The three feet of snow that has been lying in parts of the Allen Valley this month will have brought back memories for some residents of the even harsher scenario facing local people in 1979.

The 'winter of discontent' in the UK saw Jim Callaghan's Labour government rocked by widespread strike action which coincided with one of the coldest winters on record.

Rubbish piled up in the streets, some of the dead were left unburied and there was disruption to fuel and electricity supplies as a result of strikes. Meanwhile, parts of the North East were brought to a standstill by the heavy snow in January as gale force winds blew and the temperature dropped as low as -16C.

We dip into the Journal's archives to get into the festive spirit with some Christmas images from Northumberland's recent past.

Send your seasonal images of the county to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk if you would like to share them on our community sites.

As the summer draws to a close, the season of summer shows is also winding down, although this coming weekend has another three great ones to choose from.

Whitfield, Harbottle and Heddon are all looking forward to holding their shows, which gives YourNostalgia a chance to look back at some Journal archive pictures of the three villages from days gone by.

One picture is pre-war, with a view of Harbottle in November 1935. The description gave it as "the site of the 'House of Commans', and where the prison once overflowed".

This week's trip into The Journal's photographic library takes in images of Allendale and Allenheads captured by our photographers over the past 100 years.

One of the Haltwhistle Festival walks is based on an 11-mile stretch of a 36-mile trail created to commemorate wandering tea seller Isaac Holden.

Isaac's 19th Century beat took in a wide rural area around Allendale and the North Pennines.

As well as selling his tea, Isaac wrote and sold tracts and poems, and 658 engraved portraits of himself. He used the proceeds to finance a series of projects to benefit the local communities he knew.