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Competition Results 2014

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

Table 1: Prize Winners

Competition Category Level Winner Title/Time Prize Won
Speleo-Olympics incorporating Artificial Cave Teams of two   Cat Hulse and Anya Keatley 3:31 A bottle of champagne, box of chocolates and the trophy to keep for a year, from Speleo Olympics. Hat and First-aid pouch from Singing Rock
Single/Junior Category   Duncan Codd 2:18 Box of chocolates from Speleo Olympics. Hat and First-aid pouch from Singing Rock
Badge Draw     Emma Heron   Free entry to Hidden Earth next year
SRT Races Mens 30m Prusik   Mark Sims 0:41
(7.18 W/kg)		 Tackle bag from Aventure Verticale. A buff and first-aid pouch from Singing Rock
Womens 30m Prusik   Rosie Hadfield 1:26
(3.42 W/kg)		 Tackle bag from Starless River. A buff and first-aid pouch from Singing Rock
Mens Assault Course   Mark Sims 2:28 Tackle bag and full SRT harness from Total Access. T-shirt and first-aid pouch from Singing Rock
Womens Assault Course   Cat Moody 4:02 SRT equipment from Total Access. T-shirt and first-aid pouch from Singing Rock
60m Tackle Bag Stuffing   Dave Cowley 0:26 Muddy Duck waterproof notebook from 3PeaksUK. Hat from Singing Rock
Mens 10m Ladder Coiling   Simon Richardson 1:54 Muddy Duck waterproof notebook from 3PeaksUK. Hat from Singing Rock
Womens 10m Ladder Coiling   Rosie Hadfield 2:48 Buff and T-shirt from Singing Rock
Knot Tying   Dave Cowley 2:00 A buff and a baseball cap from Singing Rock
Overall Winner   Rosie Hadfield   Full set of SRT kit from Mark Wright Training
Art Salon Delegate Ballot for Best Art Winner Gonzo   Box of coloured pencils from Cumberland Pencil Company. An insulated travel mug from Singing Rock
Delegate Ballot for Best Cartoon Winner Snab   Selection of artist's materials from Robin Gray Artworks. An insulated travel mug from Singing Rock
Delegate Ballot for Best T-shirt Design Winner York Caving Club   2 bed-nights for 10 at Bradford Pothole Club. Red Rose CPC journal from Red Rose CPC. Mug from Singing Rock
St Cuthbert’s Mill Prize for Best Art on Paper Winner Pete Martin Bat Exodus, Mulu. Finger-printed ink High-quality hand-made paper from St Cuthbert's Mill. A buff and a mug from Singing Rock
Judged Art Category Winner Pete Martin Bat Exodus, Mulu. Finger-printed ink Box of Caran d'Ache artist's materials from Jakar International. A mug from Singing Rock
Club Stand   Winner United Cavers Exploration Team   2x15 bednights from TSG. Cave Survey from Red Rose CPC
Surveying Competitions Closed Loop Surveying Contest Winner Laura Bennett and Mike Topsom 0.19% 35m rope from Inglesport. Two t-shirts from Singing Rock. £50 cash and champagne from Red Line Plans
Contrib. to BCA Cave-Survey Data-Archive Second Prize Andrew Atkinson Cheddar Catchment £50 cheque from BCRA
Winner Richard Bendall, Becka Lawson Northern England Disto X310 from Leica Geosystems. Family admission voucher to Dan-yr-Ogof show cave
Delegate Ballot for Best Displayed Survey Second Prize York Caving Club Excalibur Pot and Jenga Pot £50 cheque from BCRA
Winner SWCC OFD Disto X310 from Leica Geosystems. 2x10 bednights at Bradford Pothole Club
BCRA's Arthur Butcher Award Details     Dave Nixon (Moose)   £100 cheque from BCRA and the trophy to keep for one year. Calendar from Speleo Projects. First-aid pouch from Singing Rock
GPF's Tratman Award Details     Alan Gray. Rob Taviner, Rich Witcombe Mendip Underground Original artwork by Gonzo aka Creative Edge. Calendar from Speleo Projects. First-aid pouch from Singing Rock
Giles Barker Award Details     Martyn Farr   Original sculpture by Ceris Jones. Calendar from Speleo Projects. First-aid pouch from Singing Rock
Video Media Salon   Winner Andy and Antonia Freem Upper Flood Swallet - Down to Neverland Earthworm high-performance caving light from ISCA Outdoors. 12 bednights at YSS. T-shirt from Singing Rock
Photo Salon Fun Shot Winner Josh Bratchley Let's Get Digging 2 breakfast vouchers from Bernie's café and caving shop. A mug from Hand-knitted Pottery
Digital Image Category Winner Amy Hinkle [D1103] Rays of Light 19m rope from Caving Supplies. 8 bed-nights at Craven Pothole Club. T-shirt and first-aid pouch from Singing Rock
Monochrome Print Category Winner Chris Howes [M1272] Judith Calford, Clearwater Cave, Mulu Petzl Helmet from Lyon Equipment. T-shirt from Singing Rock
Colour Print Category Winner Stu Gardiner [C1401] Swildons Hole Sump 6 2x7 bednights at ChaletArc Riders Hostel in the French Alps. T-shirt from Singing Rock
Cave Life Award Winner Chris Howes [C1267] Huntsman spider guarding egg sac, Mulu A Princeton Tec 40 light with a CustomDuo LED module from CustomDuo. T-shirt from Singing Rock
British Newcomer Award Winner Hellie Brooke   A copy of Images Below from Descent. 10 bed-nights at Orpheus Caving Club. T-shirt from Singing Rock. Calendar from Speleo Projects
Delegate Ballot for Best Photo Winner Chris Howes Colinus Boothroydii 10 bed-nights at South Wales Caving Club. A copy of Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales from BCRA. Pouch from Singing Rock
Premier Trophy Winner Chris Howes Mulu portfolio £100 from BCRA and the trophy to keep for one year. Calendar from Speleo Projects. Mug and pouch from Singing Rock

