News from the Choppington area is now covered by a revamped Bedlington community website from The Journal.

Visit www.journallive.co.uk/bedlington to take a look at the improved pages, including a new layout, more useful local information, an events calendar, news from the wider county and an interactive map.

These pages are no longer being updated.

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.

A South East Northumberland local history group have compiled footage that brings back to life the horror of what war in the North East was like.

From German aircraft landing on rooftops to the VE Day celebrations across the region, a new DVD has been produced to show how the area both suffered and survived the Second World War.

The rare archive footage showing places was brought together to remember how millions of men, women and children coped during one of the worst conflicts in history.

The Journal's photographic archives provide a fascinating glimpse into the past of Northumberland pit villages Stakeford, Choppington and West Sleekburn.

In its heyday, Choppington was one of the big three mid-Northumberland collieries, making up the C in the ABC of Ashington, Bomarsund and Choppington.

The Journal has a picture from a VE Day party in the village in 1945, and also a sadly undated photograph from some time in the 1960s showing the newly-opened nursery school at the Choppington Social Welfare Centre.

The Journal's photographic archives offer a fascinating collection of pictures from some of Northumberland's set-piece annual events.

The Northumberland Miners' Picnic at Bedlington is one such event, with hundreds of pictures in our files.

Many show the bands and mine banners that were the mainstay of an event that at its height - when mining was one of the main industries in south east Northumberland - attracted thousands of spectators.

Former miner John Devon has been through the two biggest town hall reorganisations in Northumberland's history - but he describes the current shake-up as 'mayhem' compared to the last one.

Coun Devon, now 75, had only been an elected councillor for two years when he took part in the 1974 local government reorganisation, which resulted in the creation of the county's existing six district and borough councils.

As a member of the Ashington Urban District Council, he was part of the process which saw his authority merged with the neighbouring Newbiggin and Bedlingtonshire Urban Councils to create the new Wansbeck District Council.

Memories of bygone days in a cluster of villages around Bedlington have been revived in a new book by a keen amateur historian.

Glimpses of Old Bedlingtonshire - by retired headteacher Evan Martin - contains 120 photographs and illustrations tracing how the people and places of the area changed through the 20th Century.