A trip down memory lane, we take a look back at the stories to have hit the headlines 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 125-years ago. Do you remember any of the events?

10 YEARS AGO

GRAFFITI BLIGHT: Police are turning a blind eye to the high level of graffiti blighting Hexham, it was claimed. The allegation came from Coun. Andy Travis at a meeting of Hexham Town Council. West Tynedale neighbourhood inspector Dave Thornhill denied the police turned a blind eye to the problem.

NATIONAL AWARD: Kielder’s Calvert Trust won a top national award for its sporting provision. The pioneering adventure centre on the shores of Kielder Water won the Mobility Sport Award which recognises organisations who either by their own sporting achievements, or has encouraged, inspired and enabled people with disabilities to participate in sport.

RUSTLING FEARS: Dozens of Texel sheep were stolen from a Belsay farm, sparking fears that rustlers were once against targeting the district. Police appealed for information after 86 of the pedigree sheep were taken from two fields in the village in a week.

FINAL WHISTLE: One of Tynedale’s oldest and most successful football teams folded. Former winners of the Northumberland Minor Cup, Wark have resigned from the Northern Alliance League because a freakishly long injury list left them unable to fulfil their fixtures.

STEAMING INTO VIEW: An iconic steam train dating back to 1927 steamed along the Tyne Valley railway. The Scots Guardsman was one of only two preserved Royal Scots class locomotives left in the country.

25 YEARS AGO

WORKMAN HIJACKED: A man was hijacked in his van at Hexham and forced to drive nearly 20 miles before being abandoned near Sparty Lea. The driver, who was unhurt but shaken, found a phone box and called the police.

HISTORIC BUILDING: The future of one of Hexham’s most historic industrial buildings hung by a thread. A proposal to demolish the ancient Ropery, in a back lane off Priestpopple, was defeated by only a single vote at a meeting of Hexham Town Council.

RABBITS’ ANTICS: Rascally rabbits churned up trouble at Stocksfield Cricket Club with their digging antics. The club explained to Broomley and Stocksfield Parish Council that the rabbits were reproducing rather rapidly, to the extent that there were about 100 of them methodically digging up the cricket pitch.

HEFTY BILL: Haltwhistle Town Council looked set to be saddled with a hefty auditors’ bill after a complaint by three parishioners. The move to call in the auditors was made by three unnamed residents who had claimed the town council had dipped into a fund earmarked for play equipment, to meet the cost of a street light situated just outside the Park Road play area. At a meeting of the town council, councillors defended themselves against what they saw as allegations of misuse of public money.

50 YEARS AGO

INFLATION AT BAY: Price rises were much in the news, but the Hexham area continued to be one of the cheapest places in the country as far as food went, it was reported.

GOALS GALORE: That weekend’s football matches were unusually high scoring. Heddon hammered Haydon Bridge 10-4, Alston beat Morpeth 6-5, Eastgarth trounced Acomb 11-1 and Allendale and Wark drew 4-4, to give but four results.

POOL PLAN: Prudhoe and Monkton Hospital announced that it was poised to open an £8,000 indoor swimming pool for use by its patients.

BULLOCK BOUGHT: The Charolais cross bullock named as champion beast at that week’s Hexham Auction Mart suckler sale fetched £180.

75 YEARS AGO

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Alston Agricultural Society’s centenary show, postponed since 1939 because of the World War II, attracted a record number of spectators, some 3,000 in total.

WATERY WASH-OUT: A water borehole at Acomb proved a wash-out, running dry after 10 minutes on its first day in use and after five minutes the day after.

NAME CHANGE: Hexham urban councillors named the town’s first post-World War II housing development the Priestlands estate after dismissing the former name of the road off which it was to be built, Cuddy Lane, as inappropriate.

FORESTER BOWS OUT: Healey estate’s head forester, Mr T. Farbridge, retired after 52 years’ service.

100 YEARS AGO

HUGE TURN-OUT: 1921’s Falstone Border Shepherds’ Show, the first since 1913, attracted a record crowd and well over 1,000 entries.

SALE SUCCESS: A sale of work held at Birtley, near Wark, raised £122 for the parish endowment fund.

125 YEARS AGO

SNOW CAUSES CHAOS: Upper Redesdale was hit by snowstorms reported to be the heaviest within living memory for that time of year.

FESTIVAL PUT OFF: Corbridge’s annual water festival had to be postponed for a fortnight due to the River Tyne being in a “swollen condition”.