Regrettably the North Cheshire Challenges for 2020 have been cancelled due to concerns about coronavirus. North Cheshire Photographic Society has closed for the rest of this season and we’re hoping to be back to normal in September.

So 2020 is upon us and we are already looking forward to hosting the North Cheshire Challenges at our Civic Hall, Poynton venue. These two major inter-club competitions take place during the week of our Annual Exhibition in March, as usual. We are delighted to have secured the services of Phil & Gwen Charnock, both FRPS MFIAP, who will be with us on the Wednesday to judge the prints, and who will join us again on the Thursday for the DPI knock-out competition. 

Entry forms and full details of the requirements for each competition will be dispatched to all our existing contacts by the end of February with a hand-in deadline set at Saturday 7th March.

Note: these events are open to ALL clubs so please contact us if you think your club may wish to be included this year.

Regular visitors will be aware that Poynton’s Civic Hall has its own large free car park – entrance alongside the Waitrose Supermarket on Park Lane. Doors to the main hall are open from 7.00pm.

We can comfortably accommodate 200+ visitors but early arrivals reserve the best seats and make time to peruse North Cheshire’s illuminated displays of exhibition prints and DPIs on show around the hall.

The competitions commence at 8.00pm prompt. We expect to run both events with our usual super-efficiency, employing a unique scoring and display system that also enables us to provide a full print-out of results on the night to each club’s representative.

The usual refreshments and raffle take place during an interval adding to the great social atmosphere always enjoyed by a good crowd of like-minded club photographers and friends – and that, plus of course the anticipation of scoring well with your pictures, is what it’s all about!

We at North Cheshire were delighted to see once again an attendance of about 100 visitors each evening to these inter- club competitions which seem to go from strength to strength. Our congratulations go to Chorley PS who picked up the winning trophies at both events, but we salute all the club’s taking part on the high standard of submissions. Thanks go to their hard-working selectors whose diligence ensured all entries were in by the deadline and, almost without exception, in the correct format. This helps with the smooth running of the competitions on the night of course. Our two judges from the YPU, Howard Tate and Ray Bramall, also deserve a big pat on the back for playing their part in such a friendly but professional manner. We like to think that all visitors go home with a smile on their face at least – if not a raffle prize – to show for their participation.

Perhaps our one regret was that our famous illuminated print stands were not illuminated this year for the first time. The lights went missing but mysteriously re-appeared buried beneath a pile of rubble beneath the stage as the exhibition was dismantled. Hopefully this did not detract unduly from your viewing of our exhibition prints. Next year should see the displays better than ever.

We look forward to welcoming you all back to Poynton in 2020.

We are really looking forward to hosting our two major inter-club competitions again as part of Exhibition week at the Civic Hall, our regular venue in Poynton.

The Print Competition will take place on Wednesday 20th March and the DPI Knock-out event on Thursday 21st March and we hope to see the main hall filled with 200+ keen club members and friends. You are guaranteed to be royally entertained on both evenings. We are delighted to have secured the services of Howard Tate to mark the prints on Wednesday and Ray Bramhall for the DPI Knock-out competition on Thursday, both from the YPU and highly respected judges of many years standing. They will be joining us to comment upon and judge the merits of every submission.

Entry forms for both competitions will be dispatched to all existing contacts around the end of February. But of course, these events are open to ALL photo clubs and societies so please spread the word to anyone who might be keen to “have a go” this year. There are two prestigious trophies up for grabs, the Alan Adshead Memorial Trophy for prints, and the North Cheshire Challenge Trophy for DPIs.

As usual, the hall will be surrounded by North Cheshire’s exhibition prints displayed on illuminated print stands and TV monitors will show the society’s DPIs. So please arrive early if you can, to reserve your seat, browse our exhibition entry, and enjoy a friendly chat with old acquaintances. Doors are open from 7.00pm with the competition judging commencing at 8.00pm prompt. Our famous raffle will take place during the interval each evening and refreshments will be served in the hall.

We expect to run both competitions with super efficiency as always and aim for a conclusion, with presentation of awards and full print-out of results, by about 10.00pm. We delight in seeing everyone leave with a broad smile on their face, regardless of the result!

There is free on-site parking at the hall (turn left off Park Lane alongside Waitrose) and ample opportunities for refreshments prior to the meetings available in the vicinity for those able to get to Poynton early. Also there are plenty of photo opportunities in the area so why not bring your cameras and make a day of it.

Explore this site to view previous results including the many winning pictures we’ve seen over the years – and watch this space for further updates.

Again, great to welcome a good crowd of enthusiastic supporters from such a wide range of photo clubs who came to Poynton to view our exhibition and to support their clubs’ entries in the big inter-club competitions on the Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

Our congratulations and thanks go to all those taking part and especially to the winning clubs – The Evolve Group for their prints and Southport PS for their DPIs.

We have had some good positive feedback from those present. It is always very pleasing to receive your compliments on our running of the competitions. We hope to see you all back again next year.

The deadline for entries is now upon us and once again the response from all the invited clubs has been most encouraging.

We are indebted to the conscientious selectors and hard working competition secretaries who are responsible for collating and submitting their clubs’ entries in good order and in good time. We’re looking forward to welcoming an enthusiastic crowd to Poynton on both competition nights. You are sure to have a great evening with a surfeit of the north’s finest images to admire, accompanied by the perceptive comments on each submission by our esteemed judges.

On view throughout, in the main hall at Poynton’Civic Centre, will be The North Cheshire PS annual exhibition of prints and DPIs. The usual refreshments and much anticipated raffle are served up during the interval and a full results print-out will be available at the end of the evening.