Table 2: Merits, Distinctions and Runners-up

For the Art, Video Media and Photography Salons, the First Prize winners and the winners of a Distinction (see table below) receive a small memento (marked M in the right-hand column). All the salon winners receive a certificate (marked C in the right-hand column).

Competition Category Level Winner Title/Time Also
Speleo-Olympics incorporating Artificial Cave       Teams of two 3rd place Alice Starnes and Tom Starnes 4:09  
2nd place Carmen Smith and Wookey 4:02  
Winner (see table 1) Cat Hulse and Anya Keatley 3:31  
Singles and Juniors 3rd place Andrew Hurldell 4:45  
2nd place Josh Bratchley 3:51  
Winner (see table 1) Duncan Codd 2:18 (!!)  
Surveying Competitions Closed Loop Surveying Contest 4th place Chuck and Vicky (YUCPC) 5.77%  
3rd place Matt Ewles and Gary Douthwaite 2.16%  
Runner-up Graham Christian and Allan Richardson 1.30%  
Winner (see table 1) Laura Bennett and Mike Topsom 0.19%  
Art Salon Judged Art Category Merit Robin Gray Bull Pot O' The Witches, Wet Conditions. Oil Pastel C
Distinction Paul Dold Ballot Box Caver, Mixed Media MC
Winner (see table 1) Pete Martin Bat Exodus, Mulu. Finger-printed ink MC
Video Media Salon Merit Keith Edwards Ogof Ffynnon Ddu 1.5, A Caving Adventure C
Merit Martin Moseley, Robbie Shone and the Innsbruck Quaternary Research Group Geology Team Cores Into the Past; Conturines Cave, Dolomites C
Winner (see table 1) Andy and Antonia Freem Upper Flood Swallet - Down to Neverland MC
Photo Salon Digital Image Category Merit Thomas Exel [D1021] Lamprechtsofen C
Merit Thomas Exel [D1022] Arzberghöhle C
Merit Josh Bratchley [D1082] Mad Dogs Aven, San Wang Dong, China C
Merit Amy Hinkle [D1105] Flabergasam Oxbow C
Merit David Purdie [D1122] Gaping Gill Main Chamber C
Merit Gary Douthwaite [D1245] Newby Moss Pot, Yorkshire Dales C
Merit Steve Sharp [D1324] Merstham Mines C
Merit Stu Gardiner [D1401] OFD COLUMNS C
Merit Stu Gardiner [D1406] OFD1 STREAM WAY C
Merit Hellie Brooke [D1441] dany tom C
Distinction Thomas Exel [D1028] Güntherhöhle MC
Distinction Steve Sharp [D1323] Little Neath River Cave MC
Winner (see table 1) Amy Hinkle [D1103] Rays of Light MC
Monochrome Print Category Merit Chris Howes [M1271] Nigel Ball, Clearwater Cave River, Mulu C
Distinction Stu Gardiner [M1412] Brewing up in Otter Hole MC
Winner (see table 1) Chris Howes [M1272] Judith Calford, Clearwater Cave, Mulu MC
Colour Print Category Merit Jeff Wade (see Moore Books note below) [C1044] Sir Francis Level, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales. C
Merit David Purdie [C1122] Riocueva Admiring Stals C
Merit David Purdie [C1123] The Astradome C
Merit Stu Gardiner [C1403] OFD1 Bedding Plane C
Merit Hellie Brooke [C1442] Danger loves water C
Merit HellieBrooke [C1444] Men who stare at curtains... C
Merit Olaf Kahler [C1522] Ice Formations C
Merit Stu Gardiner [C1401] Swildons Hole Sump 6 C
Distinction Stu Gardiner [C1408] Dan Yr Ogof MC
Winner (see table 1) Stu Gardiner [C1401] Swildons Hole Sump 6 MC
Cave Life Merit Chris Howes [C1268] Colinus boothroydii MC
Distinction William Burn [C1142] Post moult Meta menardi M
Winner (see table 1) Chris Howes [C1267] Huntsman spider guarding egg sac, Mulu MC
Premier Trophy Portfolio Merit Martin Hoff (see Moore Books note below) Montenegro portfolio M
Winner (see table 1) Chris Howes   MC

