Winners of civic society photography competition announced
Wakefield Civic Society has announced the winners of its first photography competition celebrating the city’s architecture.
Almost 150 entries were received since the event was launched in July to “draw attention to Wakefield’s diverse and often beautiful architectural buildings.”
Awards across a range of age groups and categories were presented at an event held at Wakefield Exchange.
Each of the prize winners received a cash prize of £100 and a panel of judges also awarded a ‘best in show’ prize of £250 for the photograph judged to be best in the competition.
David Wheelwright was chosen as the overall winner for his image of civic buildings featuring County Hall and Town Hall.
Society president Kevin Trickett said: “Photographs of buildings are enormously useful to historians when trying to work out what buildings used to look like.
“But you have to keep taking them as buildings can change quite quickly over time – some even disappear altogether.
“We’re fortunate to have access to many old photographs of Wakefield via the Wakefield Historical Appreciation site on Facebook and the Aire and Calder website run by Wakefield Libraries, but we need to keep topping up the collection – so do go out and take photos of your street, the places you visit and so on.
“Historians of the future will thank you – and not just the academics, but later generations researching their family trees.
“It can be invaluable to know exactly where family photos were taken.”
Prizes were presented to winners and runners up by Sara Cremer, president of Wakefield Camera Club, who had supported the society in setting up and judging the competition.
All photos entered into the competition, along with result, can be viewed at vimeo.com/wakefieldcivicsociety
The winners in each age group were:
Under 18 City centre: Isaac Helliwell – George & Crown Yard Suburban: Isaac Helliwell – House on Laburnum Road Rural: Mia Thomas – Sandal Castle
18-25 City Centre: Charles Lea – County Hall staircase Suburban: Erin Thomas – Tileyard North Rural: Joseph Gueli – Heath House
26 and over City Centre: David Wheelwright – Civic Buildings, Bond Street and Wood Street Suburban: Phillip Ross – 99 Arches railway viaduct Rural: Roy Henstock – Caphouse Colliery, National Coal Mining Museum