10 YEARS AGO

SCHOOL PLANS: Prudhoe was in line for a brand new high school to replace the existing crumbling school premises. Prudhoe was selected as one of three schools in Northumberland which could qualify for a complete rebuild under a new Private Finance Initiative. The proposal was to go before a meeting of Northumberland County Council’s ruling executive with members urged to submit Prudhoe’s case to the Government.

FUNERAL DATE: The funeral of murdered Hexham pensioner, Judith Richardson, was to be held at Hexham Abbey on October 10. Miss Richardson (77) was found dead in the hallway of her home on St Wilfrid’s Road on August 19 after police visited the address to return her handbag, which had been found stuffed in a bin in Newcastle. Detectives launched a murder investigation and 47-year-old Graeme Jarman, of Consett, was arrested in North Yorkshire. He was due to appear before Newcastle Crown Court on December 9.

LORD OF DANCE: Performing the Gay Gordons and the Highland Fling is a taxing task - even for people in their prime. However, the energetic dances are something Hexham’s Allen Smith took in his stride as he celebrated his 100th birthday. When asked how it felt to be 100-years-old, he said: “’I’ve no intention of sitting down yet - I’m not old enough!”

NEW HOMES: A massive £27 million development was in the pipeline. The 55-acre former Marley Tiles site, near Ebchester, was being lined up as a major centre for up to 300 injured or infirm ex-forces personnel. There were plans for 206 two-bedroomed bungalows and a 96-bed care and nursing facility for serviceman injured in action or suffering in others ways.

25 YEARS AGO

BUS KIDS: A Gilsland couple were ready to tangle with Red Tape in a bid to prevent their children from being forced off their school bus. Twins Ashley and Karina Yelding (11) and their brother, Jonathan (14), attended school at William Howard in Brampton, Cumbria. But because they lived in a house virtually yards across the border in Northumberland, Cumbrian education officials were no longer prepared to pay their way to school.

VISITOR CENTRE: Hexham Abbey was in line for a major development costing more than £1 million. The main part of the project was to build a new visitors’ centre.

50 YEARS AGO

BUILDING BRIDGES: A £5,700 new stone bridge over Kielder Burn, near the village’s castle, was opened.

FLORAL FIRST: Hexham’s Tynedale Cricket Club held its first-ever flower show.

BYPASS CONFIRMED: After months of discussions, the route of the A69 bypass, proposed for Hexham and Corbridge, was agreed on by the various parties involved and confirmed by the Ministry of Transport. Work was due to begin in 1973 and be completed in 1975, it was reported.

SWIMMING HOPES: Plans were finalised for an ambitious Hexham project - the swimming pool in Gilesgate. The project had been in the offering for over 40 years but had been continually pushed back because of lack of

funding.

75 YEARS AGO

WARRIORS’ WINDFALL: Four Kirkheaton men were given £50 apiece upon returning home from war service. This was reported to be the largest amount per head raised by any of the local welcome home funds then on the go.

LABOURERS LAMBASTED: Prudhoe Urban Councillors criticised labourers hired to help build temporary houses in the town for being lazy. The work-shy workers were accused of spending much of their time leaning on their shovels discussing football instead of getting on with the tasks in hand.

CORRESPONDENCE CONVICTION: Bellingham magistrates fined an Elsdon woman £5 for receiving and passing on mail to a German prisoner-of-war.

100 YEARS AGO

MEMORIALS ERECTED: War memorials were unveiled at Corbridge, Haydon Bridge and Greenside.

NEW BUILDINGS: A church hall and school buildings were opened at Stocksfield Baptist Church.

SELL-OUT APOLOGY: The Hexham Courant apologised for failing to have enough copies printed up the week before. All 8,000 copies produced - 1,000 more than was then usual, because of the sales boost a report of Prince Henry’s visit to the town was expected to generate - were sold by the Saturday morning, leaving many later customers empty-handed and disappointed.

HALL OPENED: A new parish church hall was opened at Haydon

Bridge.

125 YEARS AGO

CONVICT CORRESPONDENCE: Several Blanchland villagers received letters purporting to be from a Spanish prisoner willing to share a hoard of £15,000 with them if they would put up bail money for him. The letters were passed on to the police.