HOLMFIRTH Camera Club has been going for 70 years, and it’s as strong as ever, to judge from its current exhibition at the North Light Gallery, Armitage Bridge.

The quality of the work on view always seems to be increasing, says chairman Phil Hack, and certainly there is an outstanding display on this occasion, with great variety too.

The photographer of the year award went to Jill Sharpe, who won first pace in the landscape and pictorial sections.

Derek Hudson won first place in the record section and his beautifully-detailed monochrome Silver Fob Watch was judged the best entry in the show.

Geoff France has made clever use of eggs for his comic picture, Exactly Six Soldiers, while Eric Lee’s more serious shot, Morning Fishers in Havana Dock, scores with its soft and dark colouring.

Pat Whalley’s Beach Huts is a nice essay in colour and pattern, and her Highland Cow, head-on, with snow behind, is a powerful image. Sepia colour works admirably in Bernard Smith’s book and photo study, War Memories.

I like Peter Rice’s purely digital effort, The Abyss, with its excellent use of pattern and perspective.

Hazel Gibson’s Geoff is a well-cropped and powerful portrait, while there’s a nice touch of humour from Marie Peel in Out to Dry, with its line of teddy bears hung out on the washing line.

Cathy Thornton’s End of the Pier, Southport, brings us some delicious colouring, and Gill Newbold’s sharp still life, Tomatoes and Rosemary, with its white pestle and mortar is well worth noting.

Peter Bartlett’s Easy Rider, a head-on study of motorcyclists, is a black and white picture with great impact.

Etchings of Life, a study of an elderly woman’s face and white scarf is one of Jill Sharpe’s characterful contributions to the show, while another of her photographs, A Moment of Reflection, is a remarkably candid and successful shot of a pregnant woman.

Tony Butterworth’s Angel of the North gives a good impression of the sheer size of Anthony Gormley’s sculpture with a pleasing background of blue sky and clouds.

Monochrome shots bring their own individual touches to this exhibition and Steven Mosley makes good use of the opportunity provided by a dilapidated boat and shed. Another black and white success is Derek Hudson’s study of Staithes.

You don’t need to travel far to shoot some attractive landscapes, as Ian Gold proves with his winter Wonderland, sunlit, snowbound Digley Woods.

Mercury, Sion Park, by Victor Harris is a wonderfully dramatic sculptural shot by night.

Snow, as you might expect after this wild winter, plays quite a part in the exhibition. I liked Phil Hack’s Lake District study Easter Snow, Skiddaw, but equally impressive in its own way is a more local scene, Geoff France’s panoramic view of Rochdale Road and its surroundings in snow, admirably sharp and clear.

The exhibition can be seen this Friday and Saturday and next Friday and Saturday 10am to 4pm.

o NOT many artists get the chance to have their works shown in a prestigious exhibition of watercolours by such celebrated painters as JMW Turner, Thomas Girtin and John Ruskin, but this honour has been conferred on Keith Mountain, of Fenay Bridge.

Officers of Barnsley Council’s culture and creative industries chose two of Keith’s latest landscape paintings for inclusion in its Turner’s Travels exhibition, which includes five paintings on special loan from the Tate Gallery.

Turner has been one of the biggest inspirations for Keith’s works, and his work is well-known to Cooper Gallery officers.

Julie Gaskell, arts development officer said: “We thought of having a contemporary twist to show how Turner still influences artists today, and that he’s not just someone from the past.

“I love Keith’s work from his association with this gallery over years, so we thought of him when putting this exhibition together”.

Keith, who was delighted to be invited to participate in the show, has contributed Evening Light, Way Up High Pennines, a beautifully coloured and textured piece and the Last Trace of Winter – Pennines above Holmfirth – a soft, surreal and subtle touch here, again with delightful colours.

“They have to have my mark on them and not just be an imitation of Turner’s work”, says Keith.

Turner’s Travels runs at the Cooper Gallery until June 26.