10 YEARS AGO

GUNMAN TERROR: Armed police surrounded remote outbuildings near Elsdon, as the net tightened on suspected gunman Raoul Moat, days after his former partner was spirited away from her home in Prudhoe and placed under police protection.

PRICED OUT: A new social centre in Haltwhistle for the elderly was being set up to fail, it was claimed. Town councillors said the £24 per head cost would put it out of the reach of most pensioners.

ALIEN ATTACK?: A UFO allegedly spotted over the skies of Prudhoe caused excitement on a website dedicated to spotting the strange phenomena.

COUNCIL CUTS: Up to 1,000 employees at Northumberland County Council looked set to lose their jobs in the latest round of budget cuts, described as the county’s most difficult period in years.

25 YEARS AGO

SAFETY CALLS: Calls for a roundabout to be built at a notorious accident blackspot near Chollerford were renewed after a further two serious accidents in 24 hours.

POOL PLAN: Another new investment package worth £1.2m aimed at reinforcing Kielder Water’s position as the tourism capital of Northumberland, including a luxury swimming pool, were unveiled by Northumbrian Water.

PARENTS' BATTLE: The battle to save closure-threatened Humshaugh First School was stepped up as worried parents spoke out against the proposal at a meeting.

STRUCK DOWN: A former Hexhamshire man, James Ian Barron, died during a thunderstorm in Preston after apparently being struck by lightning.

50 YEARS AGO

OFFICIAL OPENING: A £272,000 new bridge over the River South Tyne at Haydon Bridge was officially opened.

POCKET MONEY: The average amount of pocket money given to children in the North-East was 3s 10d per week, the Hexham Courant reported.

PIE PALAVER: Hexham magistrates fined the Co-op supermarket chain £20 for wrongly labelling tins of pie filling. Tins that purported to contain black cherry pie filling actually contained apple and blackberry, the court heard.

CHAMPIONS RAMPANT: Newbrough’s cricket club, reigning champions and top of the league to boot, demolished Newton, declaring at 220-4 and getting their opponents all out for 29.

75 YEARS AGO

PRISONERS SUFFER: A lorry driver was fined 40 shillings for careless driving, after colliding with a wall on the Dilston-Slaley road and injuring his 16 German prisoners of war passengers. On the same day, also at Hexham petty sessions, a farm labourer from Great Whittington was put on probation for stealing a German PoW’s boots.

HOUSES PLEA: Hexham Rural Council urged the Ministry of Health to allocate it 20 prefabricated timber houses to accommodate farm workers returning from war service.

100 YEARS AGO

FUND-RAISING FETE: A bazaar and garden fete held at Newbrough Hall raised £550 for the village church, St Peter’s.

FATAL FRIGHT: Two horses drawing a cart in Eastgate, Hexham, ran amok after being frightened by a gunshot, wrecking a Battle Hill confectionary shop they ran into and fatally injuring the driver, a Hexhmshire farm-worker.

125 YEARS AGO

BRIDGE BUILT: A new wooden bridge was built over Nattras Gill at Alston.

ORCHID ACCLAIM: An orchid grown by Norman Cookson, of Wylam, won a Royal Horticultural Society medal.

150 YEARS AGO

FATAL ACCIDENT: A man, named John Gray, was driving a furniture trolley on his way to Healey, and when in Broomley, he fell off his wagon, and the wheels ran over him, killing on the spot. An inquest into the death of the 53-year-old returned a verdict of accidental death.

GROUSE SEASON: The gamekeepers in North Tyne and Redewater began to run their dogs, and the grouse were stated to be plentiful. It was one of the best seasons known as far as weather was concerned.

SCHOOL INSPECTED: Allenheads School was inspected by H.E Oakley, Esq, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools.There were 140 children, 114 of whom had attended school more than 200 times during the previous year. Mr Oakley wrote: “The state of this school is most creditable to Master Bates.”

HOPPING MAD: A labourer, living in Rochester, observed that a mole was “committing serious havoc” in his garden. Resolving to put a stop to it, he placed a mole trap in its path. Next morning, on examining his trap, he was disappointed to find a frog instead of the expected mole. The following day, better fortune repaid his perseverance, for he found - not the mole - but a rabbit.