10 years ago

storm brewing: Fears were growing that picturesque Tynedale could be swamped beneath a sea of turbines, after plans for a windfarm at Kiln Pit Hill were approved by the Planning Inspectorate.

ponteland pampered: Plans for a multi-million pound investment to revamp two rundown shopping areas in Ponteland took a step forward. Developers unveiled proposals of up to £20 million being spent on regenerating the centre of the town and the ageing Merton Way shopping centre.

Close call: The dreaded Friday 13th proved an unlucky day for one Humshaugh resident. After taking his dog for a walk with his wife, David Prest returned to a scene of devastation – a 15-foot high, 40 foot long wall had come crashing down into his garden.

25 years ago

better bursary: Hexham was selected as one of five towns in Northumberland to take part in a pioneering £50,000 scheme aimed at improving life in small towns across the country.

Quick exit: Anger flared at a Tynedale Council planning meeting when two farmer councillors stormed out in disgust. Vice-chairman, Coun. Clarence White, and Coun. Phil Stonehouse slammed down their papers, and walked out of the council chamber at Prospect House, Hexham.

political petulance: Scottish Nationalists launched a protest in Hexham this week to attack ‘gerrymandering’ by MP Peter Atkinson. Protestors from the SNP handed out leaflets in the Market Place accusing the Hexham MP of neglecting his constituents by interfering in Scottish affairs.

terrific trooper: A Coldstream guardsman from Prudhoe helped to ensure that thousands of starving refugees in Bosnia were getting the humanitarian aid they desperately needed. Darren Long was one of 2,200 British troops deployed by the UN, and drove a Warrior armoured personnel carrier to escort mercy convoys with supplies to the hungry and homeless.

50 years ago

Churned up: A frozen main at Allerwash, near Fourstones, left four families relying on ten gallon milk churns for their water for more than a week.

No motion: A move to ban all vehicles except delivery vans and lorries from Fore Street in Hexham was defeated at a meeting of the works committee of Hexham Urban Council.

Job Perk: Councillors in Prudhoe created a storm of protest by employing a part-time watchman without advertising the job – which came with a redecorated rent-free house.

75 years ago

water disgrace: The landlady of a pub in Falstone admitted to Bellingham magistrates that she had watered down the gin because, she claimed, it was too strong for members of the Women’s Land Army.

savage shoe: A 34-year-old Kielder woman was jailed for a month for an unprovoked attack on a 16-year-old girl. The woman had hit her over the head with a pair of shoes at Bellingham railway station.

100 years ago

divorce done: A Corbridge man was granted a divorce because of his wife’s relationship with the French consul at Newcastle, Baron Louis de Belabre.

hexhamshire hospital: After Northumberland County Council bought a farm at Wooley in Hexhamshire, a committee recommended siting a sanatorium there. The idea was passed with a one vote majority.

rugby returns: With a rugby revival underway in Britain, the Tynedale club was meeting in Hexham to discuss relaunching the team, many of whose members had been killed in the First World War.

125 years ago

river rapids: A seven-year-old boy was feared drowned after walking along a riverside path near Wylam during a storm. People assumed his hat had blown into the river, and he had fallen in while trying to retrieve it.

roman road: Traces of a road, running parallel to Hadrian’s Wall and possibly Roman, were uncovered by archaeologists at Downhill, near Corbridge.

wacky weather: Five children had a narrow escape when a severe gale hit Hexham, brining the chimney of the house next door crashing through their roof. Their father, a cartman who lived in Cattle Market, plucked them to safety before they could be buried in the debris.

150 YEARS AGO

BRUTAL ASSAULT: The ‘usual quiet and peaceable town of Bellingham’ was shocked when stone mason George Anderson was found lying in his own blood after a large stone boulder was dropped on his head.

DILAPIDATING STATION: Hexham Railway Station was described as ‘a reproach to the North Eastern Railway Company’ due to its dangerous condition.