Former Northumberland College student Martin Sanderson went on to spend four decades as head gardener at the Kirkley Hall campus near Ponteland until his retirement. He will return to Kirkley Hall on Wednesday February 17 to give a public talk, Reflections on 40 years of Kirkley Hall Gardens.

Mr Sanderson, a well known figure in the Ponteland area, will be sharing his memories of the many changes which took place during his time as head gardener.

Some rubber road matting for construction vehicles worth £740 was stolen from land adjacent to North Lodge.

The theft took place sometime between 5pm on Thursday, January 21, and 8am on Friday, January 22. The rubber has not yet been recovered.

Anyone with information about the theft should contact Morpeth Police on 03456 043043 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

The Most Reverend Dr John Sentamu called at Kirkharle, Wooler and Berwick as part of a two-day visit to the Church of England's Newcastle Dioceses organised by the Bishop of Newcastle Martin Wharton.

Dr John Sentamu shares a joke with furniture maker Jason Robinson-Gay

On Wednesday, the archbishop also visited parishes in Newcastle, as well as the West End Refugee Service, before giving the City for Peace inaugural lecture, hosted by Newcastle City Council.

Previous issues of the Golden Guide have gone down so well with the over-50s that there was a waiting list for the latest 5,000-copy print run.

The free booklet, which is produced by community information specialists Clever Clogs Publishing in partnership with Age Concern Northumberland, the county council and care trust, has also been given a new design.

Emma Davidson, 37, changed jobs from being a senior partner at a private practice in Morpeth to become housing solicitor at charity DAWN Advice, based at Blagdon.

DAWN offers advice and information on a number of issues including debt, housing, employment, welfare benefits and family law.

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.

Intrepid businessman Tony Hodson, 51, returned to his Darras Hall home at the weekend after spending a gruelling 16 days on a triumphant ascent to the summit of 6,962-metre high Aconcagua in Argentina's Andes mountain range (pictured).

It involved a three-day trek in sweltering, desert-like conditions to reach base camp, risking altitude sickness while lugging heavy packs up the mountain and surviving a last-minute weather scare which resulted in half of his group failing to complete the push to the summit.

The accident happened at 5.45pm on Tuesday, December 29, in Ponteland. A blue Renault Clio travelling north and a Landrover Freelander travelling south collided outside Callerton House on Callerton Lane.

An 89-year-old woman passenger from the grey Freelander suffered chest injuries and was rushed to Newcastle General Hospital. Her condition was originally thought to be stable, but last night police confirmed she was critical.

The Banks Group wants to extract an additional two million tonnes of coal from the 750-acre Shotton mine west of Cramlington - which was given the green light by the Government despite strong local opposition.

The latest plans, which would extend the life of the site by two years, will go on display at three public exhibitions.

Hundreds of families across the region have already lost their homes after being caught-up in the North East Property Buyers scandal.

And now former tenants who are owed tens of thousands of pounds by the now defunct buy-to-let company are facing yet more uncertainty after director David Purdie was declared bankrupt.

More than 800 vulnerable pensioners across the county use the scheme, which allows them concessionary travel in taxis because they are unable to use other forms of public transport.

They use council-issued vouchers, tokens or passes to pay for taxi trips to the shops, GP and hospital appointments or to visit relatives and friends.

Shakir Javid and Shazad Dhean were arrested after the 31-year-old insurance company boss was ambushed by masked hitmen on the Darras Hall estate in Ponteland.

But Mr Javid, 32, from Fenham, and Mr Dhean, 31, from Manchester, both pleaded not guilty at Newcastle Crown Court to conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent. They were cleared when prosecutor Peter Gair offered no evidence against them.

A pilot scheme is being launched to provide live video links between debt-affected rural residents and financial advisers.

The experiment - which could lead to nine video booths being set up in remote areas of the North East and Cumbria - aims to help those who have difficulty getting to their nearest town for face-to-face advice on managing money problems.

The Scamnesty 2010 campaign runs from February 1 to 26 and will involve people dropping mail scams they receive through their letterbox into designated Scamnesty boxes which will be placed across Northumberland.

Online scams can also be reported via the virtual Scamnesty bin at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/scamnesty.

Northern Gas Networks has invested £100,000 to improve the gas mains by replacing old metal gas mains with modern, more reliable plastic ones.

The essential work had United Utilities and NE Utilities working on behalf of the region's gas pipeline owner, Northern Gas Networks in the Edge Hill and Ladywell Way areas of the village.