East Kilbride at 75: Rolls-Royce plant’s demise triggered mourning in the town

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Memories of the Rolly poured in to the News office when locals mourned the loss of the iconic building.Former Rolls-Royce worker Jim Paton worked at the Nerston plant for 27 years as an inspector, technical assistant, inspection planner and operations engineer.He shared pictures of a protest march from Rolls-Royce to the civic centre in March 1995 when 600 workers rallied against the company’s decision to close down their research and development department at East Kilbride.Sadly, their battle was in vain as the site – known as the Hilton – was closed down with the loss of around 400 jobs.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android On a lighter note, additional photos show the Rolls-Royce float featuring the Tay engine during a procession to celebrate East Kilbride’s 40th anniversary.The engine, dubbed ‘Rolls-Royce East Kilbride’s New Baby’ was developed in East Kilbride.Patricia Brown also got in touch to share an old photo of her late father John Gemmell.A shop steward for the engineers, John showed the then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, around the East Kilbride factory in the mid- to late -1960s and gave the PM an overview of the mechanics of aeroplane engines.

John lived in Tantallon Park, West Mains with wife Phyllis, daughter Patricia and son Billy. He passed away in October 2014 aged 91.Patricia,