Public services were cut, historic landmarks restored, farming communities faced disease controls and Roman treasures emerged from the ground as the Hexham and Tyne Valley area made headlines across 150 years.
A review of the Hexham Courant archives looks back at stories from 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 years ago. Together, they show how dramatically local concerns have changed while some themes — including farming, tourism, work and heritage — have remained part of life in and around Hexham.
Library services, payphones and a restored landmark
Ten years ago, changes to library and tourist information centre services were reported to have saved the county council more than £700,000. More than 30 jobs had been lost across the combined workforce, while staff were offered voluntary redundancy after the services were amalgamated.
In Hexham, the tourist information centre at Wentworth car park closed suddenly in May. Northumberland County Council and Active Northumberland were working with the Queen’s Hall on plans for a cultural hub, combining frontline and library services with arts provision.
Another story from the same period concerned the future of the town’s public phone boxes. BT was consulting on the possible removal of more than 60 per cent of payphones across the Hexham constituency after usage had fallen by more than 90 per cent over the previous decade. Fifty-eight of the area’s 91 payphones were under threat, including boxes in Hexham, Lowgate, Haltwhistle, Wark, Otterburn, Stocksfield and Corbridge.
There was also better news for local heritage. The final stage of a £125,000 project restored an ornate drinking fountain outside The Sele First School. Lost Art, the Wigan-based restoration company that had worked on Hexham Bandstand, returned the fountain to its former appearance in Brunswick green.
The project was funded by Northumberland County Council, Hexham Town Council and a fundraising appeal launched by Cllr Rad Hare during his term as Mayor of Hexham. The restored bandstand had already been formally re-dedicated during a ceremony in May.
Farming, tourism and major regional projects
Twenty-five years ago, farmers in the Allen Valleys and west Northumberland welcomed the lifting of infected-area protection zones imposed during the foot-and-mouth crisis. The measures were eased after there had been no new cases in the district for several weeks, offering relief to a farming community facing severe restrictions.
Tourism and trade were also on the agenda. Steve Traviss, the new managing director of Dickinson’s Furnishers, launched a bid to make Hexham a stronger Sunday shopping destination. He believed the town could attract tourists in the same way as Yorkshire destinations including Ripon and Richmond.
Elsewhere in the county, the first phase of The Alnwick Garden opened to the public. The work, championed by Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, included The Grand Cascade, The Rose Garden, The Ornamental Garden and The Woodland Walk.
In 1976, agricultural life remained central to the town. An archive photograph dated October 13 that year showed farmers examining 433 Bluefaced Leicester sheep entered for a prize sale at Hexham Auction Mart.
Construction of Kielder Water was also under way. Building had begun in 1975 and continued until 1981. Creating the reservoir meant flooding the Kielder Valley, including a railway, a school, farms and homes.
War, industry and an archaeological discovery
Seventy-five years ago, political campaigning intensified across Northumberland before a general election. Constituencies around Tynedale became battlegrounds as Labour and the Conservatives debated housing, the National Health Service and rearmament.
The archive also records the role of the 1st Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, in the Korean War. In October 1951, the battalion took part in the First Battle of Maryang-san, part of the wider United Nations offensive known as Operation Commando.
A century ago, George Armstrong became the first person killed at Whitechapel Colliery since it opened ten years earlier. At the same time, pits in the South Tyne resumed work, employing 600 men at sites including Plenmellor, Barcombe at Bardon Mill, Morwood, Lambley, Midgeholme and Byron at Greenhead.
In 1901, the Second Boer War was still being fought in South Africa, with volunteers from across Northumberland drafted for service.
The oldest story in the archive reaches back 150 years. Workmen from Settlingstones Mining Company searching for lead ore near the old Roman camp at Procolitia uncovered part of a Roman wall. The structure proved to be a well around eight feet deep, containing 24 Roman altars and numerous Roman coins. Contemporary estimates put the number of coins as high as half a million.
