Provisional results: the PAGB has not yet confirmed these scores.
Every October, camera clubs from across the UK send their best prints to the PAGB Inter-Club Print Championship. It is one of the biggest dates in club photography, and this year’s competition was another tight one. The results below are unconfirmed, but they already tell a good story, and L&CPU clubs feature strongly.
The provisional Final
Arden Photo Group led the Final on 210, two points clear of Chorley PS and Southport PS, who tied on 208. Eight clubs plus ties qualify for the Final, and a tie for eighth place put nine clubs in it. Each club shows 15 prints. Each print is scored out of 15 by three judges, so the maximum is 225.
| Pos | Club | Prints | Score | Average per print |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arden Photo Group | 15 | 210 | 14.00 |
| 2= | Chorley PS | 15 | 208 | 13.87 |
| 2= | Southport PS | 15 | 208 | 13.87 |
| 4= | Edinburgh PS | 15 | 205 | 13.67 |
| 4= | Smethwick PS | 15 | 205 | 13.67 |
| 6= | Oldham PS | 15 | 200 | 13.33 |
| 6= | Rolls-Royce Derby PS | 15 | 200 | 13.33 |
| 8= | Beyond Group | 15 | 198 | 13.20 |
| 8= | Dumfries CC | 15 | 198 | 13.20 |
Three of the nine finalists are L&CPU clubs: Chorley, Southport and Oldham. Chorley and Southport were separated from the winners by just two points.
Chorley’s score of 208 matches the total that earned them a three-way share of the title last year. Last year Arden, Chorley and Smethwick tied on 208, with Rolls-Royce Derby on 204 and Catchlight and Southport on 203. This year the field has moved up again: Arden improved by two points and Southport by five.
I have attended every Print Championship and I think this was maybe the best ever. The general standard was great and there were so many fantastic images. – Rod Wheelans
The Judges
This year’s panel of three was:
- Vin Scothern DPAGB, EFIAP, PPSA, BPE5*
- Tillman Kleinhans ARPS, EFIAP/g, DPAGB, BPE5*, Hon LCPU
- Bob Goode ARPS, EFIAP/p, DPAGB, BPE3*, LIPF
The editor apologises if he has made any errors in the listed distinctions!
The Plate
Clubs outside the top eight and ties compete in the Plate. Each submits eight prints, so the maximum score is 120. The Evolve Group, from our own Union, and Tynemouth PS tied for the win on 109. The Terry Chapman Plate trophy is shared in the event of a tie. Plate winners are invited back the following year, so Evolve should be among the L&CPU representatives in 2027.
| Pos | Club | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1= | The Evolve Group | 109 |
| 1= | Tynemouth PS | 109 |
| 3= | Carluke CC | 108 |
| 3= | Colchester PS | 108 |
| 3= | Winchester PS | 108 |
| 6= | Burton on Trent PS | 107 |
| 6= | Ipswich and District PS | 107 |
| 8= | Chichester CC | 105 |
| 8= | Earl Shilton CC | 105 |
| 8= | Photographic Imaging Co-op | 105 |
L&CPU clubs did well across the Plate. Alongside Evolve’s win, Poulton-le-Fylde PS (104, joint 11th) and Lytham St Annes PS (103, joint 14th) also took part. Poulton shared the Plate title in 2023 and finished joint second in 2024. In all, 44 clubs took part: 35 in the Plate plus the nine finalists. That is up from 36 clubs in 2025 and 37 in each of 2023 and 2024.
How the championship works
The Print Championship is open category only and is sponsored by Permajet. Entry is by invitation. The previous year’s finalists and Plate winner qualify automatically. Each of the PAGB’s 15 federations then nominates up to three more clubs, usually after its own club championship. Our own federation sends its leading clubs on the strength of the L&CPU Annual Club Competition.
Each club declares a bank of up to 50 prints in advance, uploaded to the PAGB’s online system. The rules then work like this:
- Round One: 12 prints chosen from the bank, with at least five monochrome and five colour, by at least five different photographers. No photographer may have more than three prints, and no more than three may be Nature.
- The Final: the top eight clubs plus any ties show 15 prints, up to 10 of which can be reused from Round One. Other limits apply, including a maximum of four prints per photographer.
- The Plate: everyone else shows eight prints, up to four of them reused.
Two rules keep the competition fresh. A photographer can only be entered by one club in a given year, and an image can only ever be entered once, across all clubs and all years.
The winners receive the John Robb Quaich and a Gold Medal. The Plate winners receive the Terry Chapman Plate and a Bronze Medal. Individual prints compete for the Rod Wheelans trophies for best monochrome and best colour print, plus Silver Medals chosen by each judge. Individual award winners for 2026 were not in the results I was given, so check the PAGB site.
The event is open to everyone. Tickets are sold through the PAGB’s online system. In 2023 they cost £10, and the day included a raffle with more than £2,000 of prizes and trade stands.
A short history of the title
The Print Championship started in 1997. Smethwick PS won the first three years and have gone on to win it ten times in all, including the three-way tie in 2025. Their win in 2013, the last year at Deeside College in Connah’s Quay, came by a single point over joint runners-up Dumfries, Inn Focus and Wigan 10. The event moved to Westholme School in Blackburn in 2017, and it has been held there ever since apart from 2020, when it was cancelled.
Some notable moments from the past few years:
- Arden Photo Group won on their first ever appearance in 2008 at Deeside, scoring 212 and beating Wigan 10 (197) and Dumfries (194). They have won it five times since, counting last year’s tie, and a win this year would make it six.
- Wigan 10 Foto Club, from our own Union, won in 2009, 2012 and 2016.
- Cambridge CC won in 2017, arriving as reigning champions of the Eastern region.
- Rolls-Royce Derby overtook Arden by a single point in 2018.
- Catchlight CC of Northern Ireland won four years running from 2021 to 2024, sharing the 2021 and 2023 titles with Smethwick and Rolls-Royce Derby respectively.
- Chorley PS claimed their first title last year, as one of three joint winners.
- Newcomers do well. In 2023 Colchester PS reached the Final on their debut and took the “best rookie” award. The same year Melbourn & District, a self-described “small village club” on their first appearance, shared the Plate.
A good year for L&CPU
This is part of a strong 2026 for the Union. Three of our clubs reached the Final in the Print Championship, and Evolve shared the Plate win. In June, L&CPU won the Inter-Federation Monochrome and Nature print competitions and finished second in Colour. Lynda Haney (Southport) won a Judge’s award in mono and a ribbon in colour. Mike Sharples (Smethwick) and Adrian Lines (Chorley) also won ribbons.
In July, Chorley won the Inter-Club PDI Championship, with Southport fourth, Oldham fifth and Poulton-le-Fylde seventh. Chorley, Southport and Oldham have therefore now made the top eight in both national club competitions this year.
The final standings should be confirmed by the PAGB shortly, and we will update this post when they are. Congratulations to every club that took part, and good luck to everyone preparing for 2027.