A TRIP down memory lane, we take a look back at the stories to have hit the headlines 10, 25, 35, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150-years ago. Do you remember any of the events?

10 YEARS AGO

FOR SALE: THE opportunity to become the lord and master of a village of 70 homes was creating considerable interest in the South Tyne Valley as 14th century Blenkinsopp Castle, near Haltwhistle, hit the market for £1.75m.

MIRACLE DELIVERY: Lambing time at Matfen Piers Farm, near Corbridge, was full of suprises for the Lockey family after the arrival of a set of quads and quintuplets.

25 YEARS AGO

TEENAGER DIES: A Hexham teenager died in hospital after a car crash. David Clegg (19), of Loughbrow Park, sustained multiple injuries when the blue Ford Escort he was driving hit a house beside the A69 at Temon, near Low Row.

MASSIVE INVESTMENT: A multi-million pound investment at the Prudhoe Mill was announced by new owners SCA Hygiene Paper.

35 YEARS AGO

FLOOR PRESENT: Hexham’s Egger UK factory made a gift of 20 tons of chipboard flooring to the town’s Wentworth Leisure Centre.

MASCOT DUTY: Humshaugh football fan Ben Griffiths, then nine, was picked as a mascot by Sunderland for a match against Barnsley. The team needed a result to starve off the threat f being relegated to the old third division.

MULTI-MILLION MERGER: The company owning Hexham’s Robbs stores, the Sunderland firm Joblings, merged with the discount warehouse and freezer store chain Normans Group in a £9.8 million deal.

50 YEARS AGO

IN OPERATION: A £140,000 new operating theatre was opened at Hexham General Hospital, replacing two older theatres that dated back to World War II.

INITIATIVE THWARTED: Hexham urban councillors turned down a bid by a shop on the town’s Fore Street to install a serving hatch through which it could serve ice cream to passer-bys, saying such a hatch would be out of character there.

LAST POST: Last posting times for next-day delivery mail sent from Hexham to Newcastle, Carlisle and Preston were brought forward from 9.30pm to 9pm because of train timetable changes.

75 YEARS AGO

JERRY-BUILT CASTLE: German prisoners-of-war helping out at farms in Wylam built a miniature castle there for people to remember them by after their then imminent return to Germany.

FRANK FUNDRAISER: A gift sale at Newbrough raised £175 for the village’s town hall extension fund. The fundraising event was opened by Frank E. Franks, apparently a well-known comedian and pantomime star at the time.

PACT PLEA: Hexham Conservative Association president Edward Riddell called on the town’s Liberals to join forces with his party in a bid to beat off threat of a Labour MP being voted in at Hexham at a future General Election.

100 YEARS AGO

CYCLIST MISHAP: A cyclist from Barrasford was found unconscious by the roadside at Stelling Bank, near Ovington, apparently having sustained serious injuries. The man, William Hogg, regained consciousness, however, after being taken to hospital in Newcastle for treatment.

SALE SUCCESS: A jumble sale held at Kirkharle Institute raised £80 for the village’s new church hall fund.

125 YEARS AGO

STEEPLECHASE REVIVED: Plans were drawn up for Wark’s first steeplechase in 19 years.

CHURCH DISPUTE: A dispute between Stamfordham’s Presbyterian minister and his congregation was referred back to the Presbytery of Newcastle by the church’s synod, which called for a speedy resolution to the falling out.

BICYCLE GIRL: A Hexham Courant district correspondent took the liberty of complimenting a new nurse on her appearance, writing: “A novel and pleasing sight may now be seen on the already much favoured roads between Warden and Haydon Bridge. It is the lady from the Cathedral Nurse Society, located in that district, going her rounds on a bicycle in all the char m of blue dress and ample, spotless white apron. The effect is at once graceful and picturesque, while the result is that of expedition.”

150 YEARS AGO

FIRE WARNING: Hexham Local Board of Health warned townsfolk that any of them, who through negligence or carelessness, allowed their chimneys to catch fire would be fined 10 shillings. The warning was issued following two chimney fires on the town’s Gilesgate.

STRIKE OVER: Weardale’s miners went back to work after a three-week strike over wages.

HOME THUNDERSTRUCK: Lightning struck a house at Ridsdale, shattering its chimney and ripping its roof off but leaving its two occupants unscathed.