Trevor Lofthouse 1938 – 2000

As a fifteen-year old I moved up from the Bolton Art School to the Bolton College of Art, all in the same Hilden Street building just a move to the bigger world upstairs.

One of my Tuesday Craft options was lino-cut. We started college at 9am and finished at 6.30pm, a long day for a fifteen year old especially as all the students had to travel home quite someway. My lino-cut lessons were led by Trevor Lofthouse, an inspirational teacher who back in around 1951 entered the School of Art as a 13-year old having previously been schooled at Tonge Moor Primary and then Tonge Fold Secondary. I entered the school barely thirteen in 1959, the August 21st birthday together with the operational school start of 1st Sept, making me one of the youngest ever pupils. Trevor made his way through the school and the college with distinction and going full circle returned as a tutor in 1964. Trevor remained with the art department later incorporated into Bolton College and even later during the fledgling days of the University of Bolton.

Two Collergraphs by Trevor Lofthouse, the third photo is of one of Trevor’s actual collergraph boards.

Trevor’s lino cut lessons took place in a room in the bottom corridor of Hilden Street whilst later on I studied wood engraving and lino-cutting with Trevor at the old Bridgeman Place Annexe.

In the college year 1963/64 as a seventeen year old I studied Craft ‘A’ Level (design and practice) at Bridgeman Place under the guidance of Trevor. We studied the history of print-making/illustration, I still have the book ! ‘A’ levels were meant to be covered in two years but for Art and the Craft ‘A’ level we were deemed proficient enough to take the exam in just one year.

Trevor standing on the right with me seated on the left in the lower room corridor at Hilden Street. Right: The textbook.

In 2004, living 260 miles away from Bolton, I discovered that a retrospective exhibition of Trevor’s work was held in the March at Bolton University. I discovered the event too late, in July, sad to learn that Trevor had passed away suffering a stroke in 2000.

Lino-cut. ‘The Croal Valley’. Graham Bennison. I still have most of my lino-cut work from those distant days, this is my favourite. Right, Trevor signed the reverse as artist’s proof.

I would be grateful for any information that anyone has of Trevor to fill in all the gaps in this blog. My email is bennyelmwood@yahoo.co.uk

Graham Bennison https://www.facebook.com/BennisonArtist