A COMMITTED and well-known member of a South Lakeland community has died at the age of 78.

Trevor Frederick Hinxman was widely recognised in Bowness for his work for a number of voluntary organisations.

He was also well-known for his tireless campaign work to reduce firework noise because of his concern about the effects of loud bangs on people and animals.

Mr Hinxman was born in Winchester in 1927 and in his teens had a period of horticultural training with Ryders, the seed merchants.

As a young man, he also enjoyed fell walking and joined the Holiday Fellowship, spending his holidays with the organisation in the Lake District and in Wales.

In later years, when living in Bowness, he would make daily outings with his dog, Sweep, to Ghyll Head, Gummers Howe and Cockshot Point before these trips were curtailed by ill health.

After spending his National Service in the Army, Mr Hinxman ran a gardening supplies and pet food shop in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, for a number of years.

During his time in the town, Mr Hinxman served as president of the Pudsey and District Chamber of Trade, and was a member of the joint committee of the Pudsey Chamber of Trade, Pudsey Civic Society and the Rotary Club.

He was also an active member of the West Yorkshire Council of the National Chamber of Trade and served as its chairman.

In 1990, Mr Hinxman became the first person to be elected an honorary life member of the council.

In 1964, Mr Hinxman married Margaret (nee Hollingworth) at their local church in Pudsey and the couple spent 30 years together until Margaret's death in 1994.

Mr and Mrs Hinxman moved to Bowness in 1992, where Mr Hinxman continued to lead an active life.

He was a member of the Liberal Democrats and distributed their news sheet, Focus, around Bowness.

He also worked as a guide at the Lakeland Horticultural Society's Holehird Gardens and was a visiting helper at the Holehird Leonard Cheshire home.

In 1998, Mr Hinxman joined the National Trust's living history project by playing the part of Mr Brown, the last man to farm the family property at Townend, Troutbeck.

Mr Hinxman dressed in a bowler hat, black coat and carried a quill pen while answering visitors' questions about the historic house.

Other organisations to benefit from Mr Hinxman's support included the Old Laundry Theatre Bowness; the Lyth Valley Damson Society; and the local United Reformed Church.

He was also chairman of a sub-committee to raise funds to preserve the Lions playing field in Bowness in 2001.

Mr Hinxman died on December 1 at Westmorland General Hospital.