Wigan dinner lady retires after 43 years at Hindley Junior and Infants

A Wigan dinner lady who has served tens of thousands of meals over the last 43 years has hung up her apron.

Joan Smith has been a familiar smiling face at Hindley Junior and Infant School since 1979 and among the pupils who will remember her lunches are her four own children who all went through the school.

And there are some youngsters who have been there recently whose own grandparents remember Joan at the beginning of her career.

She was showered with gifts on her final day and a school spokesperson said: “Joan has been a wonderful lady to work with, a very valued member of staff and our children and staff will miss her terribly.”

Joan likes to plan holidays with a group of ladies in Leigh called Jigsaw (her family call them The Spice Girls) and she loves going to Blackpool to watch shows, which she says she will have more time to do now she is

retiring.

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