Real memorial obituaries – Combe Down, Monkton Combe, Midford

In memoriam et celebrationem

In memorial and celebration

An obituary from Rob’s lifelong friend press photographer and author Geoff Ellis, to fill in the details of Rob’s life and thank him so much for the following:

“Sad news this morning, Friday 26 January 2024 that regular Photo Contributor Rob “Crow” Coles died early this morning in the RUH after a short illness.

He will be very much missed by his family, friends and all those who knew him, whether through his jazz days, his photography, or just by his lifetime spent in Bath and talking to everyone he met.

He had been my lifelong friend since 1957 when I arrived in Bath to work on the Chronicle. It was him that introduced me to the local jazz scene and could be found every Saturday at The Angel in Westgate Street behind his magnificent sousaphone.

He also introduced me to Jean Coles, who has been my wife for more than 62 years, so a debt of gratitude.

He was like my shadow in Bath, his love of photography never left him- he held a wonderful archive of Bath, from railways to architecture, from social to opera.

After I left Bath and worked at The Guardian and The Times, he was a regular source of pictures - getting a big kick out of popping an unprocessed film into a Red Star envelope, nipping out of the Admiralty to rush it to Bath Spa to be collected by our messenger at Paddington – He accompanied me down a coalmine at Writhlington where we lunched with Lord Robens, and lunched with the First Sea Lord too - much to the disbelief of his office colleagues.

He helped me with information and pictures when I produced a special report at The Times to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the GWR in 1985.

He was known in Bath for his kindness to visitors, often engaging tourists in conversation and walking them to points of interest and sorting out admission and paperwork for them.

He got a new lease of life by contributing news and pictures to your excellent Newseum site- he just loved the involvement of news and photography. “

“He will be sadly missed by all his many friends, in the circles in which he was active, but personally, he was a constant friend for 67 years and I will miss him being at the end of the phone with a bit of Bath gossip. “

His funeral will be held at Haycombe Valley Chapel at 1.45pm on Valentine's Day.

Donations in lieu of flowers to the Museum of Bath at Work. Cheques payable to "Bath Industrial Heritage Trust Ltd" can be sent c/o G Mannings Funeral Directors, 106 North Road, Combe Down, Bath, BA2 5DJ.