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Monday 21 Oct 2013

North Yorkshire is commended in national photography competition

Region & Route:

Two striking images of Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire were commended in the Network Rail-sponsored Lines in the Landscape Award at this year’s Take a View’s Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.

Entries by Robert France and Dafydd Whyles were among the ten commended by renowned landscape photographer Charlie Waite in the Lines in the Landscape category. Their images were judged to be amongst the best of around 500 photographs that capture Britain’s extensive rail network and its relationship with our landscape.

Dafydd’s photograph depicts a steam locomotive crossing the Ribblehead viaduct with a dramatic sunset backdrop. Robert’s photo is of a Northern Rail Sprinter train also heading towards the Ribblehead viaduct. When asked about his photograph Robert said: “I had the afternoon off work and had been in the area since lunchtime. I’d intended to take some silhouettes of the viaduct but, as I was setting up my tripod, the train approached and I took a few shots of it running towards the viaduct. It was not the shot I had originally intended to take, but it is much better than the rest.”

Robert and Dafydd will have their images printed in a coffee table book showcasing around 150 of the best entries and all the category winners, including the overall Landscape Photographer of the Year 2013.*

Phil Verster, route managing director for Network Rail, said: "This competition celebrates some spectacular scenes where the railway meets the great British landscape. The many thousands of viaducts and bridges we manage and maintain form a significant part of the British landscape including the Ribblehead viaduct. Robert and Dafydd have captured one of Yorkshire’s most popular structures in a beautiful and thoughtful way. Well done to them both and all others commended in the Lines in the Landscape category."