Off the Beaten Track

Delighted to be Highly Commended in the Senior Travel Expert Travel Writing Competition!

 Copyright M Huggins 2007

The Off the Beaten Track Writing Competition closed on September 30th. Over 300 entries were received with about a quarter of them being fictional. Most of the entries were of publishable standard and it was clear that a lot of time and thought had been put into meeting the competition criteria. Our thanks to everyone who entered.

Ten Runners-up will each receive a £10 firstwriter.comsubscription voucher.The high standard of entries meant that judging was very difficult. After much consideration, the Judging Panel, chaired by our Writing Competition Editor, Anne Esser, chose two entries as Joint Winners, one factual the other fictional. Each entrant will receive half of the £100competition prize.

In recognition of the high number of good quality entries, the Judging Panel decided that ten additional entries that were short-listed, but not finally chosen as winners or runners-up, should be listed as Highly Commended.

The winning and runner-up entries will be published on the STE website over the next few weeks.

Joint Winners

• The Kingdom of the Cats – A Warm Welcome at the Edge of the World by Andrea Wotherspoon
• Ystalyfera by Bridget Blankley (Fictional)

Runners-up

• Anyone for Tea? by Barbara Bond
• Bobbinfield Blast Off by Carolyn Ward (Fictional)
• Cowboys, Indians and Hot Water by Deryn van der Tang
• Exploring History – Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Philippa Holloway
• Just My Cup of Tea by Anne Leuchars
• Not Just Soap by Caroline Boobis
• Out of Place by Simon Whaley
• The Grand Experience by Andrew Abbott (Fictional)
• The Park in the Sky by Ellen Evers
• The Road to Nowhere by Janet Traill

Highly Commended

• Bray: Ireland’s Forgotten ‘Brighton’ by Eimear Dodd
• Delicious Surprise by Mandy Huggins
• Figeac – A Fortuitous Interlude by Amanda Lumley
• Finding Paradise in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala by Lisa Montgomery
• Jaffna by Clare Foxon
• Journeying Back Into the Blue Ridge by Judy Mitchell
• Life’s a Beach by Laura Collins
• Nootka Island Trek by Janet Rogers
• South of the Celtic Sea by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder (Fictional)
• Why Don’t More Come to Morecambe? by Helen Rhodes