Whatever the weather is like this summer, Northumbrians can enjoy the taste of the blossoming countryside in a bottle.

Allendale Brewery has produced North Pennines Beauty, a beer designed to capture the essence of the area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) as it comes to life.

Raising a glass at the AONB's 21st are, from left, Chris Woodley-Stewart, North Pennines AONB officer and geopark manager, Bob Pendlebury, former partnership chairman, Coun Richard Turner, current chairman and Jim Hick of Allendale Brewery.

A light, refreshing beer, it blends a variety of hops to capture what the brewers hope is the taste of the stunning countryside the area has to offer.

A volunteer-run radio station is hoping to become a permanent fixture in Northumberland after being granted a licence to continue broadcasting.

Tynedale FM has a new month-long licence from telecoms watchdog Ofcom, and the station hopes it might lead to a permanent licence sometime in the future.

The radio station was given a month-long restricted service licence to test the water back in December, which went successfully and uncovered some talented presenters.

Almost £5m of funding is to be made available to help repair roads damaged by flooding in Northumberland.

Transport minister Sadiq Khan has announced a £2.6m cash injection, which will allow repairs to be carried out to three bridges in the county - Allenmill Bridge near Allendale, the Lion Bridge at Alnwick and the Black Bridge footbridge at Warkworth.

It will also fund repair work at 13 landslip sites and 110 other maintenance schemes.

More than 2,000 female council workers in Northumberland are set for payouts after agreement was finally reached to settle a long-running, £50m equal pay claim.

Women county council employees such as cleaners, kitchen assistants and carers are in line for the compensation payments as a result of being underpaid for years in comparison to male colleagues who earned bonuses.

Northumberland County Council is the last local authority in the North East to settle its equal pay dispute with the GMB and Unison - and defended its case as far as an Employment Tribunal scheduled for earlier this month.

Independent rural petrol stations are facing an increasing battle just to survive, as they struggle to compete with their bigger rivals.

Many of the stations also act as convenience stores in their local communities, but dozens have closed over the last few years, in yet another blow to the rural economy.

Gordon Moore, pictured, who owns the Border Reiver Station in Knowesgate, Northumberland, said the margin on fuel from his station is tiny.

A former cattle byre in Allendale has become a gallery for 10 of the region's ceramic artists.

It is also home to a huge wood-fired kiln that was built last year by Andrew Pentland, pictured, an artist and ceramics instructor at Newcastle College.

The kiln is a rare example of its type in the north of England.

The North East's only Conservative MP has returned more than £100 in "gardening" expense claims.

Hexham's Peter Atkinson last month told The Journal his claims were reasonable for his second home in London.

But he declared being ready to repay money if ordered to do so by an internal party panel examining Tory MPs' expense claims.

More meetings are to be held in Northumberland to allow people to have their say on £200m proposals for new and improved hospitals in the county.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust has drawn up plans for a new specialist emergency care centre near Cramlington, plus improvements to Wansbeck General and the rebuilding of community hospitals in Berwick and Haltwhistle.

But the changes would see the closure of emergency departments at Wansbeck and Hexham General, moves which have caused some concern with patients.

Finance chiefs at Northumberland's cash-strapped super council are trying to recover almost £9m in unpaid council tax inherited from the county's former district authorities.

The huge debt has been revealed following the abolition of Berwick, Alnwick, Castle Morpeth, Tynedale, Wansbeck and Blyth Valley councils on April 1 - and their replacement by the all-purpose unitary council.

Allendale 1st XI V Stocksfield. Allendale won by 6 Wickets

Match report sent in by Gareth Mews of Allendale CC

Allendale vice captain and Crazy Frog impersonator Ant White assumed the reigns at Riding Haugh on Saturday as Allendale continued their recent run of good form.

Play began late after a heavy shower or two and with inclement conditions forecast, the home skipper asked his guests to bat.

There was a buzz about the fielding side who were really fired up after not being invited to Chairman John Mews' impromptu early morning barbeque.