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. The 2017 prize was awarded to Awarded to Paul Swire and Sam Allshorn for the Northen Caves Web-Site. This project, with its updateable web site, contains entrance photos and locations of caves in the North of England. There are cross-references to publications describing the discovery and exploration.

Citation by Wookey, on behalf of the judges

The prestigious Tratman Award is given 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. It both recognises excellence and encourages future improvement, and is considered one of the UK's premier national awards. It is judged by a team of independent cavers - for the 2016 award (announced at Hidden Earth in 2017) these were: Joe Duxbury, Ric Halliwell, Chris Howes, Alan Jeffreys, Martin Mills.

The 2016 award saw a departure from the established norm, in that there was no announcement made prior to the presentation at Hidden Earth in September 2017. Only then did the authors learn of the commendations and the eventual winner, which received a superb statuette of a caver bookend created by Ceris Jones. Of interest is that from within the wide range of publications and articles considered by the judges for 2016, a significant number of authors and journals have previously been commended or won the award. The final shortlist was: The Castleton Mines, Red Rose Cave and Pothole Club Journal (11), Irish Speleology (22), A Spider's Thread of Shining Silver, and Underground Archaeology. Special mention also goes to the second part of the series of books on Meghalaya, India, edited by Thomas Arbenz. Further details of this shortlist.

The winner for 2016 was difficult to determine, given the high standards involved, with the Red Rose Cave and Pothole Club Journal (11) coming out on top. The award follows in the footsteps of the club's 2010 commendation for the previous journal, and this latest publication is a very worthy winner and many congratulations go to the club and editor Ray Duffy.

Citation by Chris Howes, on behalf of the judges

The Giles Barker Award has been jointly presented since 1993 by the Morgannwg and Red Rose caving clubs in memory of Giles, who died in a caving accident in Spain. This prestigious award is made annually to anyone connected with any aspect of cave photography, in recognition of excellence in the field. For 2017 the award went to a prolific and accomplished cave photographer who, over recent years, has produced an increasing standard of imagery and built up a superb body of work. He has gained the Premier Trophy at Hidden Earth twice, as well as winning numerous other categories, and there can be few cavers who have not seen at least one of his images in use, from Descent covers to illustrations in caving books and even to the beer mugs at this year’s Hidden Earth. Congratulations therefore go to Mark Burkey for gaining this recognition, which is so well deserved. This 25th award was made in October at Hidden Earth, this being a hand-crafted figurine of a cave photographer created by Ceris Jones.

Citation by Chris Howes, on behalf of Morgannwg and Red Rose caving clubs.