Theme: Fire

Judges: Sue Dodd, Helen Thomas and Rev. Michael Burgess
Celebrity Guest Judge: Jim Hancock of BBC North West


Prizewinners
Short story
£50 1st prize; Witch, She Said by Glen Batchelor of Leamington, Warks
£25 Runners-up; Too Much of a Good Thing by KS Dearsley of Northampton and Moth to a Flame by Shelley Openshaw of West Kirby, Wirral (both of whom featured in last year’s prize list!)
£10 Highly Commended; Fire In The Blood by Anne Beswick of Styal, Spitting Arrows by Ann Livesey of Church Stretton, Shropshire and The Secret by Lucy Lucy of Mitcham, Surrey

Poetry
£50 1st prize; Old Flame by John Babbage of Hale Barns
£25 Runners-up; Burning Leaves by Copland Smith of Chorlton, Manchester and Burning Desire by Pamela Trudie Hodge of Plymouth, Devon
£10 Highly Commended; The Hearth God by ‘Ellis Lloyd’ of Lymm, Burning Memories by Peggy Poole of West Kirby, Wirral and Full Circle by Sarah Wall of Hale Barns

£30 Director’s Prize (Lymm residents only)
This prize is shared equally by ‘Ellis Lloyd’ for his poem Chariots of Fire and K I Smith for his short story There Was a Jolly Arsonist Lived on the River Dee …

Children’s competition
£10 1st prize; Catherine Edwards, Year 7
£5 Runners-up; Phoebe Allanson, Year 3 and Isobel Hassall, Year 5
All three live in Lymm

The judges were delighted to receive increased numbers of entries in all categories this year. The quality of the entries was high, and there were some heated discussions before the shortlists could be passed to Jim Hancock for final ranking. Congratulations to all prize-winners for their achievement.

Sadly, there were still entries that had to be disqualified because they did not conform to the rules, and a few which missed the May 1st deadline.

Next year’s theme will be ‘Down To Earth’. Details and entry forms will be available no later than January 2006 from ‘Down To Earth’, c/o 39 Fairfield Road, Stockton Heath, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 2UR or on the Lymm Festival website.