The winners of the 2024 National Historic Ships UK Photography Competition have been announced!

Winners announced

National Historic Ships UK’s (NHS-UK) annual awards are a celebration of maritime heritage around the UK. They encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with historic vessels through photography, volunteering, conservation, online activities, and skills-based training. Also announced were the winners of the annual Marsh Volunteer Awards, Excellence in Maritime Conservation Award, and Flagships of the Year.

Now in its fifteenth year, the Photography Competition is always hugely popular, with hundreds of entries each year from Britain and around the world. This year’s theme was ‘True Colours’, and it attracted nearly 500 entries featuring historic vessels of all kinds and the people who engage with them.  

The People’s Choice Award

We were thrilled to sponsor The People’s Choice Award – the only award voted for by the public – and would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the winner, Julie Fletcher, for ‘True LMS Locomotive Colours’.

Julie was walking her dogs along the Caldon Canal in Staffordshire when she spotted the narrowboat Delhi, passing under the Consall Forge railway bridge just as a train steamed over. Later, she met the owners of Delhi, who told her more about the vessel’s history. Built in 1930 for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company, Delhi is today painted in LMS 1930s livery. Amazingly, the carriages pulled that day also had the same livery as Delhi.  

Twelve of the judges’ favourite images will be featured in the 2025 NHS-UK calendar, which is available to buy now from the NHS-UK website. The winning and best entries will also be featured in a 2025 Exhibition at the Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent.

Well done everyone who took part!