WE looked back through our archives to find what made Hexham Courant headlines up to 150 years ago.

10 years ago

MONSTER: Bellingham's Lee Hollings grew two pumpkins of 250lb and 225lb. He won a category in the village's annual leek show with the larger specimen.

WALKOUT: Firefighters across Northumberland walked out on strike for four hours in protest over proposed changes to pension arrangements.

RESCUE: The former stables at Hexham Railway Station were demolished brick by brick before their re-erection at Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham. It was the first building from Hexham re-built at Beamish.

BLAZE: Flats were evacuated after a fire at Hexham fish and chip shop, the Sea Chef, on Priestlands estate.

MURAL: Amateur artist Ken Denwood painted a 3D mural to brighten up the garden at Prudhoe's Oakland residential home.

25 years ago

CRISIS: Tynedale's farmers, suffering due to low beef prices, were then hit by falling lamb prices.

Hexham Courant: (L-R) Lucy Morton holds a can of creosote while sister Charlotte holds Wackit, who fell into a bucket of the liquid (L-R) Lucy Morton holds a can of creosote while sister Charlotte holds Wackit, who fell into a bucket of the liquid (Image: Newsquest)

NINE LIVES: A cat survived falling into a bucket of creosote and engine oil. Wackit, an 18-month-old cat, made a good recovery after treatment by Orchard House Vets in Hexham.

LOSS: Akzo Nobel, a multi-national paint company, announced it would cut 34 jobs at its factory in Haltwhistle.

50 years ago

SUCCESS: Fine Bank Holiday weather brought the main part of the tourist season to a close before Tynedale hoteliers declared it could have been their best-ever tourist season.

SOLD: The Chipchase Arms Hotel in Wark sold at auction for £25,350 with new owners planning to turn it into a country house.

75 years ago

CONVERSION: The Ministry of Works decided to spend £1,200 on improving Featherstone Park Camp to accommodate hundreds of Polish land workers.

MILK: Bellingham Councillor Arthur Ridley called for a survey of milk-producing centres in the North Tyne valley after learning tuberculosis in Britain was 66 times greater in rural areas than towns.

100 years ago

HIT FOR SIX: Tynedale's cricketers put on an amazing performance in a crucial league match at Prior's Flat with a record-breaking rate of scoring.

DAY OUT: Members of Slaley Women's Institute had their first annual outing to Alnwick.

GIANT: A giant mushroom was discovered measuring eight inches in diameter and weighing seven and a half ounces in Corbridge.

125 years ago

INDUCTION: Hexham Abbey held its first-ever induction service when Reverend E. Sidney Savage was instituted to the living of Hexham by the Archdeacon of Northumberland.

FOUNDATION: The first stone was laid for the new Presbyterian church in Haltwhistle by Ald. William Hudspith.

150 years ago 

CHURCH WORK: Bywell's St Peter's Church was reopened after restoration work costing approximately £1,650.

PAID: Proceeds of an agricultural, floral and horticultural show and picnic in Whitfield Hall Park were to meet the debt on the recently erected Ninebanks church.