Organised by the authority's community safety team as part of the Farmwatch campaign, the event will be held at Bellingham fire station on Wednesday February 10 from 1pm to 3pm.

Farmers attending will be encouraged to enrol with the campaign, and will provided with signs, alarms and information about the scheme.

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.

The Mid-Tyne Business Forum holds its inaugural event at Wark Sports Club on Wednesday, January 20 from 7.30pm.

A forgotten community which existed for more than 50 years on isolated moorland in Northumberland has been brought back to life in a major heritage project.

The Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland sanatorium opened in 1907 on the moors above the neighbouring North Tyne villages of Barrasford and Gunnerton.

It treated victims of tuberculosis at a time when 60,000 people a year were dying from the disease in England and Wales and the annual mortality rate in Newcastle alone was nearly 600.

Purple Mountain bike hire centre is hosting the events in Kielder Forest to encourage riders to awaken their instincts, develop new skills and steal precious time back from the dark winter nights.

Ruth Griffin, co-owner of Purple Mountain, said: "There is no better location for an exhilarating night ride than under the darkest night skies in the whole of England. Night riding is completely different to daylight riding as it offers an opportunity to sharpen your senses and experience the thrills of nature's sounds and scents in the pitch black.

Thanks to the Highlights Community Touring Scheme, John Kirkpatrick will bring his Christmas Show 'Carolling & Crumpets' to Wark Town Hall on Tuesday 15th December 2009 at 7.30 pm.

John Kirkpatrick has been one of the most prominent figures on the English Folk Scene for over 30 years.

As well as being a great singer and humorous entertainer, he is the acknowledged master of the Button Accordion, Melodeon and Anglo Concertina and often gives workshops and lectures all over the country, including Newcastle University as part of the Folk Degree Course.

But Jilly Morris is the latest to take up the - admittedly very popular - post of artist in residence at Tarset in Northumberland.

Photograph by Jilly Morris of the landscape at Highgreen

Jilly, from Bristol, is currently enjoying her first taste of life in the moorland landscape.

The Forestry Commission is staging a winter star party at Kielder Castle Visitor Centre in the 62,000-hectare (155,000-acre) wilderness on December 12.

Forestry Commission ranger Katie Thorn gets a sneak preview of the Nightwatch event in Kielder using a hi-tech telescope

There will be chance to learn more about the constellations with experts from Sunderland Astronomical Society, and do some star gazing with the help of powerful telescopes.

The play will be at West Woodburn Parish Hall on 28th January at 6.30pm.

The cast includes NTC regulars Kim Evans and Gemma Clough and newcomers William Reay from Bellingham and Christopher Ranson.

Visit www.northumberlandtheatre.co.uk for a full list of performances and contact details for tickets.

But she was taken by the way women were relegated to the background in the tales of days more than 400 years ago when families were forced to live in bastles, or fortified farmhouses.

Around 1,000 bastles were built in Northumberland, of which about 200 survive.

The festive tour is organised by Network Artists and takes place in twenty different venues around the region, running on weekends until Christmas.

Art lovers and Christmas present seekers will have the chance to look around at artists' work, often in beautiful surroundings, while enjoying a friendly seasonal welcome from the artists themselves in most of the events.

Watercolourist Mary Ann Rogers' studio at West Woodburn will be opening its doors from 27-29 November and on the 5 and 6 December, with paintings, prints, gifts and cards on offer as well as locally-produced jewellery, chocolate and crafts, from 11am- 5pm.

View the Christmas Art Tour leaflet at www.networkartists.org.uk for full details.

New songs, new repertoire, new projects, awards and nominations have all mounted up into quite an acheivement for a lad from a coal mining town in County Durham.

Keen followers of the folk scene will be well aware of this mans outstanding song writing talents and will know of his association with The Bad Pennies, who will be celebrating 20 years together in 2010.

More than 7,000 tickets have already been sold for the Kielder Winter Wonderland after event organisers Northumbrian Water put the tickets on sale.

Leaplish Waterside Park, which is on the shores of Kielder Water, is turned into a festive grotto for the event.

For more information go to www.visitkielder.com.