Andover Photographic Club was delighted and honoured to have the Worshipful the Mayor of Test Valley, Cllr Martin Hatley, and Mayoress, Mrs Joanne Hatley as guests at the Clubs weekly Thursday evening meeting on the 17^th October.

The evening featured a presentation by top local photographer Sue Morris suemorrisphotography.co.uk , who gave an inspiring and informative talk, accompanied by stellar images of her aviation and wildlife photography.

The evening also incorporated the presentation of the Sandy Wilson Award. The late Sandy Wilson was a stalwart of Andover Photographic Club inspiring and mentoring many local photographers. Sandy made a bequest to the club, which is now used to fund an award in his memory.

In keeping with his contribution to the club, the award is made to the individual voted by members to be the most inspirational that season. This year the award was won by Club Chairman Steve Govan and Cllr Hatley presented the trophy. Steve Govan thanked the Mayor for the award and spoke of how honoured he was to have received the trophy and to have it presented by him.

Cllr Hatley spoke of how pleased he and his wife were to have been invited to the Clubs weekly meeting and how inspired he had been by the evenings presentation and by the quality of images displayed by members at their recent biennial exhibition held at the Museum of the Iron Age Andover. Members expressed their thanks to the Mayor and Mayoress for their good company and honouring the club with their attendance.

Richard James, Vice Chair of the Club says ‘The aim of the Andover Photographic Club is to provide a friendly, stimulating and inclusive environment to encourage photographers of all levels of ability to enjoy what they do and to support them in acquiring new skills and meeting new friends”.

Andover Photographic Club supports film and embraces the digital age. Each year”s programme of events includes skill learning sessions in colour, monochrome and digital photography with talks and demonstrations from visiting professionals. Many of their members draw their enjoyment solely from the wide range of speakers and seeing the work of others. For those who wish to submit their work for assessment the Club provides a wide range of club and interclub competitions. The Club runs a programme of practical learning and hands-on sessions. The Club has a regular presence at Andover”s Artisan Market, exhibiting at the Museum of the Iron Age and other community events.

The Club welcomes new members and offers tasters of two free sessions before committing to membership, which costs £25 for the season, with a £4 charge for Thursday evenings. More details and contact numbers can be found at: http://www.v2.andoverphotoclub.uk/

The Mayor of Test Valley Cllr Martin Hatley (Lt) presenting the Sandy Wilson Trophy to Steve Govan (Rt), Club Chairman

The results of the Monochrome Competition on 10 October were:

Overall winner: Barn Owl, by Steve Govan