James Clark Medal recipients honoured at ICE lunch

2 March 2022


Two recent recipients of the British Tunnelling Society’s (BTS) James Clark Medal were celebrated at a winners’ lunch hosted by the BTS in London in February.

Held annually at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the James Clark Medal Winners’ Lunch allows previous medal winners to gather, welcome and toast the most recent winner. 

BTS chair Kate Cooksey welcomed everybody and proposed a toast to the two awardees – Helen Natrass (2020) and Bob Ibell (2021). The pair could not be acknowledged previously because the event was postponed during the pandemic. 

In her brief speech, Cooksey – the first female chair of the BTS – read out the names of those present and those absent. One notable absentee was the 2004 winner Rodney Craig who could not attend owing to poor health. 

Following an American, contemporary grace given by John Scholey, invitees enjoyed an excellent three-course lunch in the grandiose classical-revival surroundings of the ICE’s Great George Street building. 

Inaugurated in 1981, the James Clark Medal is awarded annually to British tunnellers who make an outstanding contribution to tunnelling. They are judged on criteria that include innovation and/or responsibility for a large project. 

The award perpetuates the memory of James Clark, who worked on many significant tunnels and died in his 60s.