Here's this week's looking back...

FIVE years ago this week the Government announced it was seeking to hold a General Election on June 8 that year.

Making the surprise announcement outside 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Theresa May said at the time: “I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet, where we agreed that the Government should call a general election, to be held on June 8.

“I want to explain the reasons for that decision, what will happen next and the choice facing the British people when you come to vote in this election.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said following the announcement: “I welcome the Prime Minister’s decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first.”

Theresa May added outside Downing Street: “Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership, and since I became Prime Minister the Government has delivered precisely that.”

Also that week, A farm seemed an unlikely place to find grounded planes that once carried atomic bombs.

However, at one peaceful patch of North East countryside in the shadow of Durham Tees Valley Airport, jet engines, wingless aircraft and cockpit carcasses were exactly what you’d find among the cow sheds.

Farmland in the tiny village of over Dinsdale, on the outskirts of Darlington, had become the permanent home to ageing cockpits that once belonged to Vulcan, de Havilland Vampire and Gloster Meteor jets.

The collection was the life’s work of the Harkers, who owned the farm where the plane pieces were stored in sheds, under tarpaulin or simply out in the open.

After years of restoration work carried out inside the disused aircrafts by the Harker family, the prized planes were set to go on show as part of the Skylive Airshow 2017.

However, event organisers had arranged to begin the delicate task of transporting each cockpit from the farm to Durham Tees Valley Airport one month before the site hosted the airborne spectacular.

Meanwhile, the world famous locomotive Flying Scotsman was set to travel alongside three modern trains to celebrate the “past, present and future” of Britain’s railway.

The trains were to line up on the East Coast Main Line at Tollerton, North Yorkshire, before moving south to York.

Flying Scotsman was to be joined by an HST and InterCity 225 from Virgin Trains’ current fleet, as well as one of the operator’s new Azuma trains, which come into service next year.

Those hoping to catch a glimpse of the trains are being urged to remain behind safety boundaries.

Taxpayer-funded Network Rail was forced to pay out almost £60,000 in compensation when 59 train services were delayed by people encroaching on the track to get as close as possible to Flying Scotsman during its inaugural run following a decade-long refit in February last year.

A giant screen at York station was to broadcast live footage of the event.

Rob McIntosh, a managing director for Network Rail, which is responsible for managing Britain’s railway infrastructure, said at the time that it would be a “prestigious and unique event for the people of Yorkshire”.

He went on: “The area has a very proud rail heritage and with our industry partners we’ve been able to turn a challenging vision into what will be a special occasion.”