10 YEARS AGO

TURBINE TIME: Plans to install a series of water turbines at key sites along the River Tyne, including Haltwhistle, Haydon Bridge, Bellingham, Prudhoe and Hexham, were unveiled by Northumberland County Council.

CROWNING GLORY: Volunteers in Humshaugh saved their village pub, the Crown Inn, from closure just weeks after coming to the rescue of their local shop.

EARTHQUAKE ESCAPE: A Matfen couple were caught up in the massive earthquake that devastated Chile, with their hotel rocked violently by tremors.

BURNED DOWN: A Hexhamshire family watched helplessly as a fire engine struggled over ungritted roads to reach their burning home, costing fire crews vital minutes.

25 YEARS AGO

MILL MUSINGS: Plans were announced to bring up to 28 jobs to Redesdale by turning the historic Otterburn Mill into a top quality tourist attraction.

HOME WRECKER: A Tynedale Council tenant claimed that council workmen had ruined his house after they left rubble and half-eaten food in his house for over a week.

PRIVATE MONEY: It was revealed that the new multi-million pound hospital for Hexham could be built using private finance, after the chief executive of Northumberland Community Health Trust , Mr Chris Humphris, said exploring the option of private backing could not be ruled out.

QUEUE FURY: Angry shoppers had to queue for up to half an hour to be served at the new Hexham Post Office franchise in Robb’s, with queues sometimes spilling out on to Fore Street. Management denied that the queues were a result of a dispute over pay.

50 YEARS AGO

SEX SCANDAL: The Sele School in Hexham went against the wishes of most parents and refused to allow older pupils to watch a BBC TV series on sex education. The decision was made despite the fact that most parents voted in favour of the film being shown.

RECORD RISE: Hexham Rural Council announced that local rates were to go up by seven pence. This was said to be the biggest increase in the council’s history.

NEW LOOK: Hexham store Robb’s opened a new food hall with 4,500 sq ft of floor space – twice the size of its predecessor.

EXCHANGE CHANGE: Corbridge’s telephone exchange, the last manual switchboard in the Newcastle telephone area, closed. It was superseded by a £70,000 electronic exchange.

75 YEARS AGO

RABBIT SHOW: A show held by Hexham and District Rabbit Club attracted 100 entries.

FAREWELL SUPPER: The Home Guard’s Falstone, Kielder, and Whickhope sections held a farewell supper at Falstone.

100 YEARS AGO

MEMORIAL UNVEILED: A war memorial was unveiled at Lambley churchyard.

NO NUMBERS: A Haltwhistle parish councillor’s proposal that houses be given numbers was turned down by his colleagues.

FARM FIRE: A fire broke out at Bradley Home Farm, near Wylam, causing £1,000 worth of damage. Hay, oats, straw, and a threshing machine were destroyed.

125 YEARS AGO

SESSIONS SUPPORTED: Allendale Parish Council voted against holding its meetings in open session despite one councillor claiming that excluding members of the public would drive them into ‘haunts of vice and wickedness'.

ORDER BREACHED: Four men from the Haltwhistle area were fined six pence apiece for allowing their dogs out unmuzzled, in contravention of a rabies order passed a month earlier.

FEARS ALLAYED: A dog caught worrying sheep at Alston was found not to be rabid, as had been feared, but simply to have “taken a liking to mutton.”

150 YEARS AGO

FULL HONOURS: A pitman who was killed in an accident at Acomb pit was buried with military honours due to his membership of the 11th Northumberland (Sandhoe) Rifle Corps. Thomas Lowe was buried at St John Lee Parish Church.

TRAGIC TRAIN: A boy fell out of a train travelling between Wylam and Ryton on the Newcastle to Carlisle Railway Line, and later died in hospital.

EXCITING NEWS: Haydon Bridge was expected to finally get a cemetery and cemetery chapel. The Courant correspondent wrote that it was likely Corbridge would soon follow, as “it is said that one is greatly needed there".

BAD WINTER: The Courant correspondent for Allendale reported that the village had been experiencing a very hard winter, and residents had not seen the ground for weeks due to the snow. However, the Monday had seen the thaw begin to finally set in – although the roads from the village to Weardale remained impassable due to the weather.