Hexham Courant headlines in Tynedale 150 years ago

10 years ago

FIRST FEMALE: History was made with the appointment of the first female Rector of Hexham in the Abbey's 1,300-year history. Canon Dagmar Winter, who was priest-in-charge at Kirkwhelpington, with Kirkharle, Kirkheaton and Cambo for the previous eight years, was to take up her new post in the new year. The 51-year-old was no stranger to the Abbey after serving as associate vicar - a post which saw her become the parish's first female priest - between 1999 and 2006, alongside previous rectors the late Michael Nelson and Graham Usher, who had been appointed Bishop of Dudley. 

FURY AT CHARGES: Regular users of Tynedale's top leisure facilities were fit to bust. For the new operator of facilities like the Wentworth Leisure Centre and pool in Hexham and Prudhoe Waterworld was doubling down on the cost of season tickets. Active Northumberland took over all the facilities formerly run by Hexham's North Country Leisure. Leisure discount cards used to cost £18 and last for three years, before they changed to cost £12 but would only last for 12 months.  

PAY FOR PARKING: Hexham residents were stunned after they were told they may have to start paying to park outside their own home, just months after the introduction of universal free parking in the town.   

25 years ago

FARMING CRISIS: The farming crisis facing Tynedale deepened as sheep prices sank to a new low. At marts in Hexham and Bellingham, there was dismay among farmers at the worsening of their situation while some insisted the only way was up. At Bellingham Mart, breeding lamb prices plummeted to half of what they were the previous year - from an average of £64 down to £32.   

Alan Thompson, of Prudhoe, won the most points for dressed sticks at Falstone's Show in 1999 (Image: Tony Iley)

LOTTERY FAILURE: Residents of the east end of Hexham suffered a setback in their efforts to revitalise the area with the news that their bid for Lottery funds had failed but organisers were determined to press ahead with the scheme. Their plans for a £175,000 multi-purpose community building to replace the wooden Scout hut on Maiden's Walk depended on the success of the bid. The planned new building for the most densely-populated area of town, blighted by a lack of facilities for many years, was to be used as a base for community organisations including the scout group from throughout the town.  

ART PROJECT: A medieval meadow in Haltwhistle was the focus of a community arts project. Adults with learning disabilities from the Tynedale Horticultural Service had been working in the meadow and their thoughts on the flora and fauna were recorded in a book published later that year.

50 years ago

ANGRY NURSES: Half the 36 nurses at Hexham General Hospital's maternity unit threatened to resign in protest at plans to transfer 10 beds there for use by paraplegic patients. 

POOL CLOSED: A children's paddling pool at Hexham's Abbey Grounds park was closed due to fears that its grossly polluted condition represented a public health risk. This pollution was reported to be down to leakage from septic tanks into the burn leading to the pool.

ROMAN FIND: Archaeologists digging at Corbridge found parts of a Roman fort pre-dating the Corstopitum site. According to the dig co-director Charles Daniels, this older fort looked likely to date back to AD79.

75 years ago

BURNED TIMBER: Timber felled from half an acre was destroyed after a fire broke out at Parkside Wood at Nunwick near Simonburn.

GARBAGE GRUMBLE: Hexham Urban District Council resolved to call in the police after a member complained he had found almost 200 pieces of litter in Haugh Lane.

HOTTING UP: Temperatures in Tynedale soared to 84F, almost 20 degrees F up on the same week the year before.

100 years ago

ROYAL DATE: The Prudhoe Gleemen male voice choir performed for the then-Queen, Mary, wife of George V at Alnwick Castle. Their set included Bobby Shaftoe, Full Fathom Five and Down Among the Dead Men. 

SPEED LIMIT REJECTED: Calls were made for speed limits on roads in Haltwhistle. It was turned down by Haltwhistle Rural District Council as it felt the warning signs up at the time were adequate.

125 years ago

SEASIDE TRAGEDY: A 25-year-old servant at Farnley Grange in Corbridge drowned while sunbathing at Saltburn near Middlesborough. The woman and a colleague were on a trip to the seaside with two of the children in their care. 

150 years ago

GOING TO BLAZES: The contents of a letterbox in Gilesgate, Hexham, were set alight. It had been emptied an hour earlier so it was thought not much mail went up in flames.

LONG BALL: A contest at a fundraising picnic held by Alston's cricket club to see who could throw a cricket ball furthest was won by an Alston man with an 85-yard throw.