THE Bishop of Bolton, the Right Rev David Bonser led an act of worship to mark the official opening of the new Westhoughton St George's CE Primary School.

Appropriately, the ceremony took place on St George's Day at The Hoskers.

The Mayor of Bolton Cllr Alan Rushton and his wife Audrey attended the ceremony along with Town Mayor of Westhoughton Cllr Linda Thomas. Bolton West MP Tom Sackville was also there.

The Rev Simon Tatton-Brown, chairman of governors at St George's and Rector of the Parish of St Bartholemew in Westhoughton, read a passage from scripture during the service.

Pupils watched as a ribbon was cut and the flag of St George was raised in the grounds. St George's is the newest Church of England Primary School in the town and has been built to replace Hart Common Church School.

But the building is not entirely modern. Stained glass windows from Hart Common now have pride of place in the school hall. The school is home to the new St George's Church which was also officially opened on St George's Day.

And apart from the stained glass windows, the war memorial panels have been re-sited in the main corridor.

Hart Common Church School was built in 1879 and closed its doors for the last time before Easter. The school had become too small for its growing number of pupils. Cllr Rushton said he was impressed with the new facilities and added: "The new school is wonderful and the area was clearly in great need of it."

The Bishop said he was pleased that the windows from the old school had found a place in the new one. He said that pupils and teachers were "the ones that count" and that those present at the opening on St George's Day were making history.

Cllr Linda Thomas added that the new school and church would integrate the Hart Common and Westhoughton communities. The new St George's Church, which incorporates Hart Common Church, will be the first in town to unite the traditions of the Church of England, the Methodist Church and United Reformed Church. All three denominations will worship together. The first service will be this weekend.

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