Pictures of centenary anniversary of First World War

Scores of people and businesses responded to the national Lights Out initiative on August 4 2014, inspired by British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey's famous quote made on the eve of war: "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

Soldiers march down Priestpopple on their way to the front line in 1914. In the centre of the image is Sgt Matthew Scott Charlton who can be seen pushing a bicycle (Image: Newsquest)

People extinguished lights in their homes, offices and businesses at 10pm and lit a single candle to display in a window. The candles burned for an hour, to mark the exact time Britain declared war on Germany at 11pm on August 4 1914.

READ MORE: Duchess of Northumberland receives prestigious royal honour

Buglers in the Cassino Band of the Northumbria Army Cadet Force perform before the Abbey service of remembrance (Image: Tony Iley)

The ritual was observed across the district, including at the Hexham Ex-Servicemen's Club, the Royal Air Force Association Club, and the Albert Edward Club, as well as private homes.

An actor from the Northumberland Theatre Company, which presented two dramatic interpretations of the early days of the war during the service (Image: Tony Iley)

From Bellingham to Blanchland and Prudhoe to Gilsland, families paid silent tribute to grandfathers and great uncles who marched from Tynedale in their thousands, many never to return from the fields of Ypres, the Somme and Passchendaele.

The Hexham Abbey service (Image: Tony Iley)

They remembered heroes such as Aidan Liddell from Prudhoe and Thomas Dobson from Ovingham, who were both awarded the nation's highest honour for valour in the field, the Victoria Cross, along with the foot soldiers, farmers, pitmen and storekeepers who answered the call to arms.

The Northumbria Army Cadet Force at ease outside Hexham Abbey, prior to the service (Image: Tony Iley)

St Mary Magdalene Church opened its doors in Prudhoe from 10pm to 11pm, welcoming all inside. At Wark, the local branch of the Royal British Legion staged an event in the town hall with a display of memorabilia from the First World War, while a bugler marched to the war memorial and sounded The Last Post.

The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland chat with Vice Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, Col Tony Glenton (L), before the service (Image: Tony Iley)

More than 750 people from across Northumberland united in Hexham Abbey on the eve of the anniversary (August 3) for a service of remembrance and reflection.

A drumhead service held in the First World War trenches at Silloans on the Otterburn Army Ranges for the centenary anniversary (Image: Tony Iley)

Arranged by the Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, the ceremony was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, the latter giving a reading and laying a wreath, while the Abbey choir sang the regimental hymn of the Northumberland Fusiliers.

Northumberland Fusiliers during the first weeks of the First World War in 1914 at Queen's Hall on Beaumont Street (Image: Newsquest)

Other services took place across the district, including a drumhead service held in the First World War trenches at Silloans on the Otterburn Army Ranges. It was here soldiers from all over the country learned the techniques of trench warfare that epitomised the First World War.

A drumhead service is a tradition dating back centuries to when soldiers in the field, without access to chapels or churches on the Sabbath, would lay their drums neatly, consecrate them by laying their standards on them and use them as an improvised altar.