10 YEARS AGO

TIME'S UP: Motorists who routinely flouted parking restrictions across Tynedale were in for a shock, after an army of parking wardens were appointed despite cost-cutting measures by Northumberland County Council.

LUCKY ESCAPE: A shopping trip for a mother and daughter almost ended in disaster, when a falling tree smashed on top of their car as they were driving into Hexham from their home in Allendale. Neither Julie Telford nor her daughter Ebony were seriously injured.

RUBBISH IDEA: Novelty discs created by the county council - at a cost of £3,258 - that were supposed to help residents with their recycling branded a confusing waste of money.

SPECIAL DAY: Ponteland's Kitty Stredder was sent a 100th birthday card from Hercule Poirot - or at least, the actor David Suchet, who attended Wellington School in Somerset, where Kitty's late husband had been headmaster.

25 YEARS AGO

PLANS WRECKED: Crucial plans by Prudhoe Town FC to build a new clubhouse and two grandstands at its Kimberly Park ground looked as though they would be shelved because of methane danger from the old West Wylam tip.

LITTLE TIPPLE: Police were appealing for witnesses to help track down thieves who stole more than 1,000 litres of whisky worth £16,000 from a lorry in Hexham.

PRIVATE PROGRESS: After around 20 years of campaigning, Haltwhistle's bypass was set to be built - and by a private group, Roadlink, according to Prime Minister John Major.

NEW KID: Redesdale man David Scott announced plans to stand in the Hexham constituency at the 1997 election, in an attempt to take the seat for te UK Independence Party.

50 YEARS AGO

SHEEP SLAUGHTER: Three lambs were killed and a further 50 had to be slaughtered after being mauled by dogs at Medburn near Ponteland.

TELEVISION THREATS: The UK-wide switch to an improved 625-line TV network from a 405-line system could lead to people in Allendale being left with a blank TV screen, a parish council meeting heard.

75 YEARS AGO

GOAL FEST: Hexham Hearts football team scored their 50th goal of the season -after only nine games. The team reached the titantic tally by beating Corbridge Rangers 7-1, a week after pulverising Prudhoe's ICI 15-0.

THUMBS DOWN: Bellingham Rural Council voted against allowing a party of schoolchildren to attend one of their meetings.

VILLAGE'S DISAPPEARANCE?: Mickley would face extinction if plans drawn up by the Ministry of Town and Country Panning got the go-ahead,the Courant reported.

MERGER TALKS: West Wylam and Prudhoe Co-operative Society held talks with Blaydon and District Industrial and Provident Society with a view to a merger.

100 YEARS AGO

SALE SUCCESS: A gift sale held by Wall Women's institute raised £21 for the village's reading room and Hexham Orthopaedic Annexe.

WELL PLAYED: A whist drive held by Acomb Brass Band raised £41 for new instruments.

LEAGUE LECTURE: Corbridge Town Hall was the venue for a lecture on the League of Nations. The event was organised by Corbridge Literary Association.

125 YEARS AGO

PARISH REORGANISATION: Plans to split the Allendale parish in two were afoot. It was proposed that two smaller parishes be created instead, one centred on Ninebanks, and the other, as was already the case, on Allendale.

ABATTOIR TALK: Hexham Urban District Council held a meeting with the town's butchers, at which the establishment of a new public slaughterhouse was discussed. The town's existing private abattoirs had been declared defective by council inspectors.

150 YEARS AGO

TRAIN TROUBLE: Courant correspondent 'Ariel' wrote another scathing report on Hexham Railway Station. He wrote: "The efforts put forth to effect some alterations are the veriest blunders that any man, whether engineer or common platelayer, ever committed."

DESTRUCTIVE "CASUAL": Edward Clayton, a tramp, was brought before magistrates at Hexham, having wilfully destroyed his clothes while being relieved at Hexham workhouse. He said his clothes were so filthy that he could wear them no longer - but was sentenced to a months imprisonment with hard labour.

EAR TODAY: A prostitute named Elizabeth Farthing (19) was charged with cannibalism after biting off the ear of a woman named Matilda Brown, as well as biting her thumb and hitting her face. She was sent to prison for three months.