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Local History
When Barnsley took a walk on the wildside ...
LIONS and tigers and bears - oh my... Unfortunately the tiger never came for tea in Barnsley - but amazingly the others did.
Anywhere you go in England you’ll hear myths, legends and folklore about some of the ‘beasts’ that once roamed the area.
And in Barnsley it’s no different.
From a 70-foot whale which stopped off in the town on a country-wide tour to a pet lion which guarded a Cudworth scrapyard, and even...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Mystery of the dead shark in the River Dearne
WE are officially in what we call in the newspaper business as silly season.
One of the sure-fire signs is when the red tops start reporting their annual tall tales of monster man-eating Great White sharks approaching British beaches.
But did you know a shark was once pulled out of our very own River Dearne?
It was back in September 2002 when we reported on the story.
The dead four-foot tope...
LOCAL HISTORY: A glimpse into a bygone age
SOME more sketches by Kenneth L Graham have been unearthed in our archives room.
The pictures, from his Old Barnsley series, were originally featured in the Chronicle way back in 1932 and give an insight into a bygone age.
Some of the sketches will be instantly recognisable despite huge changes across the town over the last century.
It’s believed Kenneth produced 46 sketches in total.
Theatrical flashback to the fifties
FROM THE ARCHIVES: There was a distinctive Swiss feeling to Barnsley Amateur Operatic Society’s 1952 production.
Wild Violets, a musical play by Bruno Hards-Warden, was the choice for the society with the show running for six nights at the Theatre Royal and Opera House. There was even a Saturday matinee performance.
The play itself is not quite The Sound Of Music but the costumes used are definitely authentic.
An operetta, the story...
The rain causes pain as big day is washed out
Ashley Ball digs into the archives to remember Yorkshire Cricket Club’s visit to Darfield…
DEATH, taxes and the English rain ruining a good party.
These are the only certainties in life.
The latter struck in April 1981 when Darfield Cricket Club hosted Yorkshire County Cricket Club to celebrate the opening of their new pavilion.
Unfortunately the weather put a bit of a dampener on things.
As the Chronicle reported at...
Holgate Heroes: Walter Leslie James
Another installment in our 'Holgate Heroes' series.
Walter Leslie James
A MEMBER of an elite Reconnaissance Corps left his wife a teenage widow when he served on the front lines.
Walter Leslie James – known as Leslie – was born in Barnsley during the second quarter of 1924 and was the eldest of five children.
Originally attending Higham Church of England School, he left to become a pupil of Holgate Grammar School...
Memories of Barnsley: Revisiting issue six, Don Booker writes of Sir Michael Parkinson and his early days as a Chronicle Reporter
Following the recent death of Sir Michael Parkinson, we revisit our Memories of Barnsley magazine from 2008 and his early days as a reporter working on the Barnsley Chronicle.
The late Don Booker contributed this piece to the sixth issue of the magazine.
Cudworth-born Michael Parkinson, Britain's best-ever television interviewer, was Knighted in the Queen's New Year Honours List.
The son of a Grimethorpe miner, his career started by recording news in...
From the archives: A housewarming party with the flying Doctor
As housewarming parties go… Doctor Peter Lansley threw one to really remember.
Way back in August 1975 we featured the unusual arrival of the doctor and his pals Nick Owen, Ron O’Brian and John Hitchen in Staincross.
The quartet wanted to mark the moving in at the home off Limes Close in style and as members of the Grindale Parachute Club had the perfect solution.
Peter said: “I decided to make a...
From the archives: Penistone Golf Club
PENISTONE historian, the late and well-known Mr J W Penistone, once asked readers in an edition of the old Penistone Almanac ‘was there ever a Penistone Golf Club?’.
Yes, there was, and on July 29, 1967 he wrote a newspaper article for the Barnsley Chronicle about Royd Moor Golf Club.
The club was formed in 1905, with a nine-hole course at Royd Moor Farm, Thurlstone. There was no need for any man-made bunkers,...
Photos of ‘Old Barnsley’ are unearthed
A recent dig around in one of our storage rooms has yielded these old sketches of areas around Barnsley.
They were originally printed in the Chronicle back in 1932 and are from the Old Barnsley Collection put together by Kenneth Leslie Graham.
The pictures are taken from around the Barnsley area and will be familiar to some of our readers.
