Out in the wide, open spaces above the Tyne Valley is a tiny gem of a church with beautiful stained glass windows and birds chirruping in the trees outside. It's St John's, Healey, and its proportions are probably just about right for a lightly-populated, scattered parish.

The parish has a magazine, too, but not your conventional photocopied list of services with a message from the vicar and a line drawing of the church on the cover.

St Andrew's at Bywell - between Ovingham and Corbridge - will throw open its doors this weekend for the Birthday Song event, which will see 40 choirs performing in 40 of the most nationally significant churches in the country.

The Bywell Arts Festival, which has been running for a decade, was established as a way to support the historic St Peter's Church (pictured) on the north bank of the Tyne, near Stocksfield.

The highlight of the festival is an art exhibition, housed in both the church of St Peter and the church of St Andrew, where the work of local artists and members of local art clubs is offered for sale.

Rev Thomas Emmett, 68, who was affectionately known as Father Tom by his parishioners, died on May 11 after a brave battle against prostate cancer.

He dedicated more than 20 years of his life as vicar to parishes across the Tyne Valley and retired as vicar of St Peter's Church at Bywell and St George's Church, in Mickley, Northumberland, just 18 months ago.

He will visit eight churches en route - Hexham Abbey, St Andrew's in Corbridge, St James' in Riding Mill, St Peter's in Bywell, St Mary's in Ovingham, St Mary Magdalene in Prudhoe, St Oswin's in Wylam and St Michael's and All Angels in Newburn.

Often regarded as the most popular saint of medieval times and one of the most important, March 20 sees people celebrate the anniversary of the death of the region's own patron saint.

Pilgrims make their way across the causeway to Holy Island on Good Friday, 2006

Born in 634 AD, Cuthbert was born in the Lammermuir Region where he grew to work as a young shepherd.

Members of The Sinfonia Chorus Antiphon Hexham Orpheus Choir will hold the event at St Andrew's Church, Corbridge, on Saturday, March 21.

Tickets are £10 and can be booked by calling (01434) 321 063.

Hexham-based charity Mercy Trucks runs relief projects in the Asian country, which was devastated by the 2004 tsunami.

The lives of Sri lankan children have improved tremendously with help from Mercy Trucks and fundraising volunteers.

And this year, they were given a helping hand by Corbridge First School, who chipped in by raising funds to buy computers for the orphanage and three schools in the area, and Hexham Scouts, who held bring and buy sales to raise money to buy mattresses for Sri Lanka's orphaned children.

The North East Ladies Methodist Church group spent the last year raising the cash for Josie's Dragonfly Trust, a charity set-up in memory of inspirational cancer victim Josie Grove, from Corbridge.

The group's president Jane Dixon, from Hexham, chose the trust as their nominated charity for the year.

The inquiry follows the company's appeal to the Secretary of State over the council's failure to determine its application, originally entered in 2006, within planning timeframes.