10 YEARS AGO

SHOTS FIRED: Just five days before the nation was shocked by Derrick Bird’s rampage through West Cumbria, gun shots rang out in Stocksfield after a 34-year-old man was found with a gun shot wound to his left shoulder on Friday night.

RECORD YEAR: Northumberland County Show attracted a record crowd, despite hundreds of visitors getting trapped at railway stations as Northern Rail struggled to cater for the masses of passengers.

FLOWER POWER: The Tulip family from Haydon Bridge were outraged after they were told that the Wellington in Riding Mill’s offer of a free meal on Bank Holiday Monday for anyone with a floral name only extended to one per table after they were presented with bills for three of their meal.

UNHOLY BATTLE: Battle lines were drawn over an unholy row between Hexham Town Council and the Abbey, after Mayor Terry Robson laid claim to a car park vital to the Abbey’s plans to develop a multi-million pound visitor centre.

POOR POLES: Parts of Fourstones were left without power for over seven hours on a Sunday, when three electricity poles were damaged and an electrical conductor left trailing on the road.

25 YEARS AGO

DECISION DELAY: The Department of the Environment was accuse of dragging its heels over making a decision on the application for a new Safeway supermarket at Bridge End in Hexham. A decision had been expected in March.

CONTROVERSIAL CLAIM: The company at the centre of the sensational claim that Haltwhistle is the centre of Britain came under attack, with critics claiming they were only using the idea to line their own pockets.

PLANS ATTACKED: Claims that a proposed discount supermarket on the Thompson’s Garage site in Prudhoe would bring trade back into the town were fiercely contested by councillors and traders.

GOOD GOLF: Within weeks of opening, the new Matfen Hall Golf Club had already established itself as a firm favourite with discerning golfers.

DUAL PURPOSE: The second courtroom at Tynedale Magistrates Court in Hexham was given a multi-purpose image to cater for the different number of cases that were heard in the room, with greys and pinks and a sumptuous curtain sweeping in front of the magistrate’s bench.

50 YEARS AGO

MAP MISTAKE: Hexham Rural Council heard that a new Ordnance Survey map of the area depicting disused railway tracks as footpaths had caused ramblers much confusion. It was agreed that the council write to the cartographers asking them to rectify this mistake in future editions.

75 YEARS AGO

FREED PRESENTS: Hexham Inner Wheel Club and a Haydon Bridge committee presented gifts of money and cigarettes to local men who had returned home after being held as prisoners of war.

BUNNIES BONANZA: A rabbit show, held at Corbridge, attracted 423 entries. Another rabbit show, held in Hexham two days earlier, drew 85 entries and raised £100 for the Red Cross Prisoners of War Fund.

100 YEARS AGO

MEMORIALS UNVEILED: Two war memorials; a tablet and a stone cross; were unveiled at Simonburn.

CHEAP TALK: A fell monger from Hexham was fined 30 shillings for using obscene language.

125 YEARS AGO

THUNDER STRUCK: Eight cows, worth £60 in total, died after being struck by lightning during a thunderstorm at Blanchland.

METHODIST FUNDRAISER: A two-day bazaar held by Haydon Bridge’s Primitive Methodists raised £86 for chapel funds.

150 YEARS AGO

WEDDING CRASHED: A young woman, named Margaret Hams, was charged with stealing a quantity of clothes and household linens. It soon transpired that she was apprehended that morning at a party to celebrate her wedding, which had taken place the same day.

DRUNK CHARACTER: Jane Black, a “well-known character” in Hexham was charged with being drunk in the town. Due to it being her sixth offence, she was sent to Morpeth Prison for three months.

SELE SPORTS: Hexham Cricket Club held their annual sports on the “Seal” in the presence of a large number of spectators. The Courant reported that “the hillside was lined with sightseers principally belonging to the gentler and fairer portion of creation, the sterner sex being assembled in greatest force on the level ground.”

WHIT MONDAY: Whit Monday was closely observed in Hexham as a general holiday, with the shops closed the whole day. The weather was reportedly “of the most lovely description” to the point the heat was “little short of being oppressive.”