A MUM and her 13-year-old son have shared victory in a town’s second annual photography competition with their respective pictures of Big Pit and the Blorenge.

Cath and Jay Mayo from Caldicot scooped first prizes in the adult and under-16s categories of the Blaenavon Town Council-organised contest.

It was a second straight win in the competition for Jay after taking the junior award for a photo of Keeper’s Pond last year.

A council spokesperson said: "The theme for the competition was ’What does World Heritage look like to you?’ and the judges were delighted with the range of entries covering almost every mile of the Unesco-listed landscape."

Professional photographer and head judge Walter Waygood said Cath’s ’Coal Miners’ Pit Lockers’, taken in the changing rooms at Big Pit, had ’punctum’ - the sensory, intensely subjective effect of a photograph on the viewer: "It gets you in the gut; has a real visual impact.

"What else is so nice about it is it makes me nostalgic," he added.

"It makes me think what that place must have been like. You can actually hear the echo of voices.

"For me, it’s the most aesthetically strong of our entries - it’s simple but has incredible atmosphere and perspective."

Working as a carer with Lougher Home Care in Caldicot, Cath said: "Photography is a passion of mine as it gets me out, and after years of suffering with anxiety, I discovered a whole new meaning of life and level of confidence.

"Jay could see how much I loved it and with encouragement, he also fell in love with photography.

"As a family, we absolutely love Blaenavon: the history, the scenery, and the people.

My grandfather, who is 88 and not mobile, loves Blaenavon too - so we get as many photos as we can to show them to him."

Of second-time winner Jay’s image, ’The Temperature Can Only go up From Here’, Walter said: "The structure of the picture leading into the focal point of the snow-covered Pen-y-Fal (Sugar Loaf) gives us a feeling of depth and scale as regards design within the picture format.

"The freezing atmosphere is also enhanced on the bush in the foreground. A lovely picture of our ’Switzerland’ on our own doorstep!"

Seven entries were highly commended by the judges, including another two by Cath.

Meanwhile, a photo of seagulls keeping watch over the River Wye in the morning mist has been judged best picture in the Tintern Village Photo Competition.

Winner Shirley Lawton will receive a hardback copy of the Landscape Photographer of the Year - Collection 14 and the picture will feature along with other entries in the Tintern Village Calendar 2022 which will be available in early November.