10 YEARS AGO BRAIN SURGERY: Hexham’s MP Guy Opperman underwent a high risk surgery to remove a brain tumour after collapsing in the House of Commons the previous week. ROYAL OCCASION: Communities across Tynedale pulled out the bunting and the party frocks as they marked the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton in fine style. MINE REJECTION: Angry words were exchanged between applicant Paul Murphy and resident Eddie Armstrong at County Hall after Northumberland County Council rejected plans for an opencast mine site in the hamlet of Halton Lea Gate. SOVIET BLOC: Northumberland County Council threw out plans for a ‘Soviet Bloc’ housing development in Darras Hall, which was described as a threat to the area’s garden village style.