The Glastonbury Tor, a striking squirrel, a mischievous ginger cat and the Scottish Highlands are all winning photos of our Winter Photography Competition.
We launched our Winter Photo Competition to get our residents out capturing wildlife, stunning landscapes, or animals during the festive season.
Ashburton-based Elaine Tubby entered a cherished photo taken when she celebrated her honeymoon in Scotland with her late husband Shawn.
Shawn, who had just celebrated his 53rd birthday when he lost his battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) last month, loved capturing the Scottish scenery and the picture was taken outside the couple’s honeymoon hotel in the village of Glencoe.
Elaine has had the picture made into a giant canvas which has been put up in the lounge of their home which was specially adapted by LiveWest to meet Shawn’s mobility needs in the latter stages of his life.
Elaine said: “Shawn would be very proud that this picture has won a photo competition as we both loved that scene he captured on his mobile phone.
“It holds dear memories for us both as we were together for 32 years before we got married in 2017.
"The scenery is amazing, and Shawn always said he would love to live there when he retired. We had some good friends up there.
“When we moved into our LiveWest adapted home, we put up a large canvas of that setting in our lounge.
“Shawn loved it, it reminded him of our wonderful honeymoon when the snow came down and we were in the most beautiful hotel overlooking the mountains. It was like a scene out of The Chronicles of Narnia.
“So when I saw LiveWest were running a winter competition, that picture immediately sprung to mind.
“We loved the walks in and around that area and it will always remind me of the special times we had together.”
Kerrie Dawes, a mortgage advisor in Plymouth, submitted a picture of her cat nestling in her Christmas tree.
The furry feline has been having a field day since Kerrie and her husband, Mike, put up their festive decorations at their home in the Laira part of the city. But it was the cheeky look on his face as he foraged in the tree that secured one of the four winners’ prizes.
One of three cats owned by the couple Genghis Khat is named after the 12th century Mongol leader, Genghis Khan, who conquered large chunks of central Asia and China during his brutal reign.
Kerrie said: “My husband thought it was funny to name the cat Genghis Khat as a play on words. We have got three cats, but he is certainly the naughtiest. As soon as we put the Christmas decorations up, we knew what was going to happen.
“And low and behold, there was his little face peering through the Christmas tree. I just grabbed my phone and took a couple of pictures. He looked straight at me, and it will give us some great memories.”
Julie Turnbull, from Street in Somerset, entered after spotting the competition on our social media channels and decided to take her eighteen-year-old son Ethan, along with her two cockapoo dogs Lily and Flo, on a long walk along the river Brue to capture the Tor which is near to her home.
Julie, 39, said: “I should go there more often because it is so pretty, and it’s close to us. I usually just walk the dogs in a nearby field, but seeing the competition motivated me to go that little bit further and it reminded me actually how nice it is down there.
Julie, who has been a LiveWest resident for 17 years, is thrilled to have won the competition and thanks LiveWest for putting a big smile on her face.
Julie said: “With the cost of living and everything else going on it’s nice to just get out and focus on the beauty outside. I think it was a really good idea to run the competition, as even if I didn't win, it still did its job and it got me out of the house and looking at my surroundings which quite often you don't get the time or the chance to do.”
Hannah Jenkyn, from near St Ives, entered with a brown squirrel eating a nut after taking it when her and her mum attended an event at a local deaf centre.
Hannah had meningitis when she was just three years old so is profoundly deaf after losing her hearing. She went to visit the Cornwall Deaf Community Centre in Camborne the day before entering the competition to get to know them as they were doing a wreath making class and saw the perfect opportunity to capture the little furry creature.
Hannah Jenkyn, 34, said: “If you really look and listen, there's so many beautiful things going on around you all the time. So, no matter how glum things are, there is nature's blessings and beauty all around us. It's really hard to see that when you're feeling low, but I try.
“A little message would be no matter how hard life is there is beauty everywhere, just look for it.”
Leanda Flower, our Community Investment Manager, said: “As the frosty mornings and dark evenings settle in, people may feel like staying in during the winter months. We hope this competition encouraged people to get outdoors and spend more time connecting to nature or sharing a winter walk.
“It was fantastic to see the range of photos, it made the judging difficult as we had such a great variety of winter photos so thank you to everyone who entered and congratulations to the winners.”
Part of the judging panel was professional photographer, Gareth Williams, who runs GRW Photography.
Gareth said: “It was wonderful to see so many entries to LiveWest's winter photo competition. The standard of the photos was really good, and I was impressed by the thought gone into them. It's a great time of year to go out and take photos and I loved the variety.
“There were some great landscape shots and also some lovely pictures of pets. Congratulations to the winners and wishing everyone a happy Christmas.”