10 YEARS AGO

ONION’S CORONATION: Haltwhistle’s Maria Hodgeson won first prize with her 14lb onion at Haltwhistle’s Railway Inn Leek Show. She said: “I know plants are supposed to thrive if you talk to them, so I kept chatting away to him and made sure he could hear Coronation Street on the tele.”

SECRET TALKS: There were fears that up to £80m could be slashed from Northumberland County Council’s budget over the next four years, leading to a huge reduction in council-run services and mass redundancies.

LIAR LIAR: Appalled villagers in Humshaugh accused the Post Office of lying, in order to force through the closure of their much-loved post office. The postal service claimed that villagers could use the service in Simonburn, even though it had already been closed.

GONE BATTY: Police were called and work to fell a dangerous ash tree hanging over a Bellingham play area was halted after a body – of a bat – was found under the tree.

25 YEARS AGO

GOOD SOLUTION: Months of uncertainty about the future of Hexham’s Post Office ended, with the announcement that it would move from its Battle Hill site to a new location within Robb’s the next month.

WHAT’S THAT?: After a Bellingham man claimed he saw a UFO in August, five more people claimed they saw the mysterious object in Ovington.

SWITCHED ON: 50 people scattered along the Military Road above Haltwhistle met with Hexham’s MP Peter Atkinson to discuss a faulty power supply over the previous 30 years.

SOMETHING FISHY: Bellingham hotelier Jonathon Cocker ended the drought of one of the worst salmon fishing seasons on the Tyne in years when he caught four salmon and three sea trout in just three hours.

50 YEARS AGO

BUS BOTHER: Members of Hexham Rural Council expressed misgivings about subsidies being made to bus companies, and it was feared that the grants might escalate to the point where the council could no longer afford them.

PRUDHOE BYPASS: Prudhoe Urban Council agreed to a proposal from Northumberland County Council that a bypass should be built for the town. It would be, the council heard, 1,300 yards in length and have two 24 feet dual carriageways. It was proposed to build it on the north side of the town.

TURKEYS PLAN: Hexham Rural Council’s public health committee gave its approval for a turkey rearing house to be built at North Farm, Humshaugh, after an application by J.S Dickinson.

LAST CALLS: It was announced that the manual telephone exchange at Corbridge – the last one in the Newcastle area – was to close and would be replaced by an electronic exchange later in the year.

75 YEARS AGO

JUDGE’S PLEA: Declaring open a flower show and pony gymkhana on behalf of the Corbridge Welcome Home Fund, His Honor Judge T. Richardson said: “We are now on the victory road,” and went on to plead that it was time the funds were got together to welcome home the men of the various services who had been fighting in the war.

GOING, GOING: A bungalow at Southlands, Hexham, containing an oak-panelled hall, four rooms, tiled kitchenette and bathroom, heated green house and large garden, was sold by auction in Hexham for £1,595.

100 YEARS AGO

BIG FINE: A fine of 10s was imposed on a Hexham man when he admitted to stealing a half pint glass, valued at 8 1/2d from the Criterion Inn, Hexham.

WARK FOALS: Messrs Johnson and Son held their annual foal show at Wark. It was described as very good, with some “exceedingly fine animals being forward.”

125 YEARS AGO

POSTAL HOPE: A report in the Courant said it was understood a new sub post office was to be opened at the end of Fore Street.

TAKING CARE: Following the sudden death of a navvy, who collapsed and died near Mallowburn, gangers and other officials agreed to form themselves into an ambulance class.

TOP SHOW: The 11th annual exhibition of the Acomb Floral and Horticultural Society show was so well supported that exhibits had to be staged in two large marquees, which had been erected on the meadow close to the village. The exhibits were described as excellent.

150 YEARS AGO

HEALTH VISIT: Mr Hewlett, principal health officer of the city of Bombay, paid a visit to Hexham after being told it was one of the places in which “modern health arrangements had been carried out.”

SCALP WON: A quarrel between “tea Willie” and a rabbit catcher over horse racing was being investigated by police after Willie’s scalp – from the top of his head to his ear – was left hanging over his face.