The South Tyne Interclub PDI Competition was hosted by South Shields Photographic Society and judged by Stuart Skelsey.

All six clubs of the South Tyne Area (Gateshead CC, Hexham & District PS, Ryton & District CC, South Shields PS, Whickham PC and Winlaton & District CC) gathered at St Bede’s RC Church Hall on Tuesday, 3^rd February 2026.

After much shuffling and shifting around to get a good vantage point, we were ready to begin the inter-club PDI competition, with many club members keeping an eye on the proceedings and updating the tally on their score sheets.

It certainly was a night to remember.  Each club had submitted 10 images with a mixture of mono and colour covering a wide range of subjects.  Stuart’s comments and suggestions for improvements were informative, and his positive critique showed the work that he had applied to the task at hand. There were some tense moments and then that silent pause whilst the scores were worked out  – it was pretty close.

1^st           Gateshead CC                            269 points

2^nd          Winlaton CC                               261points

3^rd          Ryton & District CC                    256 points

3^rd          Hexham & District PS               256 points

5^th          South Shields PS                        251 points

6^th          Whickham PS                             244 points

The John Smith EFIAP, PPSA, APAGB, Hon NCPF South Tyne Best PDI Salver award was won by Brian Denham of Gateshead CC for his image ‘Snow Smasher Train’ which scored 30 points.

I would like to thank all clubs for their entries, Stuart for judging and, finally, our hosts South Shields PS who did a fantastic job on the night and made sure the evening was a success.

Glen Lawson
South Tyne Area Representative