A PLAQUE has been unveiled on Swanage Pier to commemorate diving pioneer Bob Campbell.

Mr Campbell, who died last year, was a founder member of the Isle of Purbeck Sub Aqua Club (IPSAC), as well as an internationally-respected expert on historic diving gear.

The plaque was unveiled by by Dr John Bevan, the chairman of the Historic Diving Society, an organisation of which Mr Campbell was a prize-winning member.

IPSAC chairman Chris Dunkerly said: "Bob was well known in maritime circles in Swanage. As well as being member of IPSAC, he was also a pier master in the early days of the Swanage Pier Trust and was a member of the local station of the National Coastwatch Institute (NCI).

"He was one of the founder members of IPSAC but his connection to diving goes back to the early days of diving in England in the 1950s.

"Many of the early training manuals and dive books have references to work carried out by Bob. He was a fount of knowledge and will be sadly missed by the diving community."

Mr Campbell started diving in the 1950s and eventually became the British Sub Aqua Club's (BSAC) national equipment officer. A regular contributor to many of the early diving magazines, he also wrote sections for the BSAC first manuals.

He lived in Swanage most of his life and developed a widely-respected knowledge of the maritime environment. Indeed, the national Coastwatch Institution station at Peveril Point still uses his tidal calculations to produce their daily tidal predictions.

The plaque, unveiled this month (April), features the IPSAC symbol - a plesiosaur - and the words 'Bob Campbell, 1930-2016, remembered by all'.

It is located on one of the pillars of the lower boat deck, where it will be seen by divers and visitors alike.