Australian Community Media was given a rare tour inside Cessnock Correctional Centre in January, and this story - with a spotlight on the inmates' work program - became our most-viewed article of the year.

The severe weather on the weekend of March 20 and 21 - including our local reports and ACM's statewide coverage - also featured heavily among our top stories of the year.

While COVID-19 was the hot topic of the year, it only just cracked the top 20 on our website, with the August 30 update coming in 16^th place.

The discovery of previously unrecorded Aboriginal art in Yengo and Wollemi national parks, a signing coup by the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs, and the retirement of long-serving local GP Dr Jalil Ramzan were also in the top 20.

Events were few and far between in 2021, but Kurri Kurri's Mulletfest and Nostalgia Festival both made a triumphant return, and featured in our top photo galleries of the year, as did the Hunter Valley Airshow, which was held at Pokolbin in March.

Throwback galleries continue to prove popular with Advertiser readers, with photos from the Cessnock floods of 1949, 2007 and 2015, Cessnock's 'snow day' of 1965, the Sydney Olympic torch relay, the International Six-Day Enduro and the Miss Cessnock City Quest, all appearing in our top 40 stories this year.

And proving 2021 wasn't all doom and gloom, there were plenty of feel-good yarns in the top 40, including a Cessnock grandmother's $800,000 Lotto win, and an Abermain mum's mission to sing the national anthem at the State of Origin.

On that note, we'd like to wish all of our readers a safe and happy New Year, and remind you that the Advertiser will be back in print on Wednesday, January 19. Stay tuned to our website for breaking news coverage throughout the holiday period.