HERE’S a selection of stories from the Chronicle from June 1998 as they were reported at the time.
BARNSLEY is on the verge of a golden economic era, predicts one of Britain’s top business consultants.
The town will have a flourishing economy and be regarded as a centre for excellence in a number of industrial fields ‘in about ten years’.
A report on wealth and job creation by Ernst and Young says if a number of suggestions are followed, by the end of 2007, Barnsley’s average growth will have gone up from almost two per cent to between three and four per cent, an extra 11,300 jobs will have been created, and unemployment will have fallen by between 1,725 and 5,650.
RITA and William Worrall were in for a soggy and smelly surprise when they returned from a sunshine break in Benidorm.
Their garden in Lang Avenue, Lundwood, disappeared under three foot of sewage contaminated flood water.
But their shock may not be so great — because the same thing happened only a
few weeks ago.
And according to their son Stephen and his girlfriend Lisa, who are house sitting, the same thing happens every time heavy rain falls.
Said Lisa: “It’s awful, the garden is completely flooded and there’s toilet paper, sanitary towels and all sorts floating in it.
A spokesman for Yorkshire Water said torrential rain caused the drains to fill up
and overflow.
BAKER David White is putting his hand in his pocket to help solve crime in Worsbrough.
David, whose business has been based in Worsbrough Bridge since the 1950s, is offering a £200 reward for anyone who can provide the police with information leading to arrests and convictions.
He says that his firm has been targeted by vandals and gangs of teenagers for around 18 months.
A number of his delivery vans have been damaged with bricks, and several of his employees have also had their vehicles damaged.
AN MP is calling on businesses to contribute to a £2,500 appeal to create a lasting memorial to the hundreds of Barnsley men who fell on the Somme 80 years ago.
Eric Illsley is backing an appeal by a group of former French Resistance fighters to mark the place where the Barnsley Pals fell in July 1916.
At the moment the only reference to the Pals is a small plaque nailed to a tree in the memorial park owned by Sheffield City Council.
But members of the IMOS (The Interallied Military Organisation of Sphinx), who regularly make a pilgrimage to the area, want the men’s sacrifice recorded by a monumental stone.
AN EMBARRASSING gaffe over the opening of the multi-million pound Morrison’s superstore was averted at the 11th hour.
Mayor of Barnsley Coun Fred Wright had been invited to open the 87,000 sq ft store which is creating 350 jobs at Cortonwood, Brampton — even though it is in Rotherham.
This led to angry claims that that the opening on June 29 should be performed by Mayor of Rotherham.
Albert Kiddy, a former Brampton Parish Council member, said: “It looks as though someone has tripped up. Cortonwood is in Rotherham.”
A Morrison’s spokesman said this week that checks had been made and it had been concluded that the store was in Barnsley.
But yesterday Morrison’s had changed their tune. The spokesman said a ‘tentative’