Follow live text and BBC radio commentary from the eighth round of fixtures in the 2021 County Championship season.

Essex set up a good victory chance against Durham after closing day two with a lead of 346.

Following his trip from London to York on board the Flying Scotsman, Michael uses his Bradshaw's to trace the path of the famous service, beginning in the 'Key of the North' Newark-on-Trent and finishing in the cradle of the railways, Stockton-on-Tees. Michael rallies the choristers of a Tudor song school and admires the art of the railways before travelling to Retford, where he discovers a high-tech application for a Victorian rubber technology. A scandalous novel written in Thirsk leads Michael to a wildlife centre, where he is enlisted to feed a hungry young hedgehog named Charles.

After his epic trip north on the Flying Scotsman, Michael Portillo continues his journey from London to Edinburgh at a leisurely pace up the East Coast Main Line.

In Newton Aycliffe, he tests a state-of-the-art passenger train on tracks which follow the route taken by George Stephenson's steam engine on its historic journey in 1825. Through the looking glass at Croft-on-Tees he discovers a curious potion at the childhood home of Victorian writer Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, and finds the author was also a fan of Bradshaw.

In the coastal village of Craster, Michael discovers the Victorian smokehouses of a family firm still active today and learns how to smoke a kipper. Crossing the Scottish border he reaches Dunbar, birthplace of a visionary Scot who made his mark on the landscape of America. Michael ends this leg rocking the boat on the River Tyne in a coracle.

Exeter Chiefs host Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership - listen to BBC Radio Devon & BBC Radio Newcastle commentary.

The former Middlesbrough councillor Jon Rathmell admitted forging firework event documents.

Listen to BBC radio commentary on the final day of the National League season.

The Mouth of the Tyne Festival is rescheduled over concerns around the easing of Covid measures.

A man suffered a stab wound in Silloth and has been airlifted to hospital.

Emergency services were called to Pennine Close in the town at 10:30.

A 29-year-old man from Liverpool was found with serious injuries and was airlifted to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, Cumbria Police said.

Image source, Google

The keys to a new cancer centre at Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary have been handed over, meaning it won't be long before patients can receive treatment there.

It's hoped the Northern Centre for Cancer Care will improve services for people with the disease across north Cumbria, providing treatment closer to home rather than having to travel to Newcastle.

It is due to open by July offering radiotherapy and a chemotherapy day unit.

Phil Powell, manager for cancer services and clinical haematology at Newcastle Hospitals, which will be jointly running the service, said: “We are sure the environment will be a calming and reassuring place for our patients to receive treatment."

Image source, Newcastle Hospitals

If you want to find out more about your local area, family or community, the Tyne & Wear Archives search room is reopening to the public next week for the first time in more than 15 months.

Based at the Discovery Museum it's home to thousands of documents from the 12th to 21st centuries.

Image source, Tyne & Wear Archives

Visits to the search room will have to be booked in advance.

Lizzy Baker, archives lead said: "All documents will be quarantined before and after use and we have modified the search room space to allow social distancing to be in place.

"If people don’t know what they want to see, then they can book a phone consultation with our expert staff before they book their slot.”

Image source, Tyne & Wear Archives

Middlesbrough winger Marvin Johnson will leave the club when his contract ends next month.

Fishing wire is being tied across the popular track, while holes have also been dug in the ground.

Mountain rescue teams from both sides of the Scottish border helped a woman who injured her leg while walking the Pennine Way.

The group the woman was with called 999 yesterday afternoon from Auchope Cairn, in the Cheviot Hills, after she hurt her lower leg.

The walker was treated and carried down the hillside by stretcher.

Image source, Northumberland National Park MRT

Relive the action from day two of seven County Championship matches, including Lancashire against Yorkshire.

Essex make inroads into the Durham top order to finish day one on top, despite a batting collapse of their own.

Lisa Shaw's family say the 44-year-old fell seriously ill days after having the AstraZeneca jab.

A new coronavirus vaccination site has opened in North Tyneside which could welcome more than 5,000 people per week.

The centre, at the Cedarwood Trust community charity on the Meadow Well Estate, will operate from 08:00 to 20:00 each day.

Image source, PA Media

Trust CEO Wayne Dobson believes it will make a difference to the 12,000 people who live in the area.

“Lots of people on the estate don’t own a car, and they have to walk or, if they have the money, get buses to get where they need to be.

“It could take some people half a day to get to another vaccination site, especially if they can’t afford bus fare, and that could stop them from going to get vaccinated.

“It is absolutely fantastic that this centre is now running from the Cedarwood Trust and will reach many people who otherwise may not have taken up the vaccine.”

Its opening comes days after the government asked people to minimise travel in and out of North Tyneside to combat the spread of the so-called Indian variant of Covid-19.