10 YEARS AGO

JOBS LOST: A quarter of the workforce at one of Tynedale's top businesses, Thompsons of Prudhoe, were facing the dole after the company gave 80 members of staff 30 days notice of possible redundancy.

SPEAKING OUT: The ex-partner of gunman Rauol Moat spoke about how she spent 39 hours under police protection at Hexham police station while he remained on the run.

LOVE BIRD: Walter the racing pigeon swapped his lonesome loft in the Tyne Valley for the Cornish Rivera, and despite numerous attempts to persuade him to return to Hexham, he continued to enjoy the high life in St Ives.

WAGGING TONGUES: All eyes were on Corbridge as the village played host to the celebrity wedding of ex-England, Arsenal, and Newcastle Untied defender Sol Campbell to Fiona Barret, granddaughter of house-building tycoon sir Lawrie Barratt.

25 YEARS AGO

LOVE STORY: Villagers in Falstone were delighted when Wilfie the peahen, who had hit national headlines after going missing in Spring, returned home - because it meant her mate, Wellington, would finally stop his raucous attempts to lure her home.

COLD FOLK: Elderly residents of Slaley feared they would die before Tynedale Council took action to ease their housing problems. The pensioners were unable to light their coal fires because they were smoked out by downdraughts.

KNOCKED BACK: An application to build a supermarket on the edge of Prudhoe was turned down, much to the relief of councillors and traders in the town.

BABY GIRL: With Newcastle United fans celebrating the arrival of French superstar David Ginola, football mad Dad Stephen Mason thought "Ginola" would be the perfect name for his baby daughter - she ended up Jessica Ginola Mason after an intervention from her Mum, Julie.

50 YEARS AGO

STAFF GO: Falstone Primary School lost its entire teaching staff (of two) when both its headmaster and his assistant left to take jobs elsewhere.

ALLENHEADS ACCIDENT: A tractor fell into the River Allen at Allenheads while doing boring work for a new mine. Its driver sustained minor injuries.

FOOTPATH CLOSURE: A public footpath from Station Road in Stocksfield to Old Ridley was closed by the county council as it was no longer felt to be necessary.

FARM FIRE: Fire broke out at a barn at Apperley Farm, New Ridley, destroying it and 150 tons of hay stored inside.

75 YEARS AGO

ENTRIES UP: Entries for the Tyneside Agricultural Society's annual show in Hexham, then about to be revived after a five-year hiatus, were reported to be among the highest ever.

BARITONE BACK: Hexham baritone Roland Robson resumed his duties as vicar-choral of St Paul's Cathedral in London, after being demobilised by the Royal Air Force. His first post-war performance was as soloist with the BBC Revue Orchestra.

HEXHAM JAILBREAK: Four prisoners escaped from Hexham police station by digging a hole in the wall there. All four were arrested at Whitfield 12 hours later.

100 YEARS AGO

REDESDALE AUCTION: Otterburn Hall was put up for auction in Newcastle, but failed to find a buyer. Parts of its estate sold separately, however, went for a total of £38,035.

ALFRESCO EVENT: A garden party held in Stocksfield raised £170 for the village's Wesleyan church.

125 YEARS AGO

RAILWAY FATALITY: A train driver died after being thrown off and run over by an engine he was cleaning at Mickley.

BRIDGE PLANS: Haltwhistle Rural District Council discussed plans to replace a footbridge over the burn between Haltwhistle and Walltown, with one suitable for carts.

150 YEARS AGO

CLOTHES OFF: John Bunyan, aged about 40, was brought before Magistrates charged with wilfully destroying his clothes while being relieved in Hexham Union Workhouse, and was sentenced to a month's imprisonment in Morpeth Gaol.

PEOPLE COUNTED: 47 people were born in the Hexham Township between April 1 1870 and June 30 1870 inclusive, four of which took place in the Union Workhouse. The total number of deaths was 35, three of which were in the workhouse and three of children under a year. The population was reckoned at 5,306.

PANTRY ROBBER: An Irishman named John Smith, who had been working in Prudhoe for two weeks, was taken into custody on the charge of breaking into a pantry in the village and stealing a pound of butter and about two shillings worth of eggs.

BANGED UP: A "respectably dressed" 25-year-old man named John Leedom was indicted for feloniously shooting at three constables. Mr Leedom claimed his five-shot revolver had exploded by accident, and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.