MEDITE ALL THE WAY TO TIMBUKTU
20th February 2009 - Winning entry - photo competition
Over 25 years, and marking the anniversary of the first production of Medite MDF in Europe, Medite announced in September 2008 that they had produced and sold 6,000,000m3 of Medite MDF. With so many different end uses, Medite MDF panels have found their way all over the world and into some very unusual places, so to celebrate the anniversary, Medite created a limited run of specially branded commemorative hand samples and asked their clients, customers and associates to photograph their branded sample in the most unusual, unexpected or amusing location possible.
The winner of this unique photographic competition is Chris Mountain, managing director of Northeast Sheets & Panels Ltd. in County Durham, with a photo of him with the commemorative hand sample in a city synonymous with faraway places - Timbuktu.
Few places in the world are as mythical as Timbuktu, and many people still believe it to be a fictional place. Far from being the product of vivid imaginations, Timbuktu is in the Tombouctou Region in the West African nation of Mali, on the edge of the Sahara desert.
Following in the footsteps of intrepid explorers such as 18th century Scottish adventurer Mungo Park, Chris Mountain and two friends travelled to Mali in mid-November last year. He says, “I have my daughter Emily, the marketing manager for Northeast Sheets & Panels, to thank for ensuring our Medite sample made it all the way to Africa. It took a six day trek in 4x4 vehicles to get us and the sample to Timbuktu – even though our luggage didn't quite make it with us! We were amazed and humbled to find ourselves in the evocative city of Timbuktu; a place suffering unbelievable poverty, but I have never met a friendlier people.”
Wood is in the Mountain family's blood; Chris's father, Geoff Mountain, was a buyer for Arnold Lavers, and in the 1970's, one of the first importers of Medite from the US, before the Clonmel plant was built in Ireland.
Since the launch of the competition, over 130 entries have been received from all over the world, including Bermuda, Saigon and New York, and with such a diverse range of entries to choose from, it was decided that a second entry merited an honorary mention. Roberto Viscovich from Adriatimber in Trieste, Italy, stretched the boundaries of the competition brief and, using computer imaging wizardry entered a reinterpretation of the centrepiece of the
Sistine Chapel in Rome - Michelangelo's Creation of Adam - with the iconic image of the Hand of God now giving a Medite anniversary sample to Adam!
Geoff Rhodes, marketing and business development director for Medite's parent division, Coillte Panel Products says, “When we announced this photo competition, we anticipated that our local, national and international customers and colleagues would give us creative and fun photographs, but to have Medite actually reach the fantastic destination of Timbuktu was more that we could have hoped. This visual memento truly celebrates our 25th anniversary and production milestone – Medite really has found its way to farthest corners of the world.”
As his prize, Chris Mountain received four tickets for the 1st April 2009 England vs. Ukraine FIFA 2010 World Cup South Africa qualifying match at the new Wembley Stadium.
The winning photo and all the entries can be seen online at
