A LOOK back at what made the headlines 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 125-years-ago. Do you remember any of these stories?

10 YEARS AGO

PACKED TRAIN: Health and safety concerns have derailed plans to make a packed commuter train between Hexham and Newcastle more comfortable to travel on. An extra Pacer unit added to the notoriously crowded 7.42m train from Hexham to Newcastle was withdrawn after just three days in service. The unit was removed because drivers had to walk from one end of the train to the other in the dark - and rail union health and safety officials said this practice was unsafe.

JOBS SECURED: Tissue manufacturer SCA Hygiene Products created more than a dozen jobs and announced it was to expand its apprentice programme after switching some of its paper towel products from mainland to Prudhoe.

RECORD YEAR: One of the district's biggest tourist attractions saw its visitor numbers hit an all-time high. Wallington Hall, near Cambo, welcomed nearly 204,000 visitors since March 1 that year.

25 YEARS AGO

CHRISTMAS BABY: A Prudhoe couple celebrated Christmas morning in a rather special way - with their baby being born in the bathroom of their home. Rachel Bell gave birth to 6lb 2 1/2oz Connor Raymond Smart, who was born more than a week before he was due.

EPIDEMIC STATUS: The bout of the flu virus that swept parts of Tynedale over the Christmas period saw the illness reach the status of an epidemic.

CAR OVERTURNS: Hexham police were called to help the occupants of a car that ended up on its roof on the central reservation of the A69 at Styford. The occupants of the car suffered minor injuries in the accident.

50 YEARS AGO

NO POLICE PROBE: Prudhoe Urban Council learned that it was not to be prosecuted despite a district auditor's report having revealed various shortcomings, including an "unusually high" number of mistakes in its accounts.

WEATHER NOT WINTRY: The previous month's weather was reported to have been the mildest recorded in Haydon Bridge for December since 1955, temperatures having soared up to 53.3F.

HONOUR FOR ALISON: Alison Tait (16) was named as 1972's Miss Redewater at a dance held at Otterburn's village hall.

SEASONAL SALES: Bargains on offer in the January sales at Hexham's Robbs store included two-piece suits selling at £24.

75 YEARS AGO

RAINFALL RECORDS: Figures compiled by Hexham meteorologist R.W. Gregory revealed that it had rained on almost exactly half the days that made up the year before. It had rained on 182 days in 1946, yielding 24.89ins of rainfall, it was reported.

TICKING OFF: Prudhoe Urban Council officers were criticised by councillors for producing meeting minutes riddled with jargon and grammatical errors. Council chairman R.W. Robson was particularly critical of staff using verbs as nouns and, furthermore, using intransitive verbs transitively.

PREACHER DIES: Isaac Scott, a Methodist lay preacher from Great Whittington, died at the age of 85, having notched up 60 years as a preacher.

100 YEARS AGO

MP UNDER FIRE: Hexham MP Douglas Clifton Brown came in for criticism from Allendale parish councillors for not backing their calls for a railway line to be built linking the Allen Valley village with Eastgate-in-Weardale. Such a line, said the MP, would not be a viable economic proposition.

WINDS WREAK HAVOC: A newly installed ropeway linking the Whitechapel colliery, near Bardon Mill, with the Newcastle-Carlisle railway line was badly damaged by high winds.

CARDS AT CATTON: A whist drive held at Catton reading room raised £10 for the Allendale Nursing Association.

125 YEARS AGO

NOT PLAYING BALL: A Hexham Courant sports reporter threatened to boycott Prudhoe's North Tyneside League football team's home matches after the bottom-of-the-table club refused to let him in free any more because of his links with local rivals Mickley.

FUNDRAISING CONCERT: A concert held at Acomb First School raised the princely sum of £6 for its funds.