North Tyne Area Print Competition 2023

Hosted by Tynemouth PS on Thursday 30^th November 2023

Judged by Chris Graham of Ashington CC

On a cold and icy Thursday night, this competition was held at King Street Social Club, the home of North Shields PS, due to the possibility of insufficient seating at our own clubrooms in Howard Street. Around 50 people attended.

The venue is ideal, and we were soon underway, with Chris beginning by explaining that there were many good prints to judge and in a different competition a lot would score much higher.

Each of the 6 clubs submitted 8 prints, with a maximum of two per worker. Chris’s comments were succinct as he explained his particular likes or otherwise of each piece of work, together with any suggestions he may have for a perceived improvement. Reasons for a mark off or on were also given.

At the halfway point North Shields were ahead by 2 marks from Cramlington – would that all change? At the end of the night, North Shields turned out to be the winners and were presented with ‘The Shutterspeed Trophy’. Ahead of Gosforth by 5 points and of Cramlington by 6. Joint 4^th by another margin of 7 points were Whitley Bay and Tynemouth. Commiserations to Ponteland who brought up the rear. I should say that every club had some fine work in their entry, and this helped everyone no matter which club, to enjoy a really good show.

Whitley Bay had the consolation of their member Les Smith receiving the Quaich for the best print on the night. A buffet was enjoyed by all.

I must finish by thanking the North Shields members present for their hard work in setting up the rooms and clearing up at the end. It was very much appreciated.

Below are the winning entries from North Shields, the 4 entries which gained 29 points and Les Smith’s ‘The Strummer’ which scored 30 (click on each image to see a larger picture).