Quarterly Competitions

As agreed by a strong majority at this year's AGM, changes to the categories and marking system for the four quarterly competitions will come into immediate effect. For the benefit of those not present at the meeting these changes are as follows:

1) There is to be just ONE category for prints and ONE category for slides, which will be termed "OPEN". (This replaces the "Pictorial", "Applied" and "Portrait" categories).

2) The judge will be asked to assess each entry on its own merits and award it a mark out of 20. (This replaces the "Best in Section", "VHC", "HC" and "C" awards and points system. There will be no requirement to award a "Best").

3) An entrant's top three scores only, for both prints and slides, will accrue towards "Clubman of the Year" "Printworker of the Year" and "Slideworker of the Year" totals. The "Beginners/Intermediate" section will operate on similar lines, to establish a "Beginner/ Intermediate of the Year".

4) Points awarded at the ANNUAL EXHIBITION will no longer accrue towards the above titles. The existing categories and marking system will operate unchanged for the Annual Exhibition, which will become a separate competition with the current awards and trophies retained.

As before, members may enter a maximum of 5 prints and 5 slides, none of which have featured in a previous quarterly competition, listing them in order of preference. Numbers 4 & 5 may be excluded in the event of a large entry but any excluded entries could, of course, be entered in a subsequent quarterly competition. (Anything much in excess of 100 items would be considered "large"). Note also: Prints or slides used in quarterly competitions may be entered in the Annual Exhibition, provided they have not been entered in a previous Annual Exhibition.

As a reminder, any member who has not previously submitted to the "Advanced" section may enter in the "Beginners/Intermediate" Section, unless they have previously been "Beginner/Intermediate of the Year".
Please remember to correctly "spot" your slides, and to title and number them, and your prints, in accordance with your entry form.

Your competition number (not your name) should be included. Should you choose to make notes on the back of your print (as to its method of production, for instance) there will be no objection to this.

You will see from the new syllabus enclosed that handing-in for the first quarterly coincides with the first meeting. An entry form for your use is therefore enclosed herewith. Please contact me should you have any queries about our Quarterlies.

Finally, I urge you all to take part - just for the fun of it!

Tony Redford (Competition Sec.)

The Club Trip to Brugge (Bruges!) 26th April 2002

The alarm rang at 3.30am. A thousand curses upon Colin Pickles head! Wasn't it he who had chosen the 6.45am flight to Brussels? The shout from the bathroom roused me fully to my senses "ere - have you been using my razor?"

The British Airways plane left promptly and we arrived at Brussels airport one hour ahead of British time. The second stage was the train to Brussels itself and took half an hour. We dismounted having apparently lost four of the party, and having been told off by the ticket attendant for travelling 1st class on an ordinary fare. The train from Brussels to Brugge took an hour and we arrived at mid-day to be greeted by another shower of rain. The taxi rank was fifty yards from the nearest shelter so there was no avoiding the rain. Bill kept himself dry by balancing his suitcase on his head. What a pity he'd forgotten that his free newspaper, now tucked into his case belt, was on the rainy side! Five taxis took us the short trip to the Hotel Grand Oude Burg, a short trip (but 7 euros) away. Our taxi driver cheered us with the news that March and April were the wettest months; that the last three weeks had been unusually fine but that the English always brought bad weather with them.

We were denied access to our rooms until 3.00pm so we all put our luggage in the office corridor and set off to explore, and to eat. At this point we regretted (for the first of many times) leaving our Belgian-English dictionary behind: what came on the plate bore no resemblance to what we thought we had ordered. But the hotel was excellent, well situated in the town centre, and from our third floor bedroom window we could watch a lady in the cobbled street below making lace. Close by was the ancient Tower and Belfry from whence came the bell chimes. Following our geriatric snooze in the late afternoon the group met up in the lobby for dinner, a noisy, cholesterol-loaded affair, which took up the rest of the evening. We had agreed to try the hotel restaurant "La Torre" on this occasion. By agreeing to split the total cost equally amongst the participants we ensured that everyone ate to their capacity. Some of us ventured out for a brief stroll afterwards to view the many illuminated buildings. Those two guys crouching over tripods ahead of us: Was that really Geoff and Don? How had they got there so quickly before us?

