Media centre

Monday 29 Oct 2012

Barmouth Bridge Image Takes Runner up Prize in National Photography Competition

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

An image of the Barmouth Bridge in West Wales has taken a runner up prize in the Network Rail Lines in the Landscape award for the 2012 Take-a-View Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.

Claire Carter, from Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire, was one of ten runners-up in the awards. She was commended in last year’s competition.

The stunning image of the 08:30 rail service from Hamworthy speeding through the beautiful Holes Bay at Poole in Dorset as a small, wrecked rowing boat rests in the foreground was the winner of this year’s Lines in the Landscape Award sponsored by Network Rail.

It was submitted by Graham Hobbs from Dorset and was chosen by Charlie Waite, the renowned landscape photographer and founder of the competition. Mr Hobbs beat more than 500 entries from across Britain.

Graham wins a fantastic opportunity to take some aerial photography with a flight in Network Rail’s engineering inspection helicopter or its New Measurement Train, a converted high speed train used to capture geotechnical track data.

Tom Kelly, Network Rail’s director of corporate communications said: “This photograph is a worthy winner as it captures what the Lines in the Landscape award is all about. The railway is an integral part of our landscape and our lives. It is only one part of this stunning scene but the speed of the train is juxtaposed delightfully with the stillness of the water and the boat wreck. Many congratulation to Graham and to all those commended in this year’s competition.”

Charlie Waite explained why Graham Hobbs’ image caught his eye: “In 1963, I remember leaning over the bridge at Otterton railway station awaiting the train that would bring my first bicycle sent to me by my parents. The childhood anticipation that prevailed then still resonates with me and to this day, I continue to be both enthralled and as thankful for the railways as when a twelve-year-old boy.

“The winning Lines in the Landscape photograph and indeed many of the entries in this category, remind me so completely of the extensive and expanding railway network that serves Britain. Graham’s picture is a deserving winner and perhaps we may reflect for a moment that this train would not have been empty but would have been carrying people to their homes or workplaces as do so many thousands of trains that run daily. Our railways allow us to look out at many a fine landscape and, whilst it is easy to take our railway network for granted, without it our nation would be so much the poorer and of that there can be no doubt.

This is the third year that Network Rail has supported the competition where amateurs and professional photographers highlight the very best imagery of Britain’s rural and urban scenery. Once again, the best images will be displayed at a free exhibition at the National Theatre in London from 12 November.

Charlie Waite also selected 10 runners up for the Network Rail Lines in the Landscape Award, including Claire Carter’s image of Barmouth Bridge in Wales. These images will also be exhibited at the National Theatre and appear in a book of the very best of this year’s entries.

Details of the overall winner and all the category winners are available at www.take-a-view.co.uk