You can view these photo's below individually, or watch them as a video here. ...
From the archives - free download of Barnsley Chronicle - December 2009
We have started re-visiting past editions from our extensive archives at the Chronicle and wanted to share a couple with you.
The third one is from this time of year but in 2009 and it is free to download here: https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/storage/pdf/bc-11-12-2009.pdf (51.2 MB) Please note the file size before you download.
Keep visiting the Chronicle website for the next instalment.
Barnsley ferret-legger wows Aussies on TV chat show
THE art of ferret-legging may be from a bygone age but it once earned a Barnsley man fame... and a trip to Australia.
Back in early 1985, the famed ferret-legger Reg Mellor, proved a major hit Down Under with his unusual skill.
Reg, who was 74 at the time and living on Honeywell Street, appeared on the Mike Walsh Show on Australian TV where he wowed the host and audience alike by putting three ferrets...
Andrew's potty discovery leads to more digging
STUMBLING upon Roman-era pottery in his garden set Andrew Allen on a journey of discovery. In the third instalment in a series of features unearthing the past, Ashley Ball digs deeper into almost 2,000 years of local history.
Luckily Andrew knew the value of what he was digging up. He is thankful that his own thriftiness resulted in him deciding to bury rubble rather than get a skip. That is when he quickly began to...
2006: Glancing Back
Charlotte Hutton explores the Barnsley Chronicle archives fro this week in 2006.
A STATUE to mark the role played by women during the miners’ strike and pit closures has been erected in a Barnsley church.
The figurine of St Barbara, the patron saint of mineworkers, will be dedicated at a service at St Luke’s Church, Grimethorpe and is in tribute to the village’s Women Against Pit Closures group.
It has been commissioned and produced in...
Nigel’s exhibition will be a load of old rope...
A RETIRED ship rigger and wire splicer is appealing to former rope men in Barnsley to get in touch with him for a museum exhibition.
Nigel Gray, of Northumberland, spoke to the Chronicle about wanting to find ex-rope men / ropesmiths who worked in pits across the borough and who are willing to share their experiences or may still have the specialist tools.
“After visiting a mining museum at Wakefield I have realised that there...
Glancing Back 1965
Charlotte Hutton explores the Barnsley Chronicle archives from September 1965.
A BARNSLEY firm which specialises in handmade blazer badges has landed a contract to make all the badges for players and officials for next year’s world cup football tournament.
The firm, the Crested Tie and Badge Company, Sheffield Road, has been in existence only 18 months but already their work is known throughout the country. The Barnsley firm was chosen from a number of firms...
2002: Glancing Back
Megan Wallace explores the Barnsley Chronicle archives from 2002.
FORMER government minister Mo Mowlam was in Barnsley to sign copies of her new book, Momentum as well as see old friends.
Mo renewed acquaintances with several friends and colleagues in the Labour Party who were among the fans who queued for the book signing at the Barnsley Bookworm.
The former Northern Ireland Secretary was a lecturer and administrator at the Northern College in the 1980s...
Historian Jane is flagging up more about miners’ war effort
HISTORIAN and author Jane Ainsworth has delved into the links between Barnsley’s miners and First World War soldiers after the NUM made a donation to the project to honour the colours of the Barnsley Pals.
Jane is co-ordinator of the project to provide a proper display for the colours of the Barnsley Pals at St Mary’s Church and create faithful replicas for ceremonial occasions.
Working with Rev Canon Stephen Race at St Mary’s Parochial Church...
Museum’s tale of hot metal
AN UPCOMING exhibition at Experience Barnsley promises to lift the lid on one of the town’s most important global exports.
The Barnsley Canister Company was, for the best part of a century, one of the most renowned international producers of metal tins for use by companies to transport and display their tea, biscuits and all manner of other items.
Curator Alison Cooper and her team have delved into the history of the company unearthing tins...
2000: Glancing Back
Megan Wallace explores the Barnsley Chronicle archives from the year 2000.
A BARNSLEY man last night jetted off to flood-devastated Mozambique to help rescue survivors.
David Egan is a member of the voluntary International Rescue Corps - a group of people ready to go on mercy missions anywhere in the world. The IRC - set up in 1981 - will also be helping establish camps for the thousands of people whose homes have been destroyed...
