The photography competition took place in Summer 2013. Thanks to everyone who took part. There were some great pictures submitted. However not everyone could be a winner so here are the people who won the various categories.
Open
Winner: Warren Tolley – Clayton Beck
‘This photo naturally caught my eye while walking through the beck. I only realised that it had the eye-catching element after I got my socks wet looking at it too long.’
Runner Up: Keith Gartzen – Red Beck
‘Children having a great time by a feeder stream for the ponds and Red Beck … look at the joy on those two faces; that’s why I took this photo.’
Runner Up: George Greiner – Bradford Beck
My photos are of Bradford Beck along Canal Road. I suppose they should be in the Open class, because they can be called neither Urban nor Rural.
Urban
Winner and runners up: Martyn Sutcliffe – Bowling Beck
‘I have long been fascinated with the hidden course of the beck. The beck was an important part of Bradford’s history and much of it now lies hidden beneath the streets. I find it fascinating to visit these places that are rarely seen but hold so much importance to Bradford’s past.’
‘The meeting point of two historic water courses. A credit to the Victorians and their engineering skills – as impressive as this junction is, these stone arches and vaults were built to be seen by no one, hiding the once heavily polluted Beck away from the people of Bradford.’‘The last point where Bradford Beck sees daylight before its subterranean journey through the city. I have lost count how many times I have traversed the tunnels, yet it still fascinates me that such a labyrinth can be hidden right beneath your nose, unbeknown to most people above!
Rural
Winner: Keith Gartzen – Red Beck
‘A late autumn scene along Red Beck … I took this because it looked pretty.’
Runner Up: James Craig – Red Beck
‘Stepping stones – note the contrast of the striking green colour of the grass, with the beck disappearing upstream into the far distance.’
Runner Up: David Enyori – Pitty Beck
‘Walking in Pitty Beck early in the morning I noticed the sun shining on a pond and the reed/grass that was growing in it was bending in the wind.’
Wildlife
Winner: Wendy Robinson – Chellow Dene
‘This looks across the weeded and rushed bog which is like a sponge and is the very source of the beck. On my walk, this bleak and wet afternoon, the only creatures I saw were a small assortment of water-fowl, a squirrel and this spider. The minute things are stunning. Look closely.’
Runner Up: David Bailey – Bradford Beck
‘A small tortoiseshell sunning itself by the cycleway (where the beck goes underground) opposite Canal Rd, taken while volunteering with BEES.’
Runner Up: Barney Lerner – Bradford Beck
‘Figs trees are one of the exotics you can find along the Beck.’
Weather
Winner: Peter Nias – Lister Park tributary
‘Usually a trickle, this waterfall turned into a mini-Niagara following a short but intense August deluge. I headed out as soon as the storm had ceased to capture the moment. It seems like a tropical jungle, located as it is at the bottom of the Park’s botanical gardens.’
Runner Up: Warren Tolley – Clayton Beck
‘The timing of this photo is everything. I managed to get the streaming water from the morning rain running down the hills mixed in with the bright morning sun.‘
Runner Up: Wendy Robinson – Chellow Dene
‘Rain drops hit the surface of deep, still water in Chellow Dene. Trees and flowers are reflected on the disturbed surface and the effect reminds me of felted woollen cloth.’