In contrast to the Friday, Saturday was a glorious sunny day. We all made for the boats. A party of twenty could have a 1 euro reduction in the 5.5 euro price, well worth bargaining for! A hilarious cruise followed, in which we got our first feel for the extensive canal system, the many medieval buildings, and the 'lake of love'. For the rest of the day the party split up into couples or small groups to explore. We were a bit footsore by the evening with two rolls of film used up. The group evening meal was taken in Verdi restaurant. Colin and Bill had been impressed by the ambience of the place and the excellent English of the proprietor. Again we averaged out the bill, this time on each of the two tables. Old papa Verdi would not have lived to his late 80's if he had stuffed the same food that we did: Steaks, Chips, Wine, Ice-creams….

Several times Frank could be heard promising Marjorie that he would be good and start his diet when he got home.
Sunday began grey and wet and windy. But there was plenty to do even if it was not good photographic weather. There were only 366 steps to the top of the bell tower but Geoff claimed that it was a bit of a squeeze! There were the churches, brewery, Art exhibitions, the brewery, the lace factory, the brewery and the museums to visit. The lethargic could take the city bus tour whilst the healthy could do the city bike tour. Colin and Bill, being the fit healthy members of the party, say that they elected to do the cycle ride but that when they got to the appointed start (under the "eye" of the information centre) claim that they were the only brave ones present and that the organiser required a minimum of four to run the tour. We found Colin wandering around in the afternoon, Bill-less. Had he lost him? Apparently in a fit of enthusiasm Bill had gone on the long cycle ride to Damme and the Dutch border.

The sun appeared in the evening to taunt us. At the evening meal, in an upstairs Baronial Hall of the Maria Van Bourgondie Restaurant, with the waiter "Baldrick II", Bill told us tales of daring-do, of numerous windmills passed and of graveyards where the bones floated to the surface (due to the high water table). After the meal Baldrick collected the money from each couple in turn, ticking off their own purchases. Having gone the length of the table he exclaimed "But there is a bottle of red wine still not paid for!" Colin resolved the situation by paying for this extra bottle (19 euros!). A tense negotiation with the table ensued to recover this money. Baldrick was then happy to let us leave.

On our final morning the rain and wind alternated with bouts of sunshine. We spent time in the bookshop keeping warm and avoiding the hailstones. The group assembled at 1.00pm (only 14 present Colin! have you carelessly lost another two couples?) to begin the journey home. At the airport Colin was presented with a much deserved bottle of his favorite tipple as a token of appreciation from the group for his continued hard work in organising such a splendid trip. Discussion on the way home revolved around "where shall we go next year" Roll on the next trip!!

Sheila Edwards

Brugge Quiz

Q1. How many couples did Colin temporarily lose:
a) on the way out
b) on the way home

Q2. How many times did Baldrick II take the food order on the last night before he got it right?

Q3. Who drank the wine from the fourth (unclaimed) wine bottle when Baldrick's friend dished it out willy-nilly

Q4. How many people (Can you name them for a bonus) bought bus tickets to Brussels though they intended to travel by train.

The 4th Quarterly Competition

Our final quarterly competition, on 30th April, attracted a total of 54 prints and 55 slides from 17 members (including 4 members in the beginners/intermediate section). The judge was Mr J. Alfred Brown from S. Manchester C.C. who enlivened the evening with some of his general remarks as well as performing a competent judging task within the allotted time. This gave him an opportunity to show his recently unsuccessful DPAGB submission in order to give our prospective entrants a yardstick as to the required standard - a generous gesture in view of his own disappointment. Alfred expressed the view that the overall standard of prints in this quarterly did not match that enjoyed at the club's exhibition. He also decided that 3 (only) Portrait Slides submitted did not merit an award.

