Tony Henderson on a tale of two villages

A forgotten community which existed for more than 50 years on isolated moorland in Northumberland has been brought back to life in a major heritage project.

The Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland sanatorium opened in 1907 on the moors above the neighbouring North Tyne villages of Barrasford and Gunnerton.

It treated victims of tuberculosis at a time when 60,000 people a year were dying from the disease in England and Wales and the annual mortality rate in Newcastle alone was nearly 600.

We dip into the Journal's archives to get into the festive spirit with some Christmas images from Northumberland's recent past.

Send your seasonal images of the county to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk if you would like to share them on our community sites.

This week's delve into The Journal's photographic archives takes us to a part of Northumberland now under billions of litres of water.

Kielder Water is now well-established as one of the region's top leisure destinations, but in the 1970s and early 1980s there was a bitter battle about plans to construct the reservoir by flooding large parts of the North Tyne Valley.

The scheme led to the loss of many farms and houses in the area.

Bellingham is the focus of this week's trawl through The Journal's photographic library.

A shot of the village's main street in 1965 shows how little has changed in the picturesque community in the second half of the 20th century.

The village picked up The Journal's best kept village in Northumbria crown on a number of occasions, with editors of the paper heading up to Bellingham to present the prize to locals.

When the devil went down to Cresswell, he was looking for a soul to steal. However, unlike the famous song, it was not a fiddle player but a tailor he was trying to tempt to eternal damnation. But in both cases, Satan failed.

It's one of the interesting snippets in the book Mysterious Northumberland about the supernatural, paranormal and generally spooky things going on in the region.

Author Rupert Matthews takes up the diabolical tale. He said: "The devil was seen in Cresswell in 1752 where there was a tailor who was reckoned to be the best in the county.

"The devil tried to tempt him with the sin of pride after turning up as a wealthy businessman and offering to buy one of the suits.

Photographs taken from Northumberland's Lost Houses, a picture postcard history by Jim Davidson published by Wagtail Press at £14.99. Visit www.wagtailpress.co.uk for more details.
Read interview with Jim Davidson