Caring for our borough and shaping its future
Barnsley Civic Trust welcomed Victorian Society members for a tour, guided by Allen Parks, of some of the Victorian and Edwardian buildings in Barnsley town centre and nearby conservation areas.
We explored the iconic NUM Miners Hall with Paul Darlow and this time called in at the home of Barnsley Civic Trust Chairman John Love for tea with Victorian cakes produced in Barnsley!
Huddersfield Civic Society members chose a wet day to visit Barnsley! Allen Parkes from Barnsley Civic Trust took them on an informative tour, aided by a red and white ‘Remaking Barnsley’ umbrella. Fortunately Paul Darlow took everyone into a dry NUM Miners Hall for a fascinating show of banners and stories. A wet Saturday 22 July.
Another blue plaque for Barnsley …
Organised by the Royal Society of Biology and the British Society for Immunology with the National Trust Wentworth Castle Gardens, the unveiling of the blue plaque for Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu took place on Saturday 15 July at Wentworth Castle Gardens.
Dr Lynda Partridge, Royal Society of Biology, unveiling the plaque to Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu. Allen Parks, Barnsley Civic Trust, said a few words to mark the occasion.
Town Tours
We have two tours of Barnsley Town Centre coming up for visiting groups, looking at significant buildings, both historic and new:
Saturday 22 July: Huddersfield Civic Trust visit for tour of Barnsley Town Centre
Sunday 20 August 20: Yorkshire Victorian Society tour of Victorian buildings.
We also intend to repeat the tours for Barnsley Civic Trust members and Barnsley residents.
Blue Plaques
Two Barnsley Civic Trust Blue Plaques are being unveiled in the next few months.
Tuesday 12 September: Blue Plaque for Joseph Bramah, Engineer and Inventor, at Wentworth Castle, in association with the National Trust Wentworth Castle Gardens. This is one of the national Heritage Open Days and access to Wentworth Castle Gardens will be free of charge.
Thursday 14 September: Blue Plaque for Ernest Harold Jones, Artist and Egyptologist, with a talk by Joann Fletcher.
Saturday 15 July: There is also the unveiling of another Blue Plaque at Wentworth Castle to commemorate the achievements of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. This is a Royal Society of Biology and National Trust event with talks.
Barnsley Civic Trust would be interested to hear of nominations for Blue Plaques especially where funding can be provided by a sponsor.
Further Talks
Thursday 19 October at the Miners Hall (NUM Offices). Paul Darlow will give a talk on the fascinating history of the mining of coal under Barnsley Town Centre and the surrounding area.
Thursday 16 November: History of the Barnsley Trinity Players, a presentation on the history of the theatre group by Phil Johnson.
Talks are open to members and non-members
Watch this space for details of other talks and activities.
— Views arising from the preparation of the book.
Many of us have views on notable buildings in Barnsley, new or old.
Here’s a chance to hear from Keiron Dunn, author of ‘50 Buildings in Barnsley’, a book in the “50 Buildings of” series.
Keiron is a former planner in Barnsley and intends to share his views on Barnsley’s buildings and the changes that have taken place over the years.
What do we think about:
—The merits of knocking things down, or retaining our heritage?
—Why some people love a new building and others hate it?
—The town centre after all the pain?
Keiron has another book in preparation and he would be interested in reflecting our ideas on Barnsley’s buildings.
Come along to participate in the discussion or to hear the views expressed. All welcome.
A short Barnsley Civic Trust annual general meeting will take place before the talk
The introduction of electricity to Wentworth Castle was one of the earliest.
Based on their research in the Wentworth Castle archives, National Trust volunteers Adrian Hughes and Janet Johnson will present a talk on the installation of electric lighting on site in 1886 – a fascinating topic bound to be illuminating. All welcome.
7pm Thursday 11 May: Masonic Hall, Cockerham Lane, Just off Huddersfied Road near Barnsley Town Centre.
September will see the unveiling of Barnsley Civic Trust’s Blue Plaque to Joseph Bramah at Wentworth Castle Gardens in association with National Trust.
Wentworth Castle —as well as Joseph Bramah— is an important part of Barnsley’s heritage and this talk arranged with the National Trust marks this importance.
‘Elsecar Forging Ahead — Industrial Archaeology, Aristocrats and Heritage Rediscovered‘ is the theme of this year’s Bramah Lecture given by Dr John Tanner at the Cooper Gallery in Barnsley starting at 7pm on Monday 27 March.
South Yorkshire Industrial History Society has organised the lecture which is sponsored by Barnsley Council. It’s great that the Bramah Lecture is going ahead this year. The doors will be open from 6.30pm with tea/coffee available.
Due to limits on numbers at the Cooper Gallery, please call on 01226 775678 to book a place. The event is free but you’re invited to make a donation on the day.
Barnsley Archives has been named the ‘Record Keeping Service of The Year’ at the Archives & Records Association national conference on 1 September 2022. It is well deserved!
Barnsley Civic Trust had a timely illustrated presentation by Paul Stebbing, Archives and Local Studies Manager, at our meeting on Thursday 13th October.
We found out about the award-winning Barnsley Archives, what they have achieved over the years, and about their exciting plans for the future.
The Archive Service has launched a new 360° interactive tour which allows you to virtually walk around their Barnsley Town Hall search room: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=ju4s96wzNT5
Do you know of important and cherished buildings, monuments and structures in Barnsley that are not protected?
‘Local Listing’ can help give them some protection against demolition, removal or harmful modification. [Only those of national significance can have statutory listed building status.]
There’s a talk on 1st December to tell us about how we can protect Barnsley’s heritage through ‘Local Listing’.
It’s by Sarah Cattell from South Yorkshire Archaeological Service; Sarah is leading the South Yorkshire Heritage Listing Project.
The project is anxious to use the local knowledge of societies like the BCT to identify the buildings and built structures that we think ought to be listed.
All are welcome whether or not you are BCT members. The talk is at 7.00pm on Wednesday 1st December at the Masonic Hall in Cockerham Lane, off Huddersfield Road, Barnsley S75 1AT.
We are pleased to be able to let you know that Barnsley Civic Trust AGM will be held at 7.00pm on Thursday 7th October at the Masonic Hall in Cockerham Lane off Huddersfield Road.
As you know we were unable to hold an AGM in 2020 because of the Covid situation and business was suspended during that period. We now intend to get Barnsley Civic Trust up and running again.
Barnsley Civic Trust’s priority is doing what it can to bring the town back to being a lively, prosperous and attractive place for the whole community.
The main part of the annual general meeting will be a presentation by Tegwen Roberts on the Eldon Street Heritage Action Zone project. This is intended to have a major impact on Eldon Street and its surroundings including The Civic.
