Category Listing: General interest

2023/24 Photo competition results

Members who attended to vote on the entries found their decisions particularly difficult this year as photos were to a high standard.

The winners were:

  • First place: Wilf Forrow who also wins the photographic competition trophy
  • Second and third place: Paul Hailwood

Wilf won by a single point!

You can see the winning entries below. Click any image to see a larger version.

Wilf Forrow's entry

Paul Hailwood's second place entry

Paul Hailwood's third place entry

2022/23 Photo competition results

The competition was, once again, to a very high standard.

After voting by the members who attended, the winners were:

  • First place: Keith Wileman who also wins the photographic competition trophy
  • Second place: Anthony Beggs
  • Third place: Joy Forrow

Spike Hinsley deserves a special mention as his entry was just one point below Joy's.

You can see the winning entries below. Click any image to see a larger version.

Keith Wileman's entry

Anthony Beggs' entry

Joy Forrow's entry

Sharing your location via Whatsapp

I’ve used Whatsapp for many years but have only recently looked into using the ‘location’ facility and on speaking with various folks it seems that many do not know about this very handy utility.

It seems to me that cyclists in particular could use this facility to great advantage when out and about, either solo or group riding. So here is a quick guide for Android smartphone users (with a supplementary note for Apple iPhones at the end).

Assuming the smartphone has GPS/Location Services enabled and Whatsapp is installed and mobile data is switched on...

Step 1

Open Whatsapp and under the CHATS tab, select a user to create a message in the normal way.

Step 2

In the message box area select the ‘paperclip’ icon and from the displayed options, select ‘location’.

Step 3

The next screen allows the option to ‘Send your current location’ or ‘Share live location’

Step 4

Assuming you select ‘Share live location’ you then have the option to share for either 15 mins, 1 hour or 8 hours. Plus the option to include a message in the ‘Add comment’ box.

Step 5

Send the message in the normal way – the sent message appears in the sent messages area which includes a ‘Stop sharing’ option if you which to terminate the share prematurely.

The recipient on receiving the message can on opening and clicking the Google map, see your current location updated at various intervals (but not if in Step 4 you selected ‘Send your current location’ which is just your location at the time of sending the message).

Note for Apple users

With the exception of Step 3, the procedure is I understand, broadly the same as for Android users. In Step 3 you will not see a ‘paperclip’ but instead hit the ‘+’ symbol to display the options.

Photo competition 2022

And the winners are:

Wait for it...

Film night selections

Select any name to show details of that person's favourite film and an accompanying trailer or clip. Note that clicking a new name doesn’t stop a previous video from running - it just hides it. So let videos run all the way through, or use pause before showing the next one.

No name selected

Robert Sebley
Keith Wileman
Andy Henderson
Nigel Melton
Mike Lynch
Joy and Wilf Forrow
Ian Hewitt
Phil Beed
Keith Wileman (2)
Joy and Wilf Forrow (2)

Photo competition 2021

And the winners are:

Wait for it...

You have three main ways to view the entries. Start by clicking one of the buttons below. After a while, the presentation will appear in a new tab (so you can come back here easily if you want). You can review all the entries starting from the first set, or you can use the links in the presentation to review sets individually.

Use Google (recommended)

Click the Google link below. The presentation will appear within your browser window.

Note that when moving to a new image there might be a delay while the next slide is retrieved. Please be patient - if you click, tap or press a second time you will end up skipping a slide.

Most PC browsers will display the presentation full screen if you press F11. Alternatively you might find a full screen option in your browser's settings. You can review the entries in a browser window, but they will be slightly lower quality so you might be better trying one of the 'Microsoft' methods if you can't find a full screen option.

To go from image to image:

  • With a PC, click the image; or
  • With a phone or tablet, tap the right hand side of the image; or
  • Use the right arrow key.

To return to a previous image:

  • With a PC, move your cursor to the bottom left of the image to see a small window that includes an icon that you can click to go to the previous image; or
  • With a phone or tablet, tap the right hand side of the image; or
  • Use the left arrow key.

To go to a specific set:

  • If you are not showing the set list, skip through images until you see a "Click to go back to set list" link. Click/tap it to show the set list
  • Click any set listed to go directly to it
If you have a Microsoft Account

Click the Microsoft link below. When the presentation appears, click the "Start Slideshow" link, to present the entries full screen. Note that you will get the option to create a free Microsoft Account if you do not already have one.

Note that you might see a long delay while reviewing entries. It seems that - at some point - PowerPoint decides that it needs to download the entire file (46Mb). If this happens to you, please be patient and click/tap OK if you see a 'not responding' message.

You might see a black bar at the top of the page that means you can't see all of each image. Right click the screen (or tap and hold) to see a small menu appear. Click/tap away from the menu and the bar will disappear.

To go from image to image:

  • Click the image; or
  • Tap the image; or
  • Use the right arrow key.

To return to a previous image:

  • Right click the image or tap and hold to see a menu appear; click/tap 'Previous'; or
  • Use the left arrow key.

To go to a specific set:

  • If you are not showing the set list, skip through images until you see a "Click to go back to set list" link. Click/tap it to show the set list
  • Click any set listed to go directly to it
If you have a copy of PowerPoint (or compatible) installed

Click the Microsoft link below. When the presentation appears, click "Download" to save a copy of the PowerPoint file so you can open it on your device.

The notes in the previous section apply when showing the presentation locally.

If you have any problems, let me know, I might be able to help.

See the entries via Google

See the entries with a Microsoft Account

PO7-11 July 2020 edition

With the difficulty of maintaining a distribution channel in these times, Postcode Publications has decided to produce a generic version of its 'PO' papers electronically.

You can read the latest edition here. You can go direct to two articles by Mike Skiffins (a regular contributor and PCTC stalwart), here. And more about Postcode Publications (you might not realise it is a not-for-profit organisation) here.

PO7-11 April 2020 edition

With the difficulty of maintaining a distribution channel in these times, Postcode Publications has decided to produce a generic version of its 'PO' papers electronically.

You can read the latest edition, which includes two articles by Mike Skiffins (a regular contributor and PCTC stalwart), here. And more about Postcode Publications (you might not realise it is a not-for-profit organisation) here.

Salted roads for winter riding

One of the nastier aspects of winter rides is ice or black ice (even worse because you can't see it). Several of our riders have come a cropper. Some people prefer not to do unnecessary rides below 3 degrees.

You can see below which roads are salted to reduce the risk. Sadly, cycle paths are rarely salted unless they're right next to roads. It might be worth diverting onto a busier salted road, especially earlier in the day, before ice has a chance to melt.

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