having made 10,398 items of clothing for troops.

125 YEARS AGO

PRETTY VACANT: A single mother from Haltwhistle accused of stealing hats from a Hexham shop was discharged because she was “vacant” to proceedings.

GIANT HAYSTACK: A haystack 40 yards long caught fire at Errington Farm, Wall - and was only brought under control after 60 to 80 tons were lost.

CAPTAIN HORN-BLOWER: The annual Knarsdale Hunt Ball was postponed out of respect for the late “Acky the Huntsman” – 75-year-old Zaccheus Holmes, who was well known for the blast of his bugle horn and cheery cry “Ho, Towler!”

150 YEARS AGO

HARD CHEESE: A cheese hawker from Gateshead, described as a “delinquent” was committed to Carlisle jail for three months with hard labour under the Vagrancy Act, for swindling a Nenthead post-office worker out of 10s.

RAIL ACCIDENT: A Mrs Baty, who sustained several severe injuries after falling on the platform at Hexham Station, was gradually recovering and intended to institute proceedings against the rail company.

LOST FINGERS: Two foundry workers at Hexham were setting the side valve of a steam engine, when one, Thomas Riddle, moved his hand into the portway. His companion didn’t notice, and when he moved the valve, two of Mr Riddle’s fingers were cut clean off.