Author Archives: Annette Hockney

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 refurbished Civic Hall, our regular venue in Poynton.

The Print Competition will take place on Wednesday 22nd March and the DPI Knock-out event on Thursday 23rd March and we hope to see the main hall filled with 200 plus keen club members and friends. We guarantee you will be royally entertained, on both evenings, by our esteemed judges Gwen and Phil Charnock, who need no introduction but who will be warmly introduced anyway by our president, Noel Patterson. Entry forms for both competitions will be dispatched to all existing contacts in February but 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, despite the result!

There is free on-site parking at the hall, and ample opportunities for refreshments prior to the meetings available along the adjacent Park Lane (including a brand new Pizza Express) 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.