The Giles
Barker Award 2018:
Giles Barker was a keen
cave photographer who died whilst caving in Spain in 1992. An award to
acknowledge excellence in any area of cave photography was established in his
name, being funded by his two clubs, Morgannwg C.C. and the Red Rose Cave and
Pothole Club.
It is a pleasure to
announce that the 26th. recipient of the Giles Barker Award is Paul Taylor, a
prolific film-maker based in the Forest of Dean. A caver of 51 years, Paul's
many films and short clips - over sixty years of these being caving related -
many found on his YouTube channel, Redhouse Productions, with subjects ranging
from dye-tracing to digging, and original exploration to tourist trips.
These have helped to document
and combat pollution in caves, record caving history and the memories of those
involved. One such film project involved taking one of the first Otter Hole
explorers, Dave 'Sparky' Parker back into the cave - the result was premiered
at the Palace Cinema in Cinderford in 2010 and
raised over £1000 for cave rescue. Paul is also no stranger to the Hidden Earth
Conference or helping cavers to learn more about film making. His latest long
running project is taking place in Otter Hole where he has already logged 243
trips. Generously after the award was made Paul noted that he considered it was
not only to recongise his own work, but that it should be seen as an award for
the entire team that supports him. An attitude like that means that he will
never run out of helpers.
The award itself is a hand
crafted statue of a cave photographer made by Ceris Jones and was presented at this year's Hidden
Earth.
