Several members travelled down to Cwmbran (Wednesday 15^th June) for the 5 way battle with Caerphilly Camera Club, Dean Photo Club, Ebbw Vale Camera Club and the hosts, Cwmbran Photographic Society. It was certainly Standing Room Only (for those that arrived a little late) with around 50 people in attendance. This was the first time that I am aware that Ross has done battle with these clubs, so we had no idea what we were up against.

There were some extremely interesting prints/images displayed

The judge gave some excellent feedback, although very occasionally, the praise given out did not seem to quite match the points received.

The first round – Prints - was extremely close with the following points:

Ebbw Vale – 89pts; Caerphilly – 88pts; Ross – 86pts; Dean – 85pts; Cwmbran – 84pts

The club authors received the following points.

Snowy Farmhouse by Barbara Nash – 17pts

The Bum End by Keith Sharples – 19pts

Seun Kuti in Concert by Dave Swinnerton – 16pts

Looks Like Rain by Lynda Sharples – 17pts

Eight Years In The Making – Mike Lodge – 17pts

With the Digital Images, the gap widened slightly

Ebbw Vale – 91pts; Caerphilly – 86pts; Cwmbran – 86pts; Ross – 85pts; Dean 84pts

The club authors received the following points.

A Cornish Storm by Dave Swinnerton – 16pts

The Chair and Window by Barbara Nash – 16pts

Rewa Rewa Bridge by Roger Irving – 17pts

Malvern Race by Brian Griffiths – 19pts

Eagle Owl by Mike Lodge – 17pts

Overall, Ross came 3^rd with 171pts, 9 short of the winners Ebbw Vale.  A big thank you to all members who supplied images for the battle.  It was a difficult choice in making the final selection of 10 images.

We will of course by reciprocating a battle with Cwmbran sometime in the future, so watch/listen for announcements.

Peak District June 2011

After the success of last year’s weekend trip to Snowdonia, several members recently went on a weekend trip 
to the Peak District. 

Staying in central Buxton overlooking the lovely park, this was nicely placed as a base approximately halfway 
up the Peak District.

The weather which was superb - bright and sunny every day, which was great for visiting places, but due to the
 high contrast of the bright light it made it difficult to photograph some subjects causing much debate and discussions.

Places visited included The Roaches (The Roaches is the name given to a prominent rocky ridge situated above Leek and 
Tittesworth Reservoir. The ridge with its spectacular rock formations rises steeply to 505 m (1,657 ft),   Stanage Edge 
(Stanage Edge, or simply Stanage (from "stone edge") a gritstone escarpment. The northern part of the edge forms
 the border between the High Peak of Derbyshire and Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Its highest point is High Neb
 at 458 metres (1,503 ft) above sea level), The Hope Valley, Manifold Valley, Castleton, Curbar and Froggett Edge 
with numerous villages in between.



Great walking country with wonderful wild flowers, lovely old stone barns and walls, and packed with
interesting things to photograph.

On Saturday evening an excellent meal was had at an Italian restaurant with much wine and laughter, 
and afterwards the members met in the hotel lounge to chat and view a few of the pictures taken.

A couple of pictures taken by Lynda and Keith are shown here.

As the event was so popular, discussions are already underway to organize another trip at a different 
location next year.