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Competition Winners 2012

Scroll down for Arthur Butcher Award, Tratman Award, Giles Barker Award, Conference Team Credits

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This is a list of prize-winners at Hidden Earth 2012. The three 'salons' - Art, Video Media and Photography - feature the concept of 'distinctions' and 'merits' instead of second and third prizes. The First Prize winners and the winners of a Distinction will receive a small memento. All the salon winners will receive a certificate. Mementos and certificates will be posted as soon as possible.

BCRA's Arthur Butcher Award

BCRA awards the Arthur Butcher prize annually for contributions to cave surveying. The judges consider projects brought to their attention during the year, as well as all surveying work that is on display at the Hidden Earth conference.

Arthur Butcher Award 2012: This year the award goes to Andrew Atkinson for furthering the long-term success of UK Cave Surveying via his courses on paperless surveying, and for his work in setting up the BCA cave surveying data archive. Andrew receives the Arthur Butcher trophy to keep for one year and £100 cash from BCRA.

Citation by Wookey, on behalf of the judges Kevin Dixon, Anthony Day and John Stevens.

GPF's Tratman Award

The prestigious Tratman Award is awarded annually to a caving-related paper-based publication in memory of E.K. Tratman, who died in 1978, to recognise excellence and encourage future improvement. It is administered by the Ghar Parau Foundation, but is judged under newly clarified rules by three independent cavers.

Tratman Award 2011: The Tratman Award is presented to the author of the best caving-related publication of the year, being judged by three independent cavers who make a recommendation for the award to the Ghar Parau Foundation, which funds the award. The judges for 2011 were Ric Halliwell, Chris Howes and Martin Mills, who also sought opinion from a wider readership. Both books and club journals were considered and a shortlist was produced for further discussion. In alphabetical order of author or editor, the titles were:

• Caves of the Peak District by Iain Barker and John Beck -- an excellent guidebook published by DCA. The publication year was printed as 2010, but the volume was not released until too late for consideration in 2010, so - as the rules permit - it was shortlisted in 2011.
• Decades in the Dark, edited by Alan Jeffreys and subtitled '50 years of Scottish caving', covers the history of the Grampian SG from 1961 to 2011.
• Sheffield University SS 50th anniversary journal 1961-2011, a club history with similar coverage, edited by Rob Middleton.
• Shuttleworth Pot into Witches Cave II, edited by Pete Monk and published by CNCC, being a comprehensive and timely documentation of the cave's exploration (a factor that the judges felt that other caves would benefit from).
• Aspects of the History of Slovene Karst 1545-2008 by Trevor Shaw, a fine piece of research immaculately presented to the reader, just as we would expect from this author. It is also dated 2010 but was not available for consideration until 2011.

After much deliberation, from among these commended publications the judges unanimously decided that the 2011 Tratman Award should go to Decades in the Dark. In reaching their decision, the judges noted that it contains a high volume of material written specifically for the publication (rather than only reprinting past articles), it is liberally scattered with photographs and the text is interesting and readable (this publication is far more than a chronology).

Congratulations therefore go to Alan 'Goon' Jeffreys and his team from the Grampian SG. All entries in the shortlist should note the prestige that is conferred here, though there can only be one winner. The award itself is a piece of original artwork by Mark 'Gonzo' Lumley, which will be presented at Hidden Earth 2012.

Citation by Chris Howes, on behalf of the judges, Ric Halliwell, Chris Howes, Martin Mills

Giles Barker Award

Giles Barker lost his life while caving in Spain in 1992. An accomplished cave photographer, Giles was a member of the Red Rose CPC and Morgannwg CC. These clubs have annually, since 1993, funded the Giles Barker Award in his memory. This prestigious award is given to a person connected with any aspect of cave photography in recognition of his or her excellence and contributions to the field.

Giles Barker Award 2012: The 2012 award was announced at the Hidden Earth meeting in September and, after a gap of six years, the subject of underground films returns to the fore. Dave Webb has been involved with the medium for over twenty years, variously making films to a consistently high standard, helping to judge the Hidden Earth video salon (which he has also won), sharing his knowledge through teaching at workshops and always entertaining others with exceptional film shows. He is particularly recognised for his documentaries To Titan from the Top, concerning the discovery of Titan, and Fight for Life about the tragic loss of Neil Moss in Peak Cavern. Dave was also recently appointed as the guardian of the 1960s film The Underground Journey, conserving it for future generations.

Dave's prolific output at such a high quality makes him an entirely appropriate recipient of this twentieth Giles Barker Award, recognised with a hand-crafted statue of a cave photographer made by Ceris Jones.

Citation by Chris Howes, on behalf of Morgannwg CC and Red Rose CPC

Judges' Feedback

Conference Team Credits

Conference Manager - LES WILLIAMS

Technical Team Manager - LES WILLIAMS
with Alistair Smith, Andy Morse, Badger, Bartek Biela, Basher, Ben Wright, Chris Williams, Dave Appleing, Faye Litherland, Frank Tully, Fraser Simpson, Gary Cullen, Helen Dear, Jed Waldren, Mark Kellaway, Matt Jones, Mike Clayton, Paul Wilman, Pauline Biela, Sam Drake, Simon Richardson, Stu Waldren, Tim Webber, Tom Thomson

Administration Team Manager - WENDY WILLIAMS
with Jo Diamond, Wendy Bollard, Lou Biffin, Natalie Ashford, Martell Linsdell, Sarah McPhee

Events Team: Lecture Secretary - EMMA PORTER

Competitions Team: Secretary - DAVID GIBSON

Sponsorship & Publicity - ELSIE LITTLE, KAY EASTON

Bar Manager - DAVE KING
Bar Staff - Amy Burchell, Darrel Instrell, Dave (Angus) Bell, Dave (Droid) Drury, Dave Tuffery, Gareth Thompson, Gordon Waldie, John Forder, Miranda Forder, Nick Powell, Paul Gladman, Pete Slade, Richard (Spike) Neal, Sue Hargraves

Site Team Liaison - LES WILLIAMS
Thanks to the Site Staff - Dionne, Janet, Geoff & Ian; and to Michael & The Catering Team

Thanks also to the lecturers and the session chairs, and also to the traders, sponsors, and to all delegates from the UK and overseas, who all contributed to making the event a success

British Cave Research Association (UK registered charity 267828) and British Caving Association.
The Old Methodist Chapel, Great Hucklow, BUXTON, SK17 8RG
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