HERE’S a collection of stories from the Barnsley Chronicle’s archives as they were reported in March 1991.
THE Dowager Countess of Wharncliffe was recovering on Wednesday after a professionally planned break-in at her isolated home during which £50,000 of family silver was stolen.
The Countess Aline, the fourth Earl of Wharncliffe’s widow, kept her cool after discovering two men ransacking upstairs rooms in the middle of the night.
The burglar alarm had been cut through and, discovering that her car had been stolen, the Countess ran over a mile to the gardener’s lodge to raise the alarm.
Thieves had entered the house, Wharncliffe Lodge, situated just outside Wortley village, after forcing a downstairs window.
CONCERNS have been raised about thieves who are stealing Barnsley’s architectural heritage.
Over the last 12 months, statues, garden urns, gateposts, fire places, staircases, doors, slates and bridge parapets have been stolen in Barnsley.
Buildings listed by the government as being of architectural interest in Cawthorne, Wortley, Worsbrough, Bolton-on-Dearne, Grimethorpe, Penistone and Darton have all been targeted by the thieves.
A call for something to be done to cut the risk of parts of historic buildings being stolen was made in a report to members of Barnsley Council’s planning committee.
FIREMEN had to move a number of gas cylinders to stop them exploding after waste tyres were set alight at a Lundwood garage.
Crews from Barnsley and Royston fire stations were called to the fire in an outbuilding at Motosave Motorists Discounts Centre on Pontefract Road.
A pile of waste tyres was alight and firemen removed the cylinders nearby to prevent them exploding.
Station Officer John Parry said: “Fortunately, the fire was discovered fairly quickly and we arrived in time to stop them getting hot and exploding.
It took firemen 40 minutes to bring the blaze under control and one-and-a-half hours to extinguish it.
“Rubber tyres are very difficult to put out and it took almost an hour and half to make safe the site of the fire,” added Mr Parry.
ENGLAND cricketer Ian Botham autographed a cricket bat which was auctioned at a sportsman’s dinner organised by Wombwell Round Table at the Metrodome.
He is pictured with then Round Table chairman Mike Lee, holding the bat, along with speakers from the evening Jim Pearson, a representative from sportswear firm Nike, David English, and Round Table members Geoff Walker and Martyn Taylor.
MORE than 50 Barnsley organisations benefited from Yorkshire Television’s Telethon ‘90 grants.
A cheque presentation event was hosted by British Telecom to hand over money to various charities.
The 27-hour fund-raising broadcast on ITV last year was hosted by Michael Aspel nationally, with Richard Whiteley hosting YTV’s regional segments.
The total amount awarded to the Barnsley borough was £49,416.80.
