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22-03-2016, 08:13
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/03/pub-made-glass/)
We’ve just acquired a handful of in-house magazines from John Smith’s of Tadcaster dating to 1968 and 1969 one of which contains a feature on a pub in Kirk Sandall, Doncaster, S. Yorks, called The Glassmaker.The article says that the pub was the Kirk Sandall Hotel up until 1956-7:
It was erected by Pilkington’s, glass manufacturers, of St. Helens, Lancs., who have a large factory at Kirk Sandall, for their employees and to show off their*“wares”… When it was first opened in 1934 it was regarded as being years ahead of its time…
(You can see a picture of it in full Deco glory accompanying an article by David W. Gutzke at the Brewery History Society website (http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/119/bh-119-002.html).)
From the outside The Glassmaker appears as an oblong building with flat roof. One of its windows measures about 20 ft. x 10 ft and contains no less than 98 panes. Dogs, representing various breeds have been exquisitely cut into some of the panes.
http://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/dog_glass_500.jpg?resize=500%2C378Dogs etched on glass. Photographer uncredited. SOURCE: The Magnet, April 1968.But that’s not all:
Inside the building the glass panels, squares and shapes of many sizes which surround the visitor on all sides are of many colours. Those used in what is known as the Gold Room are very rare and are known as*“rough cast printed and fired gold”… The door of this room is of armour-cast toughened glass… The mirrored walls of one quite small room turn it magically into a vast auditorium and three or four people are multiplied into hundreds.
http://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/glass_features_500.jpg?resize=500%2C523Glass panels. Photographer uncredited. SOURCE: The Magnet, April 1968.This combo of industrial showroom and pub sounds amazing so far — almost like a fun house. But…
To some extent the result of all this glass was a building which did not generate a high degree of warmth. In fact it was distinctly*“cold” in appearance so the recent improvements have had the physical and psychological effect of*“warming it up”.
Oh, no — ‘improvements’. What did they do?
The principal entrance hall has been completely changed and fitted carpet and mahogany-style panelling have covered up hundreds of green tiles which tended to give the impression of a fish and chip shop! The lounge has also been equipped with fitted carpet, some mahogany panelling, comfortable seating and modern tables.
The really interesting glass features, they insist, were retained, but we’ve got used to this narrative: modernised in the 1960s, faux-Victorianised in the 1970s, and then… Well, let’s stop guessing and take a look.
It’s still there! And looks in quite good nick. There’s hardly a trace of Art Deco left, the name has changed — it’s now The Glasshouse — and there’s a big old extension on the front. But, hey, it’s not boarded up, burnt down, or*been replaced by a branch of Tesco.
And here’s an amazing 21st century perk for the architecturally curious: thanks to Street View we can even look inside at all that beautiful glass!
Oh.
Unless we’re being dense, there is no interesting glass anywhere to be seen. Just boring*glass. That’s a shame.
Still, looks a nice enough place for a Sunday carvery (you can read Simon’s comments at The British Real Ale Pub Adventure (http://brapa-4500.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/brapa-outer-doncaster-warning.html))*and at least we have*The Magnet for a record of how it used to look.
A Pub Made of Glass (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/03/pub-made-glass/) from Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Beer blogging since 2007, covering real ale, craft beer, pubs and British beer history. (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/03/pub-made-glass/)
We’ve just acquired a handful of in-house magazines from John Smith’s of Tadcaster dating to 1968 and 1969 one of which contains a feature on a pub in Kirk Sandall, Doncaster, S. Yorks, called The Glassmaker.The article says that the pub was the Kirk Sandall Hotel up until 1956-7:
It was erected by Pilkington’s, glass manufacturers, of St. Helens, Lancs., who have a large factory at Kirk Sandall, for their employees and to show off their*“wares”… When it was first opened in 1934 it was regarded as being years ahead of its time…
(You can see a picture of it in full Deco glory accompanying an article by David W. Gutzke at the Brewery History Society website (http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/119/bh-119-002.html).)
From the outside The Glassmaker appears as an oblong building with flat roof. One of its windows measures about 20 ft. x 10 ft and contains no less than 98 panes. Dogs, representing various breeds have been exquisitely cut into some of the panes.
http://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/dog_glass_500.jpg?resize=500%2C378Dogs etched on glass. Photographer uncredited. SOURCE: The Magnet, April 1968.But that’s not all:
Inside the building the glass panels, squares and shapes of many sizes which surround the visitor on all sides are of many colours. Those used in what is known as the Gold Room are very rare and are known as*“rough cast printed and fired gold”… The door of this room is of armour-cast toughened glass… The mirrored walls of one quite small room turn it magically into a vast auditorium and three or four people are multiplied into hundreds.
http://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/glass_features_500.jpg?resize=500%2C523Glass panels. Photographer uncredited. SOURCE: The Magnet, April 1968.This combo of industrial showroom and pub sounds amazing so far — almost like a fun house. But…
To some extent the result of all this glass was a building which did not generate a high degree of warmth. In fact it was distinctly*“cold” in appearance so the recent improvements have had the physical and psychological effect of*“warming it up”.
Oh, no — ‘improvements’. What did they do?
The principal entrance hall has been completely changed and fitted carpet and mahogany-style panelling have covered up hundreds of green tiles which tended to give the impression of a fish and chip shop! The lounge has also been equipped with fitted carpet, some mahogany panelling, comfortable seating and modern tables.
The really interesting glass features, they insist, were retained, but we’ve got used to this narrative: modernised in the 1960s, faux-Victorianised in the 1970s, and then… Well, let’s stop guessing and take a look.
It’s still there! And looks in quite good nick. There’s hardly a trace of Art Deco left, the name has changed — it’s now The Glasshouse — and there’s a big old extension on the front. But, hey, it’s not boarded up, burnt down, or*been replaced by a branch of Tesco.
And here’s an amazing 21st century perk for the architecturally curious: thanks to Street View we can even look inside at all that beautiful glass!
Oh.
Unless we’re being dense, there is no interesting glass anywhere to be seen. Just boring*glass. That’s a shame.
Still, looks a nice enough place for a Sunday carvery (you can read Simon’s comments at The British Real Ale Pub Adventure (http://brapa-4500.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/brapa-outer-doncaster-warning.html))*and at least we have*The Magnet for a record of how it used to look.
A Pub Made of Glass (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/03/pub-made-glass/) from Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Beer blogging since 2007, covering real ale, craft beer, pubs and British beer history. (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/03/pub-made-glass/)