Cornwell, John

''"My recollections of John Cornwell go back over 40 years, when I first met him down a cave wearing just a pullover and swimming trunks. His reason for wearing this unusual garb was that it saved having to repair his caving clothes after every trip.  Since then John has gone on to photographing mines and over the years he has produced a number of books illustrating Welsh coal mines, of which there are now very few left.

''John has perfected a rather unusual method of underground photography using existing Coal Board lighting as electronic flash guns and similar devices are banned in coal mines. For close up he uses a mining cap lamp on a time exposure. By “painting “ the area with the light from the cap lamp he has produced some remarkable photographs. For larger scenes he uses the approved Locomotive lamp which has two batteries. With this technique he photographs shafts 1000 feet deep and long lengths of underground roadway with remarkable clarity. John does not say what sort of camera he uses, but judging by the quality and superb definition of his photographs, I would guess at some like a whole plate [10 x 8 inches] camera.

''His fellow member of the Bristol Industrial Archeological Society, Professor Angus Buchanan, recalls John turning up at meetings in his Co-op days dressed smartly, with a bowler hat. He served briefly on the society's committee, but was at his best in the field. His contribution to industrial archaeology included excavations at Fussell's Ironworks at Mells, near Frome, in the 1970s, the Newcomen engine site at Nailsea, near Bristol, and sites along the line of the proposed Avon Valley ring road in the 1980s. His most inspired effort was to reveal the Golden Valley Colliery at Bitton, Gloucestershire, and restore the chimney there to working order. John was an avid collector of photographs, maps and other mining documents, which complemented his own photographs.

''He set up Bristol Coalmining Archives in 1989 with a friend, to provide people with information about the location of known mines under property. Stories of his eccentricities abound, including breakfasting on 35 fish fingers and and eating a four course meal backwards. Starting at coffee, followed by cheese and bisciuts etc.

''John died of a heart attack on 28th January 2006, he was 71. In 1973 he married Jenny, a chartered structural engineer, she survives him, as do their two daughters."'' - Tony Oldham

See also:

http://www.bec-cave.org.uk/component/content/article/587-belfry-bulletin-no-525-summer-2006.html?start=13