The full results from each quarterly are now in place on our spreadsheet, which calculates the point totals for Clubman of the Year, Printworker of the year, and Slideworker of the year, as well as Best beginner/ intermediate worker. The summary tables for the four Quarterly competitions and for the Annual exhibition are included with this report. Should any member wish to query their points or scrutinize the full breakdown of results this can be readily accommodated. Your participation in next year's competitions and exhibition will, as always, be actively encouraged. So please, everyone, have a go - and good luck!

Quarterly 4 Results Table

Tony Redford (Competitions Secretary)

The Bredbury & Romily interclub slide competition

Eleven clubs each submitted six slides to be judged by John Holland at this competition on Friday 26th April. As you may know, John was a staff photographer for the Manchester Evening News. In his opening remarks John warned that his comments would be direct and to the point; in other words they could be construed as being rude (John's words!) He also remarked that he wanted to see people in the pictures, though in the event, none of the people pictures did too well. Natural history pictures also came under the hammer and it made a pleasant change to see most of the bird pictures knocked out in the earlier rounds!

Now to the results. Four of our slides only survived until round 3 (Fruit Seller, Rhinos, Polar Bears, and Masai Woman). At this point 22 slides were left. "Descending" went out in round 5, leaving us with one slide still in the running.

In the final analysis we finished second behind South Manchester; their score 28, ours 26. However the accolade of best slide in the competition went to Mark Cokayne with "Truckers Wheel". In choosing the winner John said that it was "very different", and "not predictable" as an image. He would very much like to have discussed it with its author.

Brian Turnbull

The King is dead, long live the Queen!

The club AGM took place on Tuesday 14th May, marking the end of the formal 2001/2002 season. 22 members attended. Club officers made their formal reports on the year, allowing members to raise points of interest arising from the various reports.
The treasurer noted that annual subscriptions and the 20p attendance money did not cover the costs of meeting rooms, judges and lecturers, subs to L&CPU, Insurance and printing and postage costs. The deficit was over £400 and this did not take into account the Sundries bill, this year amounting to over £200. Bank interest, a grant of £75 from the local authority, proceeds from the club auction night (£61), and net profits from the Annual Exhibition together helped to cover this deficit. A special expenditure this year had been the agreement to partly subsidize the 50th Anniversary Dinner. The club paid for the group photographs to attendees, and partly subsidized the wine for the toasts.

The treasurer proposed that subscriptions stay unchanged this year, but that the weekly attendance contribution be increased from 20p to 30p. This proposal was agreed by the meeting. The treasurer also proposed that the attendance book contain 2 columns, one for members and one for visitors. Members were asked to sign in as usual in the members column, visitors would be asked to sign in under the visitors column. It was agreed that visitors should pay £1.50 per meeting, and that notices should be put out weekly to explain this. New members, who initially came as visitors to try out the club in order to decide if they wished to join it would initially pay the visitor fee, but have these fees (less the 30p's ) refunded as part payment of the membership subscription, if they decided to join. The question of pro rata subscriptions for intending members, joining late in the session was left for the new committee to debate. The meeting thanked Dave Clack for auditing the books this year and invited him to continue his valuable work as auditor for the coming session.

Gordon Robson reported on the 2002 Annual Exhibition. It had gone well, and each evening had been enjoyed by our visitors. NCPS had won the Digital print competition, (judged by Barrie Thomas) against stiff opposition. Leek CC had won the inter-club slide competition held on the 2nd night. Geoff Simpson's lecture "Wild Britain" on the 3rd night had been entirely appropriate and enjoyed by the large audience who attended. Non-club member Peter Redford had played an important part in setting up the computer scoring, the amplification, and the digital projector to amplify the slide images on a large back-screen. The President thanked Gordon for an excellent job.

Publicity Sec, Frank Hutchinson outlined the various ways in which the club was advertised, including the press and photographic journals. Most of this important work goes on out of sight of the club membership. The President thanked Frank for his continued efforts.

Social Sec Colin Pickles highlighted the trip to the Lakes in November, and the trip to Bruges this April. Colin does all of the organisation and drives the minibus when required. He also drew attention to the clubs summer outings programme. The meeting's thanks were conveyed to Colin.

Focus editor, Bill Chadband noted that six editions of Focus this session had covered 56 pages. Focus recorded the club's progress, the progress of individual images, was an outlet for comment by members, and a mirror of the club to the outside world in that it was sent to Focal Points editor John Smith, and appeared on our Web Site. Gordon Robson noted that Focus was of high quality and a credit to the club. He thanked the editor for his efforts.

In her absence a report from syllabus sec, Sheila Edwards was read out. Sheila noted that this session's excellent syllabus had been organised by Tony Redford and she thanked him for it. Next session's syllabus was now complete and would be circulated in the summer to all members.

The report of the Competition sec, Tony Redford, was read in his absence. Tony noted that entries to each of the four quarterlies exceeded 50 prints and 50 slides from 15, 17, 16 and 17 contributors. Results featured regularly in Focus and on the WEB. Intermediate of the year was John Coles; Print worker of the year was Tony Redford; Slide worker of the year was George Beaumont, and Clubman of the year Tony Redford. Our, Internal, pictorial monochrome print competition for the Rosalind Bramley Trophy, judged by the club membership, was won by George Beaumont; to whom the President presented the handsome Cup. Tony reviewed our results in external competitions and thanked members and judges for their support.

The outgoing President then donned his official Red Bowler and gave his valedictory address. It had been a very enjoyable year, and a notable one too since it included our 50th Anniversary Luncheon. The Annual Exhibition gets better each the year, thanks to Gordon's efforts, supported by the whole membership. It had been fitting that this year's judges were the L&CPU President and two past Presidents and these same people had represented L&CPU at the Luncheon. Trevor Harrison, who had presided at the 25th Anniversary Dinner, had pronounced the Luncheon a resounding success, which was praise indeed. We had gained several new members over the year and the President hoped they would continue to find the club attractive. Traditionally, the winner of the photographic competition, staged by the club at Poynton show, is offered a year's free club membership. It was ironic that this year's winner Yvette Turnbull (no relation!) lived in York and happened to be visiting her sister in Poynton. Yvette received regular postings of Focus this session to keep her informed. We had had a successful year photographically, doing well in the majority of external competitons, winning some of them, and being near the top in several others.

The most pleasing aspect of his year's Presidency had been the co-operation and goodwill expressed by the membership. The President had regularly arrived at a club meeting to find that Kathleen and /or Stuart had already put out all the chairs and prepared the tea trolley. John Ade and his helpers were busy setting up the screen, print Box and projector. The Tea rota worked well with members starting to sign up without being asked. At the Annual exhibition the President looked on with amazement as, without any verbal communication, the stands were erected, the lights installed (having been checked previously by John Ade) and the prints put up by a dedicated band of loyalists. The President had unfortunately missed the Christmas Party and Fred Edward's contribution, but had greatly enjoyed the Christmas Dinner organised by Gerald Hallworth. He was saddened only that the room did not allow dancing, so that the club missed out on learning the circle dance "Clwyd". The President was grateful to the committee for their continued support and singled out Peter Redford, a non-member living in London, for giving up holiday time to help with the Exhibition, and for producing and maintaining our WEB site to such a high standard.

His last act was to crown the new President with the ceremonial Red Bowler, and himself don the Black Bowler of a past President.

After the tea interval New President Joyce Streets addressed the membership. She was very pleased to be President and would do her best for the Society. She had several ideas to put forward during the coming session. One of these related to encouraging new members to get involved in the running of the Society. She proposed that some new members should be formally nominated to assist officers of the new committee. The old committee had made nominations to all posts, and had invited the membership to make any further nominations that it wished. No more nominations had been forthcoming and so the following were declared elected:

Secretary - Joyce Robson
Treasurer - David Sharp
Focus Editor - Bill Chadband
Publicity Sec - Frank Hutchinson
Social Sec - Colin Pickles
Equipment Officer - John Ade
Syllabus Sec - Sheila Edwards assisted by Richard Scaife
Competition Sec - Tony Redford, assisted by John Coles

Selection Committee:
Chair Bill Chadband, assisted by John Dixon
Members Brian Turnbull, Gordon Robson, Jon Allanson
Richard Scaife Ex Officio President, Competition sec.

Joyce thought a Membership Secretary, to greet new members and deal with subscription matters, would be a positive move. She also endorsed the idea of a member being designated the archivist to store past papers and anything else that they deemed of historical value to the club.

Joyce then opened the discussion on the Resolutions put to the meeting. Tony Redford had proposed that the Quarterly competitions not be divided into sections but judged as one open class. It was noted that there were few Portrait entries and that the Pictorial and Applied classes tended to be used indiscriminately by members. He proposed that judges be asked to give marks to all entries rather than assign C,HC, VHC to some. It was noted that some judges gave lots of awards, others very few. Marks could be totalled at the year end to determine the Clubman of the year. In order that members who could not produce 5 slides and 5 prints each quarterly should be at less of a disadvantage Tony proposed that marks from only the 3 best slides and 3 best prints of a competitor be counted each quarterly for the Clubman award. A proposal that the print section should have two classes, for wet print and for dry print production was not supported by the AGM. Tony's proposals were then all agreed nem con.

President, Joyce Streets, reminded the meeting of the summer programme published in May Focus thanked members for their attendance and declared the meeting closed.

Worker of the Year Results

This took place in the impressive surroundings of 'The World of Glass' at St Helens on Saturday 22ndJune 2002 commencing at 2.00pm.

Noteworthy items discussed at the meeting were as follows-

Accounts - The AGM in February had increased subscriptions mainly due to increases in PAGB mileage rates and a reduced income due to very low current rates of interest in the current and savings accounts. The Treasurer was pleased to inform the meeting that better rates were now being obtained by changing to another Bank and hopefully only a modest increase would be required next year, if at all. All Clubs were urged to send their subscriptions in by the due date without further reminders else an additional charge of £20 would have to be made (to avoid problems in completing the Accounts in time for the AGM).

AOB - In response to comments from Southport PS regarding anomalies in the Exhibition Rules the President announced the Executive were already aware of criticisms and revisions were in hand.

Annual Exhibition
John Dougherty, the President, opened the Exhibition and presented the awards. What an impressive venue and display of such high quality prints, very well arranged and beautifully illuminated!
Unfortunately less than 10 clubs put in full entries in all the Sections (minimum of 4 workers entering all Sections) so competition was rather limited. What a pity NCPS did not qualify in view of some excellent individual performances as outlined below. Perhaps next year?

Certificates of Merit
Gordon Robson (Grevy`s Zebra in the Masai Mara) (Nat History Prints)
Gordon Robson (La Defence, Paris) (Monochrome Prints)

Sent to PAGB (in addition to above)
Dorothy Redford (Waterfall) (Monochrome Prints)
Tony Redford ( Bridges of Paris) (Monochrome Prints)

Sent to Folios
Colin Pickles (Arc Light) (Open Colour Prints)
Gordon Robson (Co -existence, Hope valley) (Open Colour Prints)
Gordon Robson (Signpost to Industry) (Open Colour Prints
Tony Redford (Contrasts, Place de Gaulle) (Creative Prints)
Gordon Robson (The Great Wall) (Monochrome Prints)

Print Photographer of the Year
1st Christine Widdall, CPAGB, (SLIC) 90 points
2nd (joint) Gordon Robson (NCPS) 86 points
Derek Holmes (Chapel CC) 86 points
4th Mike Lawrence, (CPAGB) (SLIC) 82 points

The Summer Programme 2002

The summer programme got off to an excellent start with between eighteen to twenty people meeting for each of the first three outings. Being too mean to pay £3.50 (as he thought) to park at the Lowry, this editor spent the first hour driving around looking for free parking. He arrived to find an NCPS group which had toured the Lowry and surrounds and was eager to proceed to Harry Ramsden's for dinner. A dozen, or so, members found their way to Harry's. Our senior citizens enjoyed their "senior citizen specials" whilst the editor contented himself with an apple pie and custard.

Two Tuesday's later members assembled in Castleton for a leisurely walk through the fields to the Cheshire Cheese at Hope. To counter the possibility of being caught in the rain, Bill Chadband left his car in the pub park at Hope. Whilst waiting for his new hip, Frank Hutchinson contented himself with a meander around Castleton saying that he would see us all in the Cheshire Cheese later. But there was no Frank when we all supped our drinks in the Pub. Having his car available Bill volunteered to drive back and look for Frank. Who would have guessed that there were two "Cheshire Cheeses? Bill found Frank in earnest conversation with a young lass in the other Cheese in Castleton! Who was his new lady friend? Why none other than Heidi, using Danish Summer time to arrive an hour after the rest of us; proceeding to the nearest Cheese, and saving Frank's bacon (or at least his "face"). So then there were three in Cheese No. 2 until the rest of the party completed the circular walk and joined in.

By Tuesday 25th June, Heidi had adjusted her clock and arrived at Castlefields in time to capture its industrial archaeology on film with the other 19 NCPS members or friends. The evening was fine and sunny and we took it in turns to get the defining image of the white iron curved bridge. Had Tony Redford slipped or had he intended to lie face down in the dirt to get a picture of the end of a canal boat? I guess we won't know until the first quarterly next session. In some magical way the circular perambulation brought us to Dukes Bar for an end of evening tipple. The salt on the cashew nuts (generously passed around by the past President!) must have affected Tony Redford because he announced that some of them were off to Harry's again for more Fish & Chips.

On Sunday 30th June a select group of nine gathered at Chatsworth for a two mile stroll through the Park to the Robin Hood Pub, ostensibly for lunch, but in reality to watch Brazil play Germany in the World Cup final. We would have made it for the 12 noon kickoff had Gorden Robson not decided to photograph all the common orchid flowers en route. By half-time we had consumed our drinks and sandwiches; so Gordon (quite out of character) announced that we should have the puddings (apple, or treacle tart). These duly came and Bill and Joyce consumed theirs. Gordon noticed that we were only halfway through the 2nd half so sent his pud back complaining that it was hard in the middle!!. The full replacement was served by the manageress, who was full of apologies for the unsatisfactory nature of the first attempt. Gordon then announced that he couldn't eat it all and begged his friends to help him out!. This charade took us to within three minutes of the final and we were happy to leave knowing that Brazil had won 2-0 (though no one really saw the match, being more interested in Gordon's playacting!). The return, high level, route gave us glorious sunny views over the countryside. We halted briefly at the Tower to watch our President cavorting on a Canon, then returned to the cars. Since the weather was fine and we were only half-way through the afternoon, five of us continued to Tideswell to see the remnants of the well-dressings there. It was necessary to re-assemble some of pictures from the lumps of clay on the floor, so we retired to the tea (and scones) room for refreshment before driving home.

From a Past President (After 6th July 2002!)

Many thanks to all of you from my wife and I for your kind thoughts, cards, messages and good wishes. The weather was kind and the whole weekend went as we planned and hoped - in fact better than we really expected. Hope to see as many of you as possible this week to distribute as much wedding cake as we have left.

Thank you all once again.

And From His Wife!

