Delight as town backs Burton exhibition

Hundreds, mainly women, were employed at Burton clothing factory in Goole

A free exhibition telling the story of Goole's Burton clothing factory opens this weekend.

Organisers said the exhibition, featuring memories, photographs and objects donated by former workers, "explores 70 years of social history".

The factory, opened by the Princess Royal in 1949, specialised in manufacturing suits, providing work for about 500 people until its closure in 2019.

A Stitch in Time: The Story of Burton’s Factory runs at Goole Museum until 29 March.

The factory opened in 1949 and closed in 2019

A launch event takes place at 10:00 BST.

The exhibition also gives "a sense of community which was experienced both inside and outside of the workplace", the organiser said.

Goole Museum's curator Dr Alex Ombler said the team had been working on the exhibition since January.

He added: "The response from people in Goole has been fantastic," he said. ‘’We held two memory cafés at the museum and was delighted to see that former employees and their family members came forward in their dozens with stories and artefacts.

"We even managed to acquire film footage from inside Burton’s.”

'Industrial identity'

Councillor Nick Coultish, East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism, said: "We are delighted to see that so many people from the local Goole community and surrounding area have come forward to contribute to this fascinating piece of history.

"Burton’s factory is at the centre of Goole’s industrial identity and celebrates the story of the many people, mostly women, who worked there over the years and were invaluable to the community.’’

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