Moore Books Prizes

This year we gave additional prizes - selections of books donated by Moore Books - to two Photo Salon merits. Geoff Wade submitted a mining photo, which was merited in the main competition; and Martin Hoff's portfolio, entered for the Premier Trophy, was highlighted by the judges as being worthy of merit, specifically in the context of the Premier Trophy judging.

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 2014: This year the award goes to Dave Nixon for the Caves of Castleton Survey Project. Dave Nixon ('Moose') has spearheaded the Caves of Castleton 3D survey project, which has collected over 30 km of data in eight years, merging many caves into a coherent and accurate dataset, and has combined this with surface data for a better visualisation. Dave receives the Arthur Butcher trophy to keep for one year and £100 cash from BCRA.

Citation by Wookey, on behalf of the judges Andrew Atkinson, Wookey and Paul Mann

GPF's Tratman Award

The 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.

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 the 2013 award, announced in 2014, were Joe Duxbury, Alan Jeffreys and Martin Mills. Both books and club journals were considered and a shortlist was produced for further discussion. Further information, including the short-list can be found at wildplaces.co.uk/tratman.html.

The winners of the 2013 award were Alan Gray, Rob Taviner and Richard Witcombe for Mendip Underground. The award itself is a piece of original artwork by Mark 'Gonzo' Lumley, which was presented at Hidden Earth 2014.

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 - a hand-crafted statue of a cave photographer made by Ceris Jones - is given to a person connected with any aspect of cave photography in recognition of his or her excellence and contributions to the field.

The award for 2014 was given to Martyn Farr who, as well as being known as an enthusiastic digger and cave diver, for decades has photographed his discoveries, both above and below water. Indeed, he was an early experimenter in sump photography and has since built up an impressive portfolio of images from the UK and around the world. The excellent quality he has attained, most recently with his dedication to detail in solo photography beyond remote sumps and using a GoPro video camera in incredibly demanding conditions (examples may be viewed at: www.vimeo.com/farrworld), makes Martyn an extremely suitable winner of this 22nd Giles Barker Award and we congratulate him for maintaining his high standards.

