Ben Cunningham

Ben Cunningham was a photographer hired to record the wedding day of Reg and Maureen Holdsworth in January 1994.

During the reception at the Belstaff Hotel, Ben got chatting to one of the guests, barmaid Raquel Wolstenhulme. Upon hearing she was also a model, Ben gave her his business card and invited her to visit his studio for a photo shoot, and she willingly agreed in exchange for free shots for her portfolio. Des Barnes, Raquel's current suitor, was sceptical of Ben's motives but Raquel indignantly pointed out that Des's were hardly honourable.

On the day of the shoot, Des offered to accompany Raquel to Ben's studio, but she turned down the offer after Tanya Pooley suggested it would make her seem unworldly. Raquel enjoyed the session and agreed to remove her make-up when Ben asked to photograph her bone structure. Raquel was annoyed when Des turned up and saw her bare-faced, then took him to task for ruining a professional experience for her. Des hit back that he was only showing concern because he cared for her. Raquel was thrilled by his declaration.

Pleased with the results of the first session, Ben offered to photograph Raquel again for a Newton & Ridley sporting calendar. Upon arriving at the studio, Raquel was shocked to encounter her footballer ex-boyfriend Wayne Farrell, who was posing as 'Mr. March'. Raquel's co-star for the day's shoot, motorbike racer Erik Mikaelson, stepped in to defend her when Wayne was rude to her. Ben invited Raquel and Erik to pose on a motorbike and they got along famously.

Ben called into the Rovers Return the next day to show Raquel some prints from the shoot. Raquel and landlady Bet Gilroy were suitably impressed with the photographs, but Des was jealous of Erik and poured scorn on the fact they were to be used on the calendar's page for February - the shortest month.

1994

 * Wed 26th Jan
 * Wed 2nd Feb
 * Fri 4th Feb
 * Mon 14th Feb
 * Fri 18th Feb
 * Mon 21st Feb