NCPS News

An expectant contingent of NCPS supporters arrived at the Civic Hall, Poynton in good time for the 7.30pm start of the L&CPU knock-out slide competition on Saturday, 29th October. We were met by a slightly indignant member of South Manchester C.C. (the hosts for the event) wanting to know why NCPS hadn’t submitted an entry, especially as it was being staged at our regular venue. Needless to say, we had indeed sent our six potential winners, properly packaged, addressed and stamped – and well ahead of the deadline – to the organisers. However, they denied all knowledge of ever having seen them, and as their system was “foolproof”, could only conclude that either our handling of the entry, or that of the post office, must be at fault. This left us in a very disappointed, not to say highly concerned, state - wondering what might have become of our precious slides.

The competition duly commenced, following a brief and businesslike introduction, and concluded in record time thanks to the equally brief and businesslike execution of his task by the judge – understandable, as he had a four hour return drive ahead of him, we were told. He must have felt somewhat frustrated then, at having to delay another 30 minutes or so until the inevitable raffle and domestic announcements were laboriously concluded – still without any attempt by anyone to raise even the faintest titter from the patient, if small, audience in the hall.

You’ll understand that given the circumstances, our own members felt pretty glum. Consequently, we might be accused of having a jaundiced view of the whole affair. But even a casual onlooker (dragged out for some Saturday night entertainment by her keen spouse presumably) was heard to mutter - “Dry as dust” - as we were wished a safe journey home. Doesn’t auger well for the next “big night out”.

Just prior to our release, those present had been requested to collect, from a carrier bag at the rear of the hall, any slides belonging to their respective club members. These were submissions returned from an earlier L&CPU competition. And guess what! Snuggling at the bottom of the bag was our missing box of slides, still unopened of course and clearly labelled “NCPS Six Slides and Knock-out Entry Form enclosed”. Yes, the “foolproof” system at the L&CPU collection address was not quite up to the major “senior moment” which was finally admitted to by the L&CPU representative responsible. We’d been put in the wrong bag.

We all have these senior moments of course, and readily forgave all concerned, our generosity no doubt tinged with relief at having safely retrieved our slides. We quite understood that it was too late to re-run the whole competition, or even to make a public announcement about our omission. All the same, we find it surprising that “the authorities” (who were very much aware of the situation at the time) have made no obvious reference on their web site report of the event to such a serious administrative error. For this reason we thought we should wise up our members in these pages, as some may be still wondering why we do not feature in the results list.

Those who have checked will note that Wigan 10 were worthy winners – although they too must feel a bit disappointed that their victory is slightly hollow given that North Cheshire Photographic Society were robbed of the opportunity to compete!

Home News News Index Report About us Syllabus Exhibition Results Service Newsletter Galleries Links		How NCPS was KNOCKED OUT of the L&CPU Knock-out Slide Competition!
		An expectant contingent of NCPS supporters arrived at the Civic Hall, Poynton in good time for the 7.30pm start of the L&CPU knock-out slide competition on Saturday, 29th October. We were met by a slightly indignant member of South Manchester C.C. (the hosts for the event) wanting to know why NCPS hadn’t submitted an entry, especially as it was being staged at our regular venue. Needless to say, we had indeed sent our six potential winners, properly packaged, addressed and stamped – and well ahead of the deadline – to the organisers. However, they denied all knowledge of ever having seen them, and as their system was “foolproof”, could only conclude that either our handling of the entry, or that of the post office, must be at fault. This left us in a very disappointed, not to say highly concerned, state - wondering what might have become of our precious slides. The competition duly commenced, following a brief and businesslike introduction, and concluded in record time thanks to the equally brief and businesslike execution of his task by the judge – understandable, as he had a four hour return drive ahead of him, we were told. He must have felt somewhat frustrated then, at having to delay another 30 minutes or so until the inevitable raffle and domestic announcements were laboriously concluded – still without any attempt by anyone to raise even the faintest titter from the patient, if small, audience in the hall. You’ll understand that given the circumstances, our own members felt pretty glum. Consequently, we might be accused of having a jaundiced view of the whole affair. But even a casual onlooker (dragged out for some Saturday night entertainment by her keen spouse presumably) was heard to mutter - “Dry as dust” - as we were wished a safe journey home. Doesn’t auger well for the next “big night out”. Just prior to our release, those present had been requested to collect, from a carrier bag at the rear of the hall, any slides belonging to their respective club members. These were submissions returned from an earlier L&CPU competition. And guess what! Snuggling at the bottom of the bag was our missing box of slides, still unopened of course and clearly labelled “NCPS Six Slides and Knock-out Entry Form enclosed”. Yes, the “foolproof” system at the L&CPU collection address was not quite up to the major “senior moment” which was finally admitted to by the L&CPU representative responsible. We’d been put in the wrong bag. We all have these senior moments of course, and readily forgave all concerned, our generosity no doubt tinged with relief at having safely retrieved our slides. We quite understood that it was too late to re-run the whole competition, or even to make a public announcement about our omission. All the same, we find it surprising that “the authorities” (who were very much aware of the situation at the time) have made no obvious reference on their web site report of the event to such a serious administrative error. For this reason we thought we should wise up our members in these pages, as some may be still wondering why we do not feature in the results list. Those who have checked will note that Wigan 10 were worthy winners – although they too must feel a bit disappointed that their victory is slightly hollow given that North Cheshire Photographic Society were robbed of the opportunity to compete! Tony Redford
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