First launched in 2013 by the West Midlands Regional Group and the Black Country Geological Society the Joint Photographic Competition has grown year-on-year, expanding to other regional group including the Southern Wales Regional Group (2014) and the North West Regional Group (2015).
The theme of “Geologica Britannica” was proposed to coincide with the bicentenary of William Smith’s famous geological map: ‘A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales’ and the Society’s ‘Year of Mud’.
The title was purposely open and we received photographs covering a diverse range of geological topics, from mining, landscape, teaching and even humour! The judges enjoyed looking at all of the photographs and it was hard to choose the winners
The winners
1st Prize was awarded to Kevin Privett for his photograph of Stair Hole. He received £200 Sponsored by Geotechnical Engineering Limited, plus a £150 special publication gift voucher donated by the Geological Society's Publishing House and a William Smith Map Reproduction and Memoir
2nd Prize was awarded to Briony Harvey for her photograph of Dinorwic Quarry, Llanberis. She received £150 Sponsored by Geotechnical Engineering Limited plus a Geological Map of Great Britain, Bicentennial edition
3rd Prize was awarded to Alan Beattie for his photograph of dinosaur footprints on Bedrick Rock in the Vale of Glamorgan. He received £100 Sponsored by Geotechnical Engineering Limited plus a Geological Map of Great Britain, Bicentennial edition
4th and 5th Prize were awarded to David Kirby for his photograph taken in Langdale, Cumbria and to Briony Harvey for her photograph of Hendre Spar Mine near Molde. Each receive a bicentennial edition Geological Map of Great Britain.
6th to 10th placed runners up each received a highly coveted Geological Society Hammer USB stick. They were:
- Alan Beattie for his photograph of Lias cliffs at Dunraven Bay in the Vale of Glamorgan
- Peter Brabham for his photograph of the Fros Y Fran land reclamation scheme near Merthyr Tydfil
- Malcom Nugent for his photograph of Dunraven Bay in the Vale of Glamorgan
- Simon Arinze for his photograph of the Bude Sandstone Formation, Bude
- Gerry Lucas for his photograph of toppling Carboniferous Limestone in Bennett Quarry, Derbyshire
The host groups wish to thank Geotechnical Engineering Limited for sponsoring the Joint Photographic Competition in the Bicentenary year of William Smith’s Map.
Geotechnical Engineering Limited was incorporated in 1961 to provide ground investigation services. They remain the largest privately owned ground investigation contractor in the UK providing quality data to the construction industry.
The Joint Photographic Competition 2016 will be on theme 'Water: Changing the Geology of Great Britain and Ireland"
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