THE National Trust in Wales launched it's Special Places competition on Thursday 14th May and Monmouthshire locations are looking to win votes.

Now in its second year, the Special Places Wales scheme will see members of the public vote for their favourite spots in the country in five different categories.

The groups are: Glorious Coast, Parks and Gardens, Wild Open Spaces, Historic Buildings and Quirky or Urban.

Each category has its own celebrity backer too, trying to win the public over to vote for a winner from their favourite group.

Monmouthshire has a huge range of places that could be voted for, such as Tintern Abbey, Raglan Castle and Wintour's Leap. Perhaps you have a favourite viewpoint, field, building or quiet spot that you think should be recognised.

Although run by the National Trust, any place is up for consideration. Last year's winner, and the location for this year's launch event, was Penarth Pier which is independently run by a charity.

National Trust Director for Wales, Justin Albert, said: "There's no doubt that we help to preserve some of the nation's most cherished and historic places, but we know that people are hugely passionate about all manner of places and that's why we want to champion them all during the competition.

"For a relatively small country, Wales has an extraordinary amount of special places. By working together with our partners and taking a "Team Wales" approach, we feel we can do more to promote the wonderful heritage, outdoors and unique attractions we have in Wales."

A spokesperson for The National Trust, Brecon Beacons and Monmouthshire said: "We're fortunate to have such diverse and dramatic landscapes and buildings on our doorstep.

"The imposing Skenfrith castle gives us a tantalising glimpse of life in medieval Wales.

"In contrast, the Kymin is the epitome of genteel Georgian extravagance.

"Both unique buildings are at the epicentre of their local communities and are a great source of pride for many.

"Also worth remembering is the wonderful countryside around the Brecon Beacons and Monmouthshire, including National Trust sites such as the Sugarloaf and Skirrid Mountains, and the Clytha estate and Coed y Bwnydd which have long been the green lung of south-east Wales."

The first stage of the Special Places competition began last Thursday and runs until Tuesday 14th July and will look for the one winner within each of the five categories. Every voter gets to nominate a place in each group.

Once decided, the category winners will then battle it out to be the ultimate Special Place in Wales and be crowned on Friday 7th August.

To vote for your favourite category and name your special place, simply Tweet, Facebook or Instagram using #specialplaces – or #lleoeddarbennig – @NTWales or vote on Facebook.