One of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century, George Orwell stayed in Barnsley in 1936. He wanted to see for himself the living conditions of working class people for his book ‘The Road To Wigan Pier’. He stayed at a house in Agnes Terrace, still there today. A Blue Plaque commemorating George Orwell’s stay in Barnsley was unveiled on Friday 26 April.
The main event to mark the occasion was a talk by Edana Guest about George Orwell’s time in Barnsley, his experiences and what he found out. It was in the Miners’ Hall, Victoria Road, next door to the NUM building.
Edana has written an article about George Orwell’s stay in Barnsley in the excellent ‘Memories of Barnsley’.
The unveiling of the Blue Plaque then took place as a small event in Day Street at the end of Agnes Terrace.
Edana Guest, Quintin Kopp, Linda Burgess and Milly Johnson at the unveiling.
This event was held in partnership with Barnsley Archives & Local Studies. We are pleased that the Chair of the Orwell Society, Quentin Kopp, was present and made some interesting comments. Richard Blair, George Orwell’s son and Patron of the Society was unfortunately not able to be there.
Our thanks to Edana Guest for all she has done to arrange this event.
We have found it necessary to seek to limit the attendance at the unveiling of the plaque on site to the official guests and the media rather than as previously publicised.
This is for safety reasons as there is only a narrow pavement at the end of Agnes Terrace which is not suitable for a large gathering of people and Day Street is a busy traffic route.
Parking is also severely restricted in the vicinity and we do not wish to cause a nuisance to residents and businesses.
We are sorry that these adjustments to the programme have had to be made.