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

John, now 57 and living near Hexham in Northumberland, held a heavy door open for two ladies and saw stars when it swung back in his face.

But John didn't cry - and that impressed a fellow guest at the Castle Hotel.

That guest in August 1958 turned out to be the artist LS Lowry, who said: "That's a brave boy for not crying."

As a reward, Lowry sketched a street scene on a sheet of hotel notepaper, signed and dated it, and gave it to young John.

Steel gates which incorporate images from the Battle of Flodden in 1513 will be installed at the site where the English army camped before and after their victory over the Scots.

The site is now part of Barmoor Castle Country Park in north Northumberland, eight miles south of Berwick.

The park, which has 104 caravan pitches, is run by Hedley and Ann Lamb and their son Jamie. Its Flodden links are only part of the site's rich history.

It was the medieval home of the Muschamp family and in 1341 a licence to crenellate (to fortify a building) was granted to Thomas de Muschamp, In 1415 a tower was recorded and in 1801 work began on the present castle-style mansion.

They gave us the package holiday, rail transport, standardised time, better hygiene, X-rays, the telephone and the largest empire the world had ever seen.

Alan and Val Knowles enjoy a victorian banquet within the walls of Berwick Barracks, pictured with Derek Sharman of Berwick's Slow Food Group

The Victorians also taught us how to eat, drink and be merry.

Canon Kate Tristram, who lives on Lindisfarne, has written The Story of Holy Island, which chronicles the lives of people living on the island from the earliest civilisation to the present day.

Strangely, despite much being written about the island's past, she believes it is the first time it has all been pulled together in one place. The author feels this will appeal to tourists but also to some islanders.

Berwick archivist Linda Bankier and colleagues are putting together an exhibition charting the history of the Glendale Show as part of an ongoing food heritage project.

They already have many items of interest from the Records Office and the show's own archives, but hope people will come forward and bring the information to life with personal experiences.

In just three hours of savage, face-to-face fighting in a Northumberland field, 15,000 men lost their lives in the most brutal of ways.

Sarah Rushton from Northumberland County Council Conservation Team with volunteers from local archaeological and history groups at the summit of Flodden Hill, believed to be the location of the camp of the Scottish army of King James IV in the two weeks prior to the Battle of Flodden.

The scale of the butchery in 1513 at the Battle of Flodden, near the village of Branxton, is astonishing in an age well before the mechanised killing capabilities of modern artillery.

Last month, The Journal told the story of five men who sailed across the North sea in 1941, in a bid to flee the German occupation of their country and join the war effort here.

The amazing journey of Sven Moe and his four accomplices took place in an open boat powered by a single engine.

Mary Robson - nee Storey - was a pupil at Longridge Towers School from 1928 to 1930 at a time when it was known as Miss Gordon-Smith's Academy.

Longridge Towers Head Boy Matthew Hislop, former pupil Mary Storey and Head Girl Melissa Binnie

Mrs Robson, who was a farmer's daughter from Ponteland, was a full-time boarder at the school.

The niece of a resistance fighter who fled from Norway to Holy Island when it was under German occupation in 1941 was in Northumberland to retrace his steps.

This is not only to aid the survival of the motor industry - but also an attempt to reduce pollution from older vehicles.

An early car displaying the Tyne Motor Car Co plate, full to the brim

They are also pouring money into electric cars, hoping to create even cleaner motoring and, in so doing, help save the planet. Of course, cars have not always ruled the environment.

The Berwick Community Creative Writers is inviting entries to its spring writing competition, which is based on the theme of times past.

Anyone who has a special memory of Berwick is welcome to enter for the chance to win some book tokens.

Our latest look into our photographic archives goes back to 1890, with a photo captioned simply: "A pictorial record of sport and fashion from Berwick."

Other pictures are more recent but still fascinating. From 1969, there are pictures of nightclubs that would have been, at the time, the height of fashion - a gaming room at the Regency and the arena bar at Caesar's Palace.