Please come early to reserve your seats and have a chat – doors open 7.00pm with an 8.00pm start time for the competitions.

Thanks again for your support and best of luck with your selections.

The entry requirements for both competitions have now been e-mailed (17th Feb) to all on our contact list.

Any new club wishing to take part should get in touch as soon as possible and we will add you to the list.

The deadline for entries this year is Saturday, 10th March. The competition dates are Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd March.

The venue as usual is Poynton Civic Hall, SK12 1RB. Turn left alongside Waitrose into the large free car park adjacent to the hall.

Doors open at 7.00pm so arrive in good time to reserve your seats and peruse North Cheshire’s impressive exhibition prior to a prompt 8.00pm start for the competitions – Prints on Wednesday, DPIs on Thursday.

Regular visitors to either or both the Print and DPI events will have experienced NOT JUST ANOTHER COMPETITION. The North Cheshire Challenges cater first and foremost for the attending audience. Every image (different sets required for both events) will be clearly displayed on a large screen. Every image will receive a constructive comment from the judge. A unique scoring system shows each club’s progress throughout the competition and a full print-out of the results is available for collection at the conclusion of the evening. Realising that many may have travelled a considerable distance we aim for a 10.00pm finish. To facilitate this, the famous raffle is drawn at the half-time refreshment break – not at the end of proceedings. However for those not in a hurry, the North Cheshire Exhibition of prints remain illuminated on the displays around the hall and the DPIs are screened for your scrutiny

North Cheshire PS has been running inter-club competitions during our exhibition week throughout the past 37 years without a break. (See “Archives of all competitions”, by following the appropriate links on the Old NCC Website. Many successful galleries are featured on these pages).

They still represent the TWO BIG NIGHTS in North Cheshire’s year.

We are proud to be able to maintain this record and look forward to welcoming you all back once again next month to take part in these truly historic events. Our thanks go to all the hard working selectors for making the effort – and we wish all you the best of luck with your entries.

TONY REDFORD

So 2018 is upon us and we are already looking forward, once again, to hosting the North Cheshire Challenges at our Civic Hall, Poynton venue. These two major inter-club competitions take place during the week of our Annual Exhibition in March, as usual. We are delighted to have secured the services of two leading judges: Tom Dodd will be commenting on, and marking all the prints submitted for the Alan Adshead Memorial Trophy competition which takes place on WEDNESDAY 21st MARCH and John Cartledge will comment on all the DPIs as he eliminates them round by round in the knock-out battle for the North Cheshire Challenge Trophy on THURSDAY 22nd MARCH.

Entry forms and full details of the requirements for each competition will be dispatched to all our existing contacts by the end of February with a hand-in deadline set at Saturday 10th March.
Note: these events are open to ALL clubs so please contact us if you think your club may wish to be included this year.

Regular visitors will be aware that Poynton’s Civic Hall has its own large free car park – entrance alongside the Waitrose Supermarket on Park Lane. Doors to the main hall are open from 7.00pm.
We can comfortably accommodate 200+ visitors but early arrivals reserve the best seats and make time to peruse North Cheshire’s illuminated displays of exhibition prints and DPIs on show around the hall.

The competitions commence at 8.00pm prompt. We expect to run both events with our usual super-efficiency, employing a unique scoring and display system that also enables us to provide a full print-out of results on the night to each club’s representative.

The usual refreshments and raffle take place during an interval adding to the great social atmosphere always enjoyed by a good crowd of like-minded club photographers and friends – and that, plus of course the anticipation of scoring well with your pictures, is what it’s all about!

TONY REDFORD

Hi everyone you can now see the full results for both of our North Cheshire Challenge competitions.

Once again we would like to thank you all for joining us for our annual Interclub Competitions and congratulations to the winners.

Print Competition Results        DPI Knock Out Competition Results

Great to see a three-figure attendance of enthusiastic supporters present on both competition nights at Poynton again. We hope you enjoyed viewing North Cheshire’s display of prints and the TV presentation of our DPIs, as well as witnessing the usual surfeit of great competition images submitted to these NORTH  CHESHIRE CHALLENGES by the leading photo clubs and societies from throughout the region.

Our judges this year, Gwen & Phil Charnock, did a great job. This year’s slightly fewer entries proved to be a bonus, meaning that both had the opportunity to enlighten the audience with their detailed comments on each image, all confidently delivered with the knowledgeable insights that we expect from these very experienced judges.

Following the official opening of our exhibition and the kind sentiments expressed by L&CPU President Mr Garth Tighe on the Wednesday, Gwen got stuck into the prints, 5 from each of 14 clubs, marking out of 19 before choosing an overall winner that scored the maximum 20. Phil took over for Thursday’s Knock-out DPI competition, expertly eliminating some 90 images, 5 from each of 18 clubs, round by round until an overall winner remained. (Full results from both competitions have been e-mailed to all participating clubs and will shortly appear on these pages).

The usual refreshments and ever-popular raffle were taken half way through the evenings, and following the presentation of the hard-won trophies, a full print-out of results was available for collection at the end of proceedings.

Thanks again to all officers responsible for collating and submitting their club entries. All we’re received in the correct format and in good time which facilitates the smooth running of the events on the night. We hope that the efficiency and friendly atmosphere that we do our best to engender on these special occasions will encourage all to participate again next year – and over many years to come.

In 2018 our annual exhibition will again take place during the fourth week in March. The inter-club competition dates for your diary are:

WEDNESDAY, 21st MARCH for prints, and THURSDAY, 22nd MARCH for the DPI knock-out battle.

We look forward to welcoming to Poynton Civic Hall another “full-house” in 2018.

Tony Redford