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.

Tony Redford

The entry requirements for both competitions have now been e-mailed (14th Feb) to all on our contact list.

Should you wish to be included as a new club please get in touch as soon as possible and we will add you to the list.

The deadline for entries this year is Saturday, 11th 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.

Hard to believe that North Cheshire PS has been running inter-club competitions during our exhibition week throughout the past 36years without a break. (See “Archives of all Challenges”, which include many galleries featuring past winners, by following the appropriate links on the Old NCC Website).

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. And to all you hard working selectors – thanks for making the effort, and good luck with your entries.

TONY REDFORD

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.

PDI Results     Print Results

It’s very encouraging to see that the enthusiasm and support for both Print competition (Wednesday) and the DPI Knock-out (Thursday) is maintained, with the number of clubs entering, and the attendances on the nights comparing favourably with previous years. The quality of the entries and the accuracy, in terms of size and colour space as they are received, gets better all the time. The diligence in meeting our deadlines by you hard-working competition secretaries helps us collate the entries accurately meaning we can start the proceedings bang on time and perform an error-free transition right the way through to the results announcements and print-outs for every club at the end. From the many kind complements received from those attending it is clear that the smooth running of these events is really appreciated. And we like to think that the displays of our own exhibition images around the hall provides the extra interest and atmosphere that will attract big audiences back in the years to come.

Of course much of the enjoyment on the night is down to our judges and we benefited this year from the wit and knowledge of both Peter Gennard on Wednesday and Richard Speirs on Thursday. Both did us proud with their own style of judging and commentary with the winning club, Chorley PS on both occasions, being particularly impressed by their great perception of what constitutes a winning image. Full results can be found by clicking the buttons above. If your club didn’t hit the heights this time we hope that at least you picked up a decent raffle prize.

Our thanks to all the clubs who entered and particularly to those able to get over to the Civic Hall in Poynton to support the events. We hope to see another full house next year – same venue but a week later than this year.

The precise dates are: Wednesday, 22nd March and Thursday 23rd March 2017.

Why not put them in your diaries and on your syllabus NOW so that you don’t get double booked.

TONY REDFORD (inter-club competitions co-ordination)

As anticipated, there has been the usual enthusiastic response from all our regular contributors to the invitation to take part in these annual competitions held during our exhibition week at Poynton. Thanks to all you hard-pressed competition secretaries for collating your club entries and submitting them by the deadline in the required format (with only the odd minor exception!). With all the recognised top clubs participating, the standard of images is sky-high. The numbers involved are on a par with previous years for these competitions so there is a real challenge for our judges and a real treat in store for our audiences. Will there be a change at the top this year? At this stage, every club is in with a good chance. Do your best to be there to lend your club every support on the night. At the very least, you are sure to enjoy the atmosphere and the meeting of old friends in the convivial surroundings of Poynton’s refurbished Civic Hall.

The entry requirements for these two inter-club competitions have now been e-mailed (5th Feb) to all on our contact list.

The deadline for entries has been set at 5th March which we hope gives adequate time for hard-working competition secretaries and selectors to finalise their club’s strongest entries. Please contact us a.s.a.p. if you are unaware of your club having received this information or if you are considering entering for the first time. All are very welcome to take part.

We again anticipate a good crowd of supporters from all participating clubs on both competition nights. As a reminder, the dates for your diaries are Wednesday 16th March (Prints) and Thursday 17th March (DPIs). The car park and main hall at the Civic Centre can comfortably accommodate all comers but we recommend you arrive as soon after 7.00pm as possible. This will give you time to peruse the NCPS exhibition of DPIs and prints surrounding the hall, and to reserve the best seats.

The modest entrance fee of £4.00 payable at the door on the night includes refreshments and a full-time comprehensive print-out of results. It also helps defray the escalating costs of staging these events. Please check earlier blogs for further information and check out any later ones for more updates.

Tony Redford.

‏These two major inter-club competitions will take place, as usual, during ANNUAL EXHIBITION week at the Civic Hall in Poynton.

‏Wednesday, 16th March is the date for the PRINT COMPETITION and the PDI KNOCK-OUT COMPETITION takes place on the following evening, Thursday, 17th March.

Judging for both events commences at 8.00pm prompt, but doors are open from 7.00pm for viewing North Cheshire’s exhibition displayed around the main hall. Early arrivals are able to reserve the best seats, but there is ample accommodation for over 200 people and a large free on-site car park.

‏The judges for 2016 are Peter Gennard and Richard Speirs, both recognised as very experienced and highly respected judges who are sure to keep us well entertained with their assessments on the Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Trophies will be awarded on the night to representatives of the winning clubs and a full print-out of all the scores will be available for collection as the evening concludes – at approx 10.00pm.

We anticipate a really strong entry from in excess of 20 top clubs for both competitions and look forward to welcoming a strong contingent of supporters from all participating clubs to Poynton’s recently refurbished Civic Centre in March. Refreshments will be available during the intervals, at which time our famous raffles will be drawn.

Full entry requirements will be e-mailed to all our listed club contacts early in February with a deadline for entries set for the end of that month.