10 YEARS AGO

Education Exit: Two governors at the troubled Allendale Middle school were ousted and replaced with special appointees of Northumberland County Council. Chairwoman of governors Hilary Robson and vice-chairman Ed Brown were relinquished of their roles after an Ofsted report criticised the school’s “inadequate” management.

Village Trade: Northumberland County Council submitted significant boundary change proposals to the Electoral Commission. The Haltwhistle division lost Featherstone to Haydon, whilst Humshaugh lost Great Whittington to the Ponteland West division.

Hospital Hopes: Plans for a £27m mental health hospital in Prudhoe were given final approval. Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust highlighted Prudhoe Hospital as the site for its new 40-bed centre of excellence for children and young people with mental health problems.

Show Success: The Northumberland County Show smashed records after 27,000 people – the show’s biggest ever attendance to date – attended the 28th annual event.

25 YEARS AGO

Kielder Campaign: A scheme to confirm Kielder’s position as the tourist playground of the North was launched. Six organisations announced their ambition to develop Kielder as a tourist attraction, thereby boosting the economy of the Tynedale area.

Housing Havoc: Tynedale Council was swamped with objections over the proposed 500-house development in Hexham. A council planning director said the town’s new houses and population growth had stretched the town’s services to breaking point.

Toll Order: A proposal by the Government to turn the Haltwhistle bypass into a toll road, built and run by a private company, were blasted by angry Northumberland county councillors.

Trade Fall: Traders in Haltwhistle were up in arms over traffic chaos they claimed was being caused through work on a major town centre scheme. Shopkeepers alleged takings dropped because parking spaces were cut while council workmen gave the market place a facelift.

50 YEARS AGO

Major Development: Northumberland county planning authority approved a 45-acre development west of Causey Hill, Hexham, for between 136 and 201 houses.

Thanks, Lads: Bellingham Rural Council sent a letter of appreciation to police who mounted a search for a ten-year-old boy missing in Kielder Forest.

Electoral Savings: Children from the Shaftoe Trust Primary School were guests at a meeting of Haydon Parish Council – and asked a number of questions about play equipment in the village.

75 YEARS AGO

Taken In: Tenants of new £1,000 farm workers’ cottages in Horsley, Slaley, Whittington and Juniper had to take in other agricultural workers – a condition attacked by members of Hexham Rural Council.

Mother’s Pride: The mother and eldest sister of Langley soldier Pte. John Armstrong (24) saw him awarded a DCM by the King for destroying an enemy machine gun post.

100 YEARS AGO

Radical Views: At Hexham Abbey, the Rev. W.C. Bevan said reform of the Church of England was long overdue.

Bionic Men: Two soldiers from Ovingham returned from a hospital in Glasgow with artificial limbs – one a foot, the other a whole leg.

Bad odour: Sanitary conditions in Wall and Ovington left a lot to be desired, a medical officer reported. In Wall, he found “huge yawning ashpits” everywhere. In Ovington, where a two room cottage housed two men, a woman and five children, he ordered that two of the children be sent to homes.

125 YEARS AGO

Mark of Respect: Queen Victoria’s 75th birthday was marked in Hexham by hoisting the flag on the Abbey tower.

kissing curse: A methodist minister from Bellingham blamed dancing and kissing games in schools for a fall in church membership.

Strange Birds: Grouse on some of the moors north of Haydon Bridge seemed to be dying of a mystery disease. They were found in a sitting position, plump and in good condition.

150 YEARS AGO

Post Preference: A proposal was put forward to Hexham’s local board of health for an additional post box to be placed on Fore street, Hexham. One member observed that the post office was a long distance from where he resided, and it occupied a lot of time going to and from it, and a new pillar box would be a great advantage.

Fun Guy: A Bellingham farmer found a large mushroom measuring six inches in diameter in a field below Bellingham Mill.