Youngsters aged between four and 13, all from Tynedale, planted saplings on the banks of the River Derwent to celebrate the important role trees play in our natural environment.

Don Coe, Northumbrian Water leisure operations manager for waterside parks & fisheries (foreground) with Tony Richards, SCA Hygiene factory & site manager at Prudhoe (standing) with Ben Pentland, aged six and his fellow tree planters

The session was organised by Northumbrian Water, owner and operator of the Derwent Reservoir and Velvet toilet tissue, which is made locally by SCA Hygiene Products Prudhoe Mill.

In the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Shildon Engine House near Blanchland (pictured), Ninebanks Tower in Northumberland, Muggleswick Grange in County Durham and the remains of Whitesyke and Bentyfield Lead Mines near Alston, Cumbria, are all scheduled ancient monuments.

All four sites are currently on English Heritage's at-risk register but will be removed once the restoration work is done.

"Over time they would have crumbled and disappeared. We want to protect what remains so that we and future generations can see these legacies in the landscape of what it was like to live those past lives.

IHC Engineering Business in Riding Mill, near Hexham in Northumberland, says the relocation of its manufacturing and support operations to the South bank allows it to work in deeper waters and handle larger trawler vessels.

The 7,484 sq m facility, which is based at the Port of Tyne in South Shields, safeguards the 20 jobs that were based at its former site at Hadrian Yard on the North bank of the river, with the firm looking to more than double that figure by the end of the year.

The petition is the largest ever collected by the RSPB.

According to the RSPB's most recent annual Birdcrime report, published last August, Northumberland is the third worst county in England for illegal persecution against birds of prey.

It was planned to put up the annual charge for the service from £20 to £25 in March - to bring in an extra £60,000 and help the county council achieve tough budget savings.

Now the saving will have to be found elsewhere after Conservative and Labour councillors joined forces to defeat the move at a meeting in County Hall on Wednesday.

Entrepreneur Andy Balman has opened his own contemporary galley in Corbridge.

Andy, one of the co-directors of the successful annual NewcastleGateshead Art Fair, converted a passion for the arts into a new business in the village, adding to the wider North East arts scene along with the emerging cluster of galleries in Northumberland.

The Balman Gallery has opened in the Town Hall buildings in Princes Street, after a significant part of the grade two listed Victorian building was restored.

As commuters made their way to work along the A69 between Hexham and Newcastle, cars skidded out of control.

Drivers watched in horror as four cars slid into embankments and one even overturned.

No-one received serious injuries and the road was closed for a period of time. It started at 7.54am when a Land Rover slid off the road near Wylam. Police then received a flurry of reports from panicking drivers of a Vauxhall Corsa, a Fiat Punto and a Toyota Yaris.

All three had also skidded on black ice in separate accidents.

Designs for the Tynedale Creative and Media Skills Centre - next to Prudhoe Community High School - have gone on public display.

The centre will house state-of-the-art media production facilities in a leading edge building shared across the Tynedale Virtual College - a partnership of the four high schools in the area along with Northumberland College, Dilston College and Hexham Priory School.

It involves county council community wardens, Northumbria Police officers and Northumberland fire and rescue service personnel visiting farms and other remote rural locations in the Tynedale area on a regular basis.

The relaunched Farmwatch campaign also includes partners from the county's west area local multi-agency problem solving group (LMAPS).

The park at Corbridge should be available for use in a matter of weeks, it was revealed yesterday.

Corbridge resident Lawrence Best at the skate park, which was built in the wrong place

The Journal has previously reported on the fall-out caused by Corbridge Parish Council building the facility in the wrong place in 2008.

Seven culling projects have received £24,000 and will soon begin in the North East - including several in strategic areas of Northumberland - in an attempt to save red squirrel populations from the grey onslaught.

The work will try to thin the number of greys so that the much-loved red squirrels have less competition and less of a chance of catching the dreaded squirrel pox virus.

The Water Board tanker was parked in the Drawback area of Prudhoe with the keys in the ignition while workers were busy nearby when it was stolen at just before 12.30am on Wednesday.

The thief drove off with the water pump still hanging from the back of the vehicle and it was seen scraping along the road causing sparks to fly.

One worker followed the stolen tanker west on the A695 where the thief abandoned the vehicle near to the junction of New Ridley Road and Painshawfield Road, Stocksfield, and ran off on foot.

Police are appealing for anyone who might have seen the truck or the driver to contact them on 0345 604 3043 ext 69191 or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Snow has not fully thawed in all parts of the county following last week's downfall and some areas were hit again on Wednesday night.

Predictions for the county on Saturday are for heavy rain and temperatures of between three and five degrees celsius.

Organisers are looking for 500 people to help create the lights, which will stretch from one side of Britain to the other.

Artist's impression of the beacons lighting up Hadrian's Wall

Each of the volunteer "illuminators" will be part of a small team responsible for lighting one of the 500 individual points along the wall.

Save our Squirrels, Northern Red Squirrels and local volunteer squirrel groups have been successful in their partnership bids to the Grey Squirrel Control Fund, launched in October 2009 by the Forestry Commission, Natural England and Red Squirrel Survival Trust.

The funding provides support for grey control in seven key areas around Northumberland for up to six months.