THE winners of a Fairford photography competition were revealed following much anticipation last night (May 26) in a presentation at the town’s community centre.

119 entries were submitted for Focus on Fairford between December and March in three age categories: primary school, secondary school and adult, with the only criteria being the photos had to have been taken within the town itself.

Gordon Hart won the adult category with his photo – ‘The Cascades, River Coln’ while seven-year-old Bertie Campbell’s ‘Pink Sky’ and 12-year-old Jordan Ashford’s ‘Swan at the Mill’ won the younger categories.

Gordon lives on Leafield Road while Bertie is also a resident of the town but attends Meysey Hampton Primary School, and Jordan is a pupil of Coln House School.

All three winners received a cash prize.

Judges Ian Mean of Business West, Peter Paredes of Paredes Photography and town mayor Jennie Sanford were impressed with the high standard of the entries, which included a view of the Wednesday Market taken through the window of a butchers shop and a Cotswold stone building seen through a soapy bubble.

The winning and runner-up photos will remain on display in the community centre over the Fairford Festival weekend (June 4-5).

Chris Roberts, who organised the competition on behalf of the town council’s (FTC) tourism group, has said that due to the popularity of the competition, sponsors Business West and FTC, as well as the organisers, are currently considering running another competition later in the year.

See below for a full list of finalists and runners-up.

Adult category winner: Gordon Hart of Leafield Road, Fairford with his photo entitled: “The Cascades, River Coln”

Gordon Hart also had another photo entitled 'Fairford Mill and Church', which was chosen to be among the finalists.

Adult category finalists:

  • Ian Gillett with 'White swan in the sun on the River Coln'
  • Courtenay Mudd with 'River Coln – walk way'
  • Sarah Landa-Font with 'The Bull Hotel'
  • Judy Higgins with two photos: 'Lake 104 Fairford' and 'Fairford Mill and Church'
  • Damien Graham with two photos: 'Lake behind Fairford Football Club' and 'River Coln downstream of Fairford Mill'
  • Nick Bennett from Lechlade was also a finalist with 'Mill Bridge by night'

Primary School category winner: Bertie Campbell aged 7 who lives in Fairford, but attends Meysey Hampton Primary School with his photo entitled: 'Pink Sky'.

Primary school finalists:

  • Laurie Goodlad – Year 2 – who attends Catherine Wayte Primary School, Swindon with two photos: 'The field at Pitham Brook' and 'The reeds, River Coln'
  • Emily Doherty – Year 6 – from Fairford with two photos: 'Daffovdils near Fayre House' and 'Fairford in a bubble (reflected view of our house and stone buildings)'

Secondary School category winner: Jordan Ashford aged 12, who goes to Coln House School, with his photo entitled: 'Swan at the Mill'. Jordan, who appears to be a budding photographer, had another two more photos chosen to be amongst the finalists: 'Fairford Church' and 'Birds in flight at The Mill'.

Secondary School finalists: 

  • Chloe Martin aged 14, Coln House School, with 'Snowdrops by the Church wall'
  • Jack Rickards aged 13, of Coln House School, with 'Robin at the Lakes'.