The Doncaster village of Kirk Sandall looked back on 90 years of Pilkington glassmaking in a special service at the local church of St Oswalds.

 

Around 200 people, including many Pilkington pensioners, attended the service, which was led by the Rev Mary Gregory and attended by the Bishop of Doncaster, the Rt Rev Cyril Ashton. The choir was made up of pupils from Kirk Sandall Junior School.

 

"It was a very moving service," said Damian McAreavey, head of Rolled and Wired Operations, who attended with HR director Steve Gange. "The size of the congregation was a telling demonstration of just how important Pilkington has been to the community over the generations."

 

Former Doncaster warehouse supervisor Alan Teale has researched the history of the site and his collection of photographs and memorabilia was on show at the bowling club as part of a reception held after the service.

 

Pilkington opened its first factory in the area in 1919 and built the ‘garden village’ of Kirk Sandall - with leisure facilities including bowling and cricket clubs - to house its workforce. Many of the streets take their names from districts of St Helens such as Dentons Green and Sutton.

 

At one time, around 3,000 people worked for Pilkington on the Doncaster site, although the number of employees had been much reduced in recent years. The site was sold earlier this year and Pilkington finally closed its operations there on September 30.