Chris Paisley stormed into the matchplay stages of the English Amateur yesterday with another sub-70 round, coming within a fraction of an inch of a hole-in-one.

He signed for a three-under 68 in his second and last round of strokeplay qualifying at Littlestone, providing yet another illustration of his shot making prowess.

That gave him a two-under total of 137 and a four-way tie for third spot in qualifying for a tournament in which he was a finalist last year.

Jazz lovers are guaranteed a great time next month whatever the weather.

The Great Whittington Jazz Picnic will go ahead regardless of rain or shine, either as a traditional outdoor event or moving into the village hall if need be.

There will be trad jazz at its best with the Victory V Jazzmen. Original members of the Rivercity Jazzmen will be performing and everyone is welcome to bring along picnics and drinks.

For a man lucky not to be killed falling 30 feet from a Corbridge dentist's roof on to his van - and who virtually turned his back on golf for 13 years - Ken Mewse is enjoying a hot streak.

The 48-year-old roofer from Hexham has won the Tynedale club championship for the fourth year in a row to qualify for The Journal Champion of Champions at De Vere Slaley Hall on September 6. Mewse learned his golf at Hexham and won their 1985 club championship. But by the time he hit his 30s, Mewse had tired of golf, and of the pain he was getting from his back. "I just got bored with it and fed up," he said. "I played a couple of times a year or so and that was it. I didn't miss it."

When he was 40, he had the work accident and says: "I blacked out as soon as I slipped off that roof in Corbridge and came round five hours later in hospital. That five hours of my life has remained a blank ever since, but the doctors told me I was lucky to have survived it."

Residents, businesses and organisations across Northumberland are being asked to have their say on a major review which will shape future car parking policy in the county.

County council bosses are undertaking the review in a bid to devise suitable management arrangements for all of the car parks that it owns or manages.

The exercise will also help county councillors decide whether to leave car parking free in Blyth Valley and Wansbeck, or introduce charges similar to those currently facing motorists in towns such as Berwick, Alnwick, Hexham and Morpeth.

At Dilston Hall in Corbridge at the weekend the mead was flowing freely as visitors rejoiced in the tale of Richard III on Friday and Saturday evenings.

The grounds were transformed as the ever-popular Oddsocks theatre company presented an outdoor performance of the play.

The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is giving people the opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposals for £200m improvements to hospital services.

The NHS proposes a specialist emergency care hospital for people in Northumberland and North Tyneside, improvements to Wansbeck and North Tyneside general hospitals and rebuilding community hospitals in Berwick and Haltwhistle.

A Northumberland man has been awarded an honorary degree for his work in improving the NHS in the North East.

Sir Peter Carr, who lives in Corbridge, is a former diplomat who has been chairman of the regional health authority for the last nine years.

When he was appointed to his NHS role in 1998, he laid down a set of objectives for the region.

These included his own personal dedication to making the North East the best performing region in England.

Photos from the Princess Royal's visit to the site of Dilston Castle and Chapel, where she looked around an archaeological excavation project and met 5 to 6 year old local children taking part in a fantasy workshop at the castle. Read related story »

It's a task which would drive most people potty. Every day Barbara Blenkinship attempts the equivalent of putting together a jigsaw without the help of a picture on the box.

Barbara takes delivery of bags of hundreds of pieces of broken pottery from archaeological excavations at the Dilston Castle and Chapel site near Corbridge in Northumberland.

Barbara Blenkinship with a tankard from Dilston that was found nearly intact

Her challenge is to re-assemble centuries-old jugs, tankards, plates and pots from the mound of pottery sherds, or pieces, on her kitchen table. So far potter Barbara has rebuilt around 20 items dating form the 15th to the 18th Centuries.

Summer was celebrated with a series of open gardens and events over the weekend.

The British Red Cross held another open garden event in Northumberland, at Halton Castle. Crowds enjoyed the terraced garden, herbaceous borders and beautiful views over the Tyne Valley while having homemade teas.

Wrestling at Haltwhistle Carnival

Mindrum Garden, at Mindrum House not far from Cornhill on Tweed, threw open its doors to the public for a classic British summer evening - and people came in their hundreds to have a look around the three-section garden.