Grand Western Canal photo competition

Budding photographers are being encouraged to capture the beauty of the Grand Western Canal for a special competition this year.

There's a £450 worth of photography vouchers up for grabs plus the chance of the pictures appearing on the website and facebook pages.

There are three categories; Canal Landscapes, Canal Activities and Canal Wildlife. Entries are welcome from anyone but limited to amateur photographers only please and 10 pictures per person.

The competition runs until 30 November 2015 so plenty of time to look for those perfect views and images. Winners will be announced in December.

It won't be the first time the Canal has been in the limelight recently having appeared on the front cover of the BBC's Countryfile Calendar in 2012 featuring the winning picture of Taffy, the horse drawn barge.

For details on how to enter  go to www.devon.gov.uk/gwcphotos

Cabinet member for Environment and Communities, Roger Croad said: "This competition really builds on the success of 2014 bicentenary celebrations. After the damage caused by the severe weather from the previous winter, we were pleased to come together for the official re-opening of the canal last year and to see the support demonstrated by the crowds of people who attended. I'm sure the competition will generate a great deal of interest and we look forward to seeing the entries."

The last GWC photo comp was in 2003 and generated hundreds of entries.

Local Council Member for Tiverton East, Des Hannon and for Willand and Uffclume, Ray Radford are contributing towards the prizes through their locality budgets.

Cllr Hannon said: "Our canal is a photographers' dream. It has as many moods as the Devon weather and looks wonderful in all of them. It's only a couple of years since both the canal and the horseboat went national, pictured on the front of the Countryfile Calendar.

"This competition is a great excuse to get out there, enjoy the canal, and maybe capture another iconic image."

Cllr Ray Radford who is also Mid Devon District Council Member for Halberton and Chairman of the Canal's Joint Advisory Committee said: "I am very pleased to be sponsoring the photography competition. There are some wonderful rural country scenes to witness, capture them with your camera and you could be in with £100 prize so it's well worth having a go.

"If you are out and about up in the eastern end of the canal, you're sure to see some extraordinary rural countryside with all sorts of services and facilities along the way and plenty of wildlife and heritage to admire right up to the  upper end of the canal to Holcombe Rogus."

The photography and print studio, Photo Lesk on Gold Street in Tiverton have also kindly donated vouchers towards the prizes.

Photo © Copyright Christine Johnstone and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.