Northumberland Trading Standards is urging people in the county to fight back against the fraudsters this February by taking part in a major campaign.

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.

Three venues in Allendale will be taking part in this year's Christmas Art Tour.

The festive tour is organised by Network Artists and takes place in twenty different places 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.

There will be a nut hunt this autumn when Northumberland Wildlife Trust supports the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) in its appeal to members of the public to help save endangered hazel dormice.

As part of the big hunt, volunteers from Northumberland Wildlife Trust, National Trust staff and volunteers will meet on Sunday, October 11 at 10am for a survey of known dormouse locations in Allendale. See www.greatnuthunt.co.uk.

To secure places for the other events, contact Laura Lowther at Northumberland Wildlife Trust on (0191) 284 6884.

A record-breaking number of attractions have been lined up for heritage fans later this month.

The Heritage Open Days event in the North East will run from September 10 -13 with free access to properties which are usually closed to the public or that normally charge admission.

Northumberland weighs in with 99 attractions to visit, on top of the 202 buildings around Tyne & Wear.

After a packed summer of family events around Northumberland, the final weekend of the summer holidays is beckoning, with another busy programme across the county.

The event likely to attract the biggest crowd is the Glendale Show (pictured), now in its 117th year, featuring a host of rural attractions and stalls. Spectacular carriage driving and falconry displays and a Ready Steady Cook style cooking competition are some of the highlights of the event on Bank Holiday Monday.

In the bottom corner of the county on the same day, Blanchland & Hunstanworth Show (see link below) will be taking place, and two days before on Saturday Bellingham will also be welcoming visitors to its Show to take part and watch various traditional competitions.

A series of free concerts are to take place in the region.

The concerts - called Ear to Ground, Eye to Sky (E2G) - have been organised by the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty partnership.

In the first, We're Brass, a group of five members of the Stanhope Silver Band, will be performing a 'mini-concert' of popular local tunes on a South Tynedale Railway steam train departing from Alston at 12.15pm and 2.15pm on Saturday, September 5.

Other concerts are lined up at Blanchland, Northumberland and Romaldkirk, and Wolsingham, County Durham.

To find out more, phone Abi Wylde on (01388) 528801 or e-mail: abi@northpenninesaonb.org.uk.

The folk songs of Northumberland provided the inspiration for Michael Chaplin's latest play... as well as an opportunity to try something new and rather scary, as he tells Sam Wonfor

Michael Chaplin has been a professional writer for more than two decades.

Michael Chaplin, left, and Alistair Anderson

In that time he's built up a reputation as one of the UK's leading TV scribes, listing Monarch of the Glen, Grafters and Dalziel and Pascoe among his many credits.

The build-up is taking place to two of the biggest events in the Allendale social calendar.

The Allendale Agricultural Show takes place on August 15, with competition for catle, pigs, sheep, and dogs. Visitors can also watch terrier racing, Cumberland wresting and tug of war, while children can enjoy rides and the action at Diggerland.

That is followed the next day by the Allendale Beer Festival, organised by the village's Lions Club.

The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is giving people the opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposals for £200m improvements to hospital services.

The NHS proposes a specialist emergency care hospital for people in Northumberland and North Tyneside, improvements to Wansbeck and North Tyneside general hospitals and rebuilding community hospitals in Berwick and Haltwhistle.

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.