Family history buffs in Northumberland are turning to the web.

Northumberland County Council produced a video (below) to raise awareness of the facilities available to people wanting to know more about their ancestors.

It was uploaded onto internet video sharing site YouTube and has got more than 12,000 hits.

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 video has been launched by Northumberland County Council to help it meet demanding Government recycling targets.

The tutorial video (watch below) shows Northumberland County Council's new recycling centre in action and helps residents understand what can and can't be put into the recycling bin.

In Northumberland the council is responsible for collecting waste from more than 140,000 households as well as thousands of business premises.

East Hartford school pupils paraded the streets of Alnwick at the weekend with their prizewinning banner as part of the town's Hotspur Festival.

The festival celebrated 700 years of Alnwick connection with the Percy Family, of whom the current Duke and Duchess of Northumberland are members.

East Hartford School, which caters for primary-age children with a range of learning difficulties, is this year celebrating its 100th birthday.

John Reed from Cramlington was on hand with his Blackberry to capture a splendid rainbow brightening up the view towards Blyth.

Cramlington was one of the 1960s new towns, but The Journal's photographic archives show how its history goes back way beyond that.

The first records of the village date from the 12th century, though it remained small until the development of the new town from 1964.

Cramlington was the home of the No 36 Home Defence Squadron during the First World War and subsequently became an important base for military planes and airships.

A selection of some of the images added so far to our Your Place Northumberland group on the photo-sharing website Flickr.

If you've been out and about at events or scenic places in the county with a camera, why not join the group and add your own?

You can view the group, and more pictures by these photographers, at www.flickr.com/groups/northumberlandcommunities/.

Photos you would like to share on the Journal Extra pictures page can also be sent to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk.

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.

Last week's poll on the Your Place Northumberland sites asked people to vote for their favourite natural beauty spot in the county. We celebrate the winner, the Farne Islands, with a gallery of photos showing some of the islands' inhabitants: