NCPS News

Not only does the combination of Etrex and Computer maps allow routes walked to be recorded, but conversely, intended routes can be downloaded to the GPS machine, after which it is a case of follow the arrow on the GPS. And no more walking up dead-end paths on the sides of mountains!!! www.anquet.co.uk .

Tony had to be at the Village Hall for 3.00pm to help Jack Bamford set it out for the evening. The rest of us had to be ready for a 6.15pm dinner prior to our short walk down the road for the Competition. But the competition is becoming a victim of its own success. Feeding all of the 37 NCPS and SMPS members on six long tables is time consuming. Even foregoing the coffee we were still trooping into the hall at 8.20pm. Other clubs had been waiting patiently for the start from about 7.30pm.

Judge Ian Hume FRPS from Grange-over-Sands began by complimenting the Clubs on the high standard and the great range of styles. He made his general comments (which applied to many of the pictures) at the beginning to save time. He looked for technical perfection in the prints, and where an image was basically a repeat of images seen previously (in competitions, magazines and so forth) he looked for a new interpretation to make the current image stand out from its predecessors. He had studied all prints, made notes and scored in advance so that he could read out his conclusions and marks. Eight Clubs were now in the competition and so 80 prints were to be considered. The judge marked out of 30. Our NCPS scores are listed below. Dumfries are a strong club and were the winners last year. This time, the order changed. Tyneside Digital Imaging Group emerged as the clear winners with NCPS coming third. The club total marks are also listed below.

Anglo-Scottish Inter club Battle Results 2004

Tyneside Digital I.G. 253

Carluke C.C. 239

North Cheshire P.S. 232

South Manchester C.C. 230

West Cumbria P.G. 222

Dumfries C.C. 221

Keswick C.C. 212

Impressions Group 209

NCPS Scores

Boulanger Patissier 22

Silhouttes 21

St Paul's, Rome 23

Corridor of Light 29

Grd Squirrel, Kalahari 21

Autumn Glow 21

Bliss 17

Wild Flower Meadow 30

In Tune 27

Chapter House Steps 21

The competition is clearly going from strength to strength. Unfortunately the ears of the NCPS contingent are not. Arriving later than many we found ourselves at the back, and even those with hearing aids found it difficult to hear the judge,s comments and his scores. The seating was eight chairs wide, by 10 chairs deep, with the stragglers standing at the back.. Some of the prints were near A4 size and two of the stragglers gave up the unequal struggle to see and hear, and left early. The organisers proposed to leave the prints out at the front for the audience to peruse at their leisure. However, not many folk could get to see the prints at any one time, and with the lateness of the hour, most did not even try. This was a pity since there were some great images on show. 'What to do about this?' was one of the conversation topics on the walk back to the hotel for late coffee. A late afternoon start, rather than the evening start, seems to attract much support. Since some participants had to drive a good distance home after the competition this would surely meet their needs also. In November it is getting dark by 4.00pm so that blackout would not then be a problem. Projecting the images using the Digital projector is a second possibility. The judge has the prints in advance and makes his comments and does his marking in advance. Clubs could be asked to submit digital copies of their prints on CD for the organisers to rearrange prior to showing. The Prints could be displayed around the room at the beginning of the meeting for the early birds to peruse. This would be better than sitting in seats staring at nothing whilst the laggards arrive. NCPS has a powered speaker, which can be driven by a microphone, to allow the judges comments to be easily heard by the deaf at the back.. It was the organiser's intentions that there should be some social intercourse between clubs after the event. If we could provide tea and biscuits in the hall following the competition this might be an incentive for participants to stay on a while. Though NCPS and SMCC had a coffee date back at the hotel, the other participants presumably had to find their own sustenance. A prompt 4.00pm start and increasing the duration to 3 hours would still allow those staying at the hotel to enjoy a late dinner. Some of us would happily exchange a late four course dinner for a light sandwich supper to round off the day.

Jack and Tony are to be complimented on a unique competition and a great week-end. NCPS has the technology to further the success of the event. It only remains for Jack to go home and see how his club can wrest control of the 1st place from Tyneside Digital IG. Of course NCPS are not going to co-operate one iota in this task. It's time that we won 1st place. Are you listening John Coles?

The following men were observed with their partners during the weekend: Jon Bawden, George Beaumont, Alan Bromage, Bill Chadband, Fred Edwards, Gerald Hallworth, Rod Hargeaves, Frank Hutchinson, Tony Redford, Gordon Robson, Richard Scaife, Hugh Oldham, Ted Wilson, Alan Wild. Apparently Monica let Colin Pickles come on his own!

Home News News Index Report About us Syllabus Exhibition Results Service Newsletter Galleries Links			The Trip to the Lakes, or Technology Beckons, or Jack's Demise
		29 members and partners made it to the Derwentwater Hotel over the Bonfire weekend for the great North-South battle on Saturday 6th November. The Hotel is a perfect setting for a weekend in the Lakes, being out of town; with large grounds running down to Lake Derwentwater.

	There were several types of available rooms varying from the Classic, Premier (with welcoming decanter of sherry, and stocked fridge), Premier plus (Premier room with a view), deluxe (still more space, more views, Fluffy bathrobes etc) & and the Ruskin Suite (the mind boggles at what this includes!). On the Sunday, after breakfast, a waitress also explained that room 119 was the worst room, being small and cramped and next to the Kitchen, followed by room 125, which was almost as bad. Our room was no. 125!! We were impressed to find a solitary mint chocolate next to the bed - impressed that is until we discovered that many others had found a whole box of chocolates next to their beds. It seems that only returnees got the box - we got the hint of mint! The weather was not ideal for photography, being wet on the way up, and generally misty. Frank's plan for the great circular walk from Rosthwaite to Grange in Borrowdale and back was in some doubt until, assembling at 10am
				on the Saturday morning, a dozen or so hardy souls announced that they were fit and ready to go. Joyce Robson and Milly Chadband drove down to the start, had a coffee and lookaround, painted a picture, and then drove up to Grange to await the party at the halfway point.

	The rest of us started on the initial long trek upwards; being assured by Frank that once we reached the top it would be downhill all the way. It had stopped raining and the wet had emphasised the glorious colours on the hills. We followed the gently falling path until we met the B road, which led back to Grange and Keswick. We were looking for the footpath off to the right, which would lead us to the Bowderstone. Eventually Frank found the path and we started up again. At this point some of the party, with a premonition of what was to come decided to stick to the road. The new path was more dicey, with slippery stones at odd angles but onwards we went.
	Frank was by now leading from behind. Follower Tony Redford, in the lead, turned and complained that the path had disappeared - it looked highly dangerous to go on. (Alan Bromage had earlier suggested that the path continued upwards, when we branched off horizontally, but heck, who's leading this group?) Shall we go back, continue on, or find the quickest way down to the road? 'Let's get on the road' was the prevailing sentiment so several new paths downwards miraculously appeared with some folk crawling under the bottom fence, whilst the long-legged ones stepped over. Jackie's poodle is not built for such terrain (she denies that it is really a curly-haired cat) and needed to be carried down the mountain-side. Safely down on the road again we walked around the bend to find the signpost and path to the BowderStone. All was now plain walking.
	We found it, ascended it, photographed it, stole its spectacles and left it. Ten minutes later we met Alan and Jackie, who had been ahead, walking back again. Apparently the spectacles, found on a rock, were not Tony's after all. Best
	return them to where they were found so that the real owner would have a chance of recovering them.
				At Grange the advance party were well into their tea and scones. Bill and Gordon joined their wives in light refreshment, then forgoing the return walk decided to visit the Anquet demonstration at George Fisher in Keswick.
	Bill received the Anquet 1:50,000 scale mapping of the Peak District as a CD ROM for his last Christmas present. Anquet are now publishing the 1:25,000 scale maps of the National Park areas (Peak District, Lakes, Snowdonia etc) and including complete aerial photographs of the same areas (claimed 3m discrimination) and also the ability to look obliquely at the maps, vary the direction of the lighting, and see the contours (ie a 3-dimensional view). Bill has used this program and his Etrex GPS system to download the tracks of walks completed. The new mapping, based upon the new Ordnance Survey maps (which include the Right-to Roam areas), will apparently be available in three weeks time. Not only does the combination of Etrex and Computer maps allow routes walked to be recorded, but conversely, intended routes can be downloaded to the GPS machine, after which it is a case of follow the arrow on the GPS. And no more walking up dead-end paths on the sides of mountains!!! www.anquet.co.uk . Tony had to be at the Village Hall for 3.00pm to help Jack Bamford set it out for the evening. The rest of us had to be ready for a 6.15pm dinner prior to our short walk down the road for the Competition. But the competition is becoming a victim of its own success. Feeding all of the 37 NCPS and SMPS members on six long tables is time consuming. Even foregoing the coffee we were still trooping into the hall at 8.20pm. Other clubs had been waiting patiently for the start from about 7.30pm. Judge Ian Hume FRPS from Grange-over-Sands began by complimenting the Clubs on the high standard and the great range of styles. He made his general comments (which applied to many of the pictures) at the beginning to save time. He looked for technical perfection in the prints, and where an image was basically a repeat of images seen previously (in competitions, magazines and so forth) he looked for a new interpretation to make the current image stand out from its predecessors. He had studied all prints, made notes and scored in advance so that he could read out his conclusions and marks. Eight Clubs were now in the competition and so 80 prints were to be considered. The judge marked out of 30. Our NCPS scores are listed below. Dumfries are a strong club and were the winners last year. This time, the order changed. Tyneside Digital Imaging Group emerged as the clear winners with NCPS coming third. The club total marks are also listed below. Anglo-Scottish Inter club Battle Results 2004 Tyneside Digital I.G. 253 Carluke C.C. 239 North Cheshire P.S. 232 South Manchester C.C. 230 West Cumbria P.G. 222 Dumfries C.C. 221 Keswick C.C. 212 Impressions Group 209 NCPS Scores Boulanger Patissier 22 Silhouttes 21 St Paul's, Rome 23 Corridor of Light 29 Grd Squirrel, Kalahari 21 Autumn Glow 21 Bliss 17 Wild Flower Meadow 30 In Tune 27 Chapter House Steps 21 The competition is clearly going from strength to strength. Unfortunately the ears of the NCPS contingent are not. Arriving later than many we found ourselves at the back, and even those with hearing aids found it difficult to hear the judge,s comments and his scores. The seating was eight chairs wide, by 10 chairs deep, with the stragglers standing at the back.. Some of the prints were near A4 size and two of the stragglers gave up the unequal struggle to see and hear, and left early. The organisers proposed to leave the prints out at the front for the audience to peruse at their leisure. However, not many folk could get to see the prints at any one time, and with the lateness of the hour, most did not even try. This was a pity since there were some great images on show. 'What to do about this?' was one of the conversation topics on the walk back to the hotel for late coffee. A late afternoon start, rather than the evening start, seems to attract much support. Since some participants had to drive a good distance home after the competition this would surely meet their needs also. In November it is getting dark by 4.00pm so that blackout would not then be a problem. Projecting the images using the Digital projector is a second possibility. The judge has the prints in advance and makes his comments and does his marking in advance. Clubs could be asked to submit digital copies of their prints on CD for the organisers to rearrange prior to showing. The Prints could be displayed around the room at the beginning of the meeting for the early birds to peruse. This would be better than sitting in seats staring at nothing whilst the laggards arrive. NCPS has a powered speaker, which can be driven by a microphone, to allow the judges comments to be easily heard by the deaf at the back.. It was the organiser's intentions that there should be some social intercourse between clubs after the event. If we could provide tea and biscuits in the hall following the competition this might be an incentive for participants to stay on a while. Though NCPS and SMCC had a coffee date back at the hotel, the other participants presumably had to find their own sustenance. A prompt 4.00pm start and increasing the duration to 3 hours would still allow those staying at the hotel to enjoy a late dinner. Some of us would happily exchange a late four course dinner for a light sandwich supper to round off the day. Jack and Tony are to be complimented on a unique competition and a great week-end. NCPS has the technology to further the success of the event. It only remains for Jack to go home and see how his club can wrest control of the 1st place from Tyneside Digital IG. Of course NCPS are not going to co-operate one iota in this task. It's time that we won 1st place. Are you listening John Coles? The following men were observed with their partners during the weekend: Jon Bawden, George Beaumont, Alan Bromage, Bill Chadband, Fred Edwards, Gerald Hallworth, Rod Hargeaves, Frank Hutchinson, Tony Redford, Gordon Robson, Richard Scaife, Hugh Oldham, Ted Wilson, Alan Wild. Apparently Monica let Colin Pickles come on his own! Report - Bill Chadband, Pictures - Gordon Robson
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