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

Judges' Feedback

SRT Events Considering style and consistency, the judges thought Rosie Hadfield could teach everyone else a lesson and so we considered her worthy of the overall winner.
Art Salon No comments this year
Club Stand A well laid out stand, nice pictures and use of video. The stand was manned, so it was nice to speak to the members about their display
Closed Loop Surveying Contest Four entries this year. The fourth-placed team achieved 5.77%. They had one compass reading of which they were unsure which of two values to use. If they had picked the other one their error would have been 5.08%. The third-placed team achieved 2.16%. however, if they had written one of their bearings as 359.75 instead of the suspect 379.75 they would have got 0.44% and been placed second. Graham Christian and Allan Richardson achieved 1.30% using an electronic instrument). The winning entry was with a 0.19% misclosure error.
Contrib. to BCA Cave-Survey Data-Archive Winner: Northern England. Continued excellent use of the archive, with new discoveries promptly added, and further filling-in of missing/dubious data. Runner-up: Cheddar Catchment. Continued exemplary use of the archive, with data added within the day and all data remaining 'open access'.
BCRA's Arthur Butcher Award See citation above 
GPF's Tratman Award 2013 See citation above 
Giles Barker Award See citation above 
Video Media Salon  Feedback will be given,hopefully, in a future issue of Speleology
Photo Salon  Feedback will be given,hopefully, in a future issue of Speleology

Conference Team Credits

Conference Manager - LES WILLIAMS

Conference Secretary David Judson
Conference Treasurer Dave Cooke
Trade Hall Manager Hatstand, assisted by Simon Richardson

Technical Team: Manager - LES WILLIAMS

Dave Appleing, Basher Baines, Bartek Biela, Paulina Biela, Josh Bratchley, Mike Butcher, Mike Clayton, Ellen Cooper, Firas Fayed, Tony Littler, Des McNally, Sarah McPhee, Andy Morse, Tony Radmall, Henry Rockcliff, Fraser Simpson, Dave Tuffery, Frank Tully, Rob Watson, Tim Webber, Deanne Wilkins, Chris Williams, Mark Williams, Ben Wright.

Administration Team: Manager - WENDY WILLIAMS

Desk staff: Natalie Ashford, Martell Baines, Lou Biffin, Wendy Bollard, Becky Varns.
Signage: Geoff Dommett with: The Doug, Andy Dommett

Events Team: Lecture Secretary - EMMA PORTER

SRT Events Mark Wright, assisted by Dave Cowley, Paul Dyson, Simon Richardson
Speleo Olympics (combined with the artificial cave, this year) Nigel Gower, assisted by Liv Gentile and Pat Hillier
Opening MC Les Williams
Opening AV Gavin Newman
After Dinner Speaker Rick Stanton
Disco Basher, DJ Eddy Sharp Pencil, with Bill Sherrington on harmonica
Closing MC Alan Jeffreys
Closing AV Andy and Antonia Freem
Closing Script and Projections Geoff Dommett, with Paul Dold, Footleg, David Gibson, Jerry Wooldridge

Competitions Team: Secretary - DAVID GIBSON

Photo Salon Co-ordinator Paul Dold, Footleg Judges: Paul Dold, Robbie Shone, Nigel Dibben
Video Media Salon Co-ordinator Paul Dold, Footleg Judges: Footleg, Basher, Chris Binding
Art Salon Co-ordinator Robin Gray Judges: Ceris Jones, Hannah Benett, Hatstand
T-Shirt Salon Co-ordinator Natalie Ashford  
Surveying Salon Co-ordinator Andrew Atkinson  
Pink Sheet Runner Natalie Ashford  
Vote Counters Natalie Ashford, Lou Biffin  
Closed-Loop Surveying Contest Footleg  
Cave Registry Data Archive Award Andrew Atkinson Judges: Andrew Atkinson, Wookey, Paul Mann
Club Stands Award Les Williams Judges: Steve Round, Tom Arbenz
Arthur Butcher Award Wookey Judges: Andrew Atkinson, Wookey, Paul Mann
Tratman Award Chris Howes Judges: Joe Duxbury, Alan Jeffreys, Martin Mills
Giles Barker Award Chris Howes Judges: Morgannwg CC, Red Rose CPC

Sponsorship - MARGARET RICHARDSON

Publicity team...

Poster Design Jerry Wooldridge
Flyer Design & Web Site David Gibson
Programme Design Paul Mann

Bar Manager - DAVE KING

Bar Staff - Dave Bell, Amy Birchell, Denzil Brown, Miranda Forder, John Forder, Paul Gladman, Sue Hargreaves, Darrell Instrell, Jane McCorquordale, Richard Neal, Nick Powell, Gareth Thompson.

Site Team Liaison - LES WILLIAMS

Thanks to - Geoff Finney (site supervisor) and his staff; Debbie Shaw and the catering staff at Entrust

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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