Chief reporter Jack Tolson takes a look at what was making the news thirty years ago in March 1995.

MUMS AND TOTS’ ARMY IN FIGHT TO SAVE LOVED FARM

A MASSIVE mums-and-tots rebellion has been launched by fears that Wigfield Farm is high on Barnsley Council’s budget-cutting list.

‘Save Our Farm’ petitions are now circling and at least 2,000 names were collected at the weekend.

The petitions were suggested by Barnsley West and Penistone MP, Mick Clapham, to Bank End Tenants’ and Residents’ Association committee members who attended Saturday morning surgeries held by him and local councillors.

TARA chairman, Eunice Taylor, hopes to present the council with the biggest petition it has ever received.

“We gained around 2,000 signatures from visitors to the farm on Saturday afternoon and Sunday alone,” she said.

“Since then we have been seeking support from TARAs and individuals throughout Barnsley.

“Wigfield Farm is loved by the thousands of visitors it attracts each year and we feel people will be prepared to pay for admission rather than lose the farm altogether.”

BOBBY BILL COLLECTS HIS MBE

THE man behind one of Barnsley’s best-known faces went to Buckingham Palace this week to collect his MBE.

Former bobby Bill Harper - whose statuesque presence on town centre streets always stopped the traffic - won the award in the New Year’s Honours for services to the Highways Agency Office, Leeds.

Afterwards he said: “Receiving the MBE from the Queen is a day I will remember all my life.

At 63 he still boasts the magnificent handlebar moustache which earned him national recognition as point duty bobby on the notorious Pontefract Road five lane junction.

Clad in gleaming white police raincoat, helmet and gloves and ams flailing like a windmill he became a living Barnsley landmark.

STOUT-HEARTED LITTLE BREWERY TAKES ON GIANTS

THE small Elsecar Brewery is taking on Guinness and Murphy’s at their own game - brewing stout.

Stout, once regarded as an old-fashioned drink, is now the fastest-growing market in the cask beer trade and the large breweries are targeting young people.

The local brewery has an eye on that market as well, although they have tried to replicate and improve on the types of stout that were popular 20 years ago.

At that time Guinness produced two stouts - plain and the extra stout.

The plain died out in 1974.

Elsecar’s draught, Black Heart, was launched at the Lundhill Tavern, Wombwell, on Friday night, attracting CAMRA drinkers from Barnsley and Doncaster.

Mark Hunter, managing director, said his malt had a higher chocolatey character than other beers.

“It’s also got a higher gravity.

“A lot of stouts in recent years have been sweet, almost sticky - we have tried to go back 20 or 30 years when you have more bitter-tasting stouts.”