Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi competition winners announced

Looking at old black and white photographs can be a sobering experience when you reflect that the people grinning at you from the shallows of history are now dead.

The same is true of the mushrooms you dressed up for our recent Mushroom Men competition. It’s been almost a month since the competition closed, and the fungi we’re celebrating today are now fertiliser for the next generation. It’s a cruel world.

Still, let’s not get weighted down by morbid thoughts. This is a time to celebrate the lives of the mushrooms exhibited below. They may have been eaten - or just binned - but as long as this page remains on the internet they’ll live on - though not, of course, in any real sense.

In reality, they’re all very much dead. Or wedged into a bin somewhere, bursting with rot and fish-smelling stench, waiting for an unfussy rat to end it all.

Anyway, here they are in their prime. First place goes to Georgina Damps, who managed to edge past her competitors with the inventive use of paperclips as hair. Congratulations.

The first runner up is Kelly Jones-Whale, whose flamboyant effort resembles some sort of military fop, complete with feather hat, chilli pepper sword, and parsley shield. Congratulations.

The second runner up is Emma Coates. On first glance it’s difficult to tell where the mushroom is amongst the faintly distressing blonde hair and white fluff, but after a thorough examination we’re satisfied that there’s a mushroom underneath its weird glitterball face. Congratulations.

Our thanks to Southpeak Games for the prizes.