10 YEARS AGO

DJ BLACK BELT: Wayne Allen, a former Metro Radio presenter, used his karate skills to carry out a citizen’s arrest during a terrifying attack on the Dr Syntax pub, in Prudhoe.

OFFICE SALE: Northumberland County Council started a fire sale of its redundant properties, such as Hexham House, Prospect House, the Old Grammar School and the old swimming pool in Gilesgate.

PAY ACTION: Senior politicians and officers at Northumberland County Council met with trade unions after talks on pay and employment conditions collapsed.

BOGUS CALLER: Northumbria Police conducted house to house inquiries in Bellingham after a bogus caller targeted the home of an elderly couple in their 70s in the village.

HOTEL EXTENSION: Graham Wylie was joined by sporting stars Lee Westwood and Alan Shearer to open the championship Colt golf course and the state-of-the-art clubhouse at Close House, in Heddon-on-the-Wall.

25 YEARS AGO

GP SCHEME: Doctors in Hexham and Prudhoe confirmed they would go ahead with their co-operative scheme for out of hours care, with Bellingham GP Dr Iain Mungall appointed as its first chairman.

BSE CULL: Tynedale farmers were facing serous delays in moving their old cows because the Government’s BSE regulations severely restricted the market.

FUEL GIFT: The convoy of new age travellers who had camped near Bardon Mill for almost two months moved out after a costly legal action to evict them, with the gift of fuel helping them off the site.

UNIT FUTURE: There were questions asked about whether to keep the spinal unit at Hexham open, with Northumberland Community Health Council members compiling a report of the pros and cons.

50 YEARS AGO

ROCKET REPLICA: Allendale sculptor Charles Sansbury produced a 2.5 ton steel replica of the Rocket, the first ever steam locomotive made by railways pioneer George Stephenson. This substantial sculpture was to be used to adorn the outside of a social club in Killingworth.

SPINAL FEARS: It was feared that the Hexham General Hospital’s spinal injuries unit was to be transferred to Newcastle. Campaigners fighting to have this unit retained at Hexham called for it to be upgraded and officially recognised as the regional spinal injuries unit.

PIGEON ULTIMATUM: Hexham Urban Council told pigeon fanciers living on the town’s Priestlands estate that they would no longer be allowed to keep their birds in coops in their back gardens. Alternative accommodation for the birds about to be evicted to be evicted was to be provided elsewhere.

SEWAGE SCHEME: Work was completed on the first phase of a £1,5m sewerage scheme being carried out by Hexham Rural Council.

75 YEARS AGO

TRUTH CALL: At the annual meeting of Hexham and District Moral Welfare Association, calls were made for children to be told the truth about sex, childbirth and suchlike matters. A Miss Boden, a diocesan secretary, said children should be told the facts of life instead of being fobbed off with tales of babies being found under gooseberry bushes or delivered by storks.

ROTARIANS RECORD: Hexham Rotary Club reported that it had given a record amount to charity the year before, the princely sum of £85.

FIRE VICTIMS: A nine-strong family from Wall left homeless when fire destroyed their cottage found a new home in Acomb. An appeal launched to raise money for them to replace possessions destroyed in the blaze raised £54.

100 YEARS AGO

MEMORIAL CEREMONY: A memorial cross was unveiled at Riding Mill to commemorate the 14 villagers killed during the First World War.

FARMER FIRST: Corbridge councillor Forest Maughan was reported to be the first farmer in the district to hoe his turnips that year.

125 YEARS AGO

TEETOTALLERS’ PLEDGE: A branch of the Church of England Temperance Society was founded at Humshaugh. Some 15 youngsters pledged to go to the wagon at the first meeting.

ENORMOUS EGG: A duck belonging to an Acomb man laid the biggest egg seen there so far that year. It was over five inches long and eight inches in circumference and weighed more than seven ounces.