A stud groom who works at a farm near Hexham could be swapping her horse brush for a jockey whip when she rides out at Aintree in a bid to win £50,000 for charity.

Holly Brown is one of 16 novice riders who has clinched a place in training for the 2009 John Smith's People's Race in April.

Alongside the likes of a jeweller, a care worker and a trainee solicitor, the 24-year-old could be taking part in the showpiece event of the horse racing calendar.

Tynedale host Westcombe Park looking to erase the memory of the defeat at Blackheath last weekend.

From one London club to another, Tynedale rugby chairman John Shotton hopes his men will never make the same mistakes again.

With three potential opensides out injured, coach Tom Borthwick will delay his selection as long as possible. Shotton said: "Last week was the worst we have played in Tom's four years as coach."

Northumberland's new super council is to retain the existing county council's official logo when it takes over following local government reorganisation in April.

A working group has concluded there is merit in reviewing the 35-year-old logo to ensure it reflects the new unitary council's vision and values.

However, the need to prioritise effective service delivery from April 1 means it will be retained for the time being.

A chemotherapy service at Hexham General Hospital is to be extended after proving popular with patients.

The nurse-led service has moved from outpatients to a larger area in the hospital's Ward 1, while from April it will offer its services four days a week to prevent people from Tynedale having to travel to Newcastle or North Tyneside.

The unit has appointed two additional qualified nurses to support the demand and they will join the team in April.

Tomorrow will see the launch of a new free newspaper for Journal readers in Northumberland.

Journal Extra will come free with The Journal every Thursday with 36 pages of news and sport from around the county in addition to The Journal's normal service.

Regular features in Journal Extra will include a nostalgia page, readers' pictures of Northumberland and a weekly focus on one of the county's schools. There will also be weekly promotions and competitions exclusively for our Northumberland readers.

The Northumberland Cricket Board Officials Association is running an umpires refresher course for the West Tyne League.

The sessions take place at Tynedale Cricket Club in Hexham on four Thursdays - January 29, February 5, 12, 19 - between 7pm and 9pm. Contact Bob Simpson at robert.l.simpson@btinternet.com or turn up on the night.

Fears have been voiced over plans to resume stone extraction operations at a disused quarry close to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland.

Countryside guardians, dozens of local residents and parish councillors have objected to the bid to re-open the dormant Cocklaw Quarry near Chollerford, Hexham - which is just 515 metres from the Roman Wall world heritage site.

The proposed site of a quarry at Cocklaw, Chollerford, is in the background.

Tyne Roadstone Ltd wants to extract almost 600,000 tonnes of sandstone and limestone
from the site over 10 years, and build a new haul route linking the re-opened quarry to the B6318 Military Road.

A culinary duo are celebrating after achieving a coveted place in the Michelin guide for their pub in only their first year of trading.

Karen Errington and chef Phil Mason achieved the status at The Rat Inn, Anick, near Hexham, after an anonymous diner from the Michelin Red Guide paid the pub a visit.

And the accolade marks an impressive double for them, as they managed to achieve a Michelin entry in their first year of trading at their last business, too, which was the Green Room restaurant in Hexham where they worked for four years

Youngsters in Northumberland have been pulling out all the stops to help improve the lives of poverty-stricken orphans in Sri Lanka.

Hexham-based charity Mercy Trucks runs relief projects in the Asian country, which was devastated by the 2004 tsunami.

The lives of Sri lankan children have improved tremendously with help from Mercy Trucks and fundraising volunteers.

And this year, they were given a helping hand by Hexham Scouts, who held bring and buy sales to raise money to buy mattresses for Sri Lanka's orphaned children.

Youngsters from across Tynedale came together to show off their soccer skills yesterday.

The first indoor tournament of the Tynedale Mini Soccer League kicked off at Hexham's Wentworth Leisure Centre, with scores of young footballers turning up to practise their moves.

Thirteen teams of under-eights battled each other throughout the day under the watchful eye of veteran soccer league organiser Ivor Grey. He said: "This is the first of three indoor tournaments which are held every year.