The weekend of 5/6th July was mainly uneventful! The weather was kind to us and the only casualty was Frank who, having put away quite a few Belgian beers on his stag party, took 45 minutes to remove his trousers before getting into bed. He still says that he cannot remember leaving the Bear Town Tap. Fortunately, I was very abstemious and was able to run all the errands on the big day and leave Frank and Ian to recover. The ceremony was followed by a buffet of strawberries, champagne and wedding cake and this in turn was followed by dinner at eight at Pecks restaurant. We hired a mini bus for the occasion so that everyone could relax and enjoy themselves. Tom, our 15 year old grandson, turned on the charm with one of the young waitresses and was allowed an extra pudding whilst the rest of us wondered how on earth he could manage more food - we were all stuffed to the gunnels.

We would both, through Focus, like to say thank you to everyone who wished us well and particularly John and Hazel Ade who came to the Registry Office to wish us well. John was able to provide a group photograph for us.

Frank & Margery (Mr & Mrs Hutchinson)

"AWAY BATTLES"

Two important additional dates for your diary this year:

1) Monday, 7th October - A new "creative" print competition hosted by Southport P.S.

2) Monday, 11th November - return 3-way Battle hosted by South Manchester C.C.

The competition at Southport P.S. invites us to take along, for a prompt 7.45 pm start, 11 prints - from 11 different workers - to be judged on the night by Phil & Gwen Charnock of Wigan 10.

Our prints will be in competition with 8 other selected clubs from the region, each with a reputation of being amongst the best in the north-west for creative work - very strong opposition guaranteed! Note: entries are not restricted to digital prints. All work which could be described as being "creative" is welcomed. (Don't ask me for a definition of "creative" - ask Phil or Gwen. They have taken on the task of judging!)

All 88 prints will be displayed, exhibition style, and the judges will be asked to eliminate the weakest 11, each of which earn 1 point for its club. Then a second 11 will go, for a score of 2 points - and so on. A special trophy will go to the winning club, with an addition award to the author of "Best Print".

To be in with a chance, our Selection Committee will be needing some pretty striking pictures from a wide number of contributors. L&CPU rules will apply as regards size etc., the only other stipulation being "no golden oldies". This is our opportunity to show that we have strength in depth at NCPS. But we need YOU print workers to volunteer your best creative work. Don't be shy!

This year South Manchester C.C. is hosting the "Cheshire Triangle" battle (which we hosted at Poynton on 11th December last). Again, 10 slides and 10 prints are required from 20 different members. We shall be looking for revenge in November, as we didn't fare too well last time. Again, please dig out your favourites for the Selection Committee.

Dates and details of other external competitions, which we know are pending, will appear in FOCUS as soon as they are notified by the host clubs. We hope to have a strong band of travelling supporters to all events. It's a great way to see top work from around the regions as well as an opportunity to socialise with our own members and those of other clubs, most of whom are very friendly - especially when they win!

Remember - all results and up-to-date details are promptly posted on our website.

(Did you realise that a full copy of the NCPS 2002 - 2003 syllabus has been up there on the website for a couple of months already? Don't miss out - check us out regularly, at www.ncps.org.uk)

Tony Redford (joint competition sec)

Committee Meeting Wed 31st July

The mailing to members, containing Focus, the 2002/3 Syllabus and the Invitation to pay the new session's subscriptions was a basic concern of the first committee meeting. President Joyce Streets was also concerned to get the position of Membership secretary established. Joyce and John Dixon would together act in this capacity to get things started.

Arrangements for the Poynton Annual Show on August 24th (where NCPS are the photographers) were discussed.

The Digital Day (on Sunday 13th October), being run jointly with Bramhall club, would be advertised widely, (and included in mailshots by Gordon inviting clubs to participate in our annual exhibition print and slide competition).

Annual Exhibiion 2003 - Barrie Thomas had agreed to judge the Digital print competition again. Tony Redford had been invited to do the Friday evening presentation. Gordon announced that the judging for the Annual Exhibition would take place on 19th January.