Credit: Rick Shotton, ‘The beauty of Goathland’s Waterways’ , Goathland Nature Shield Winner 2026
Ric Shotton is the first to win the Goathland Nature Shield at the 2026 Goathland Village Show photographic competition, last Saturday, 8 August 2026.
Rick produced a stunning image of Water Ark Foss (AKA Upper Thomason Foss), a beautiful tiered waterfall on Eller Beck. The sublime verdant tones of the foliage cut through by the frozen motion of the stream really does capture the remit of the class title, ‘The beauty of Goathland’s waterways’. We are grateful to Rick for permission to reproduce his winning entry on our website so that many more people can enjoy his talent.
Rick Shotton, Goathland Nature Shield Winner 2026
It was a fabulous day for the 84th Goathland Village Show with lots of sunshine and many happy visitors looking through the competition entries and browsing the outdoor attractions. We were delighted by the number of entries to the competition for our class, (I counted at least 27) all of which portrayed our local rivers and becks to great effect.
All in all, it was a great day at the show with lots of visitors to our stall. It was a pleasure to be able to talk to people from all over the UK, and even a couple from the Netherlands. It was good to hear that other individuals, and groups, from around the country are also trying to improve their local areas for nature. We were really pleased to sell all our recently made bird boxes to a couple in Hawsker, who were aiming to increase biodiversity on their Camping Site. A big thank you to them and good luck with your project.
Overallm it was a fabulous day, talking about our nature projects and community activities and hopefully encouraging others to take action for nature.
Apart from swopping stories with our visitors there was also a chance for them to take part in Gary’s Nature Identification quiz on Goathland Nature. Twenty pictures were taken from our Goathland Nature Project on iNaturalist and participants simply had to identify as many as they could. Several managed to get 14/20 but the clear winner was our own Nature Group committee member Wilf with 17/20. Well done to all who took part!
Visitors to the show also had the opportunity to purchase one of our Goathland Nature nesting boxes. The quality of these boxes, I should say, was born out by one of them – a terrace home for five tits – coming 1st in the Goathland Village Show’s competition woodwork class! Well done Andy and Gary who were suprised and delighted with their prize winning entry!
You don’t have to wait until next year to buy one of our boxes or test your knowledge in Gary’s quiz. We’ll have our nature stall again at the Goathland Farmers Market, this Saturday, 15 August 2026. Do come and say hello. We look forward to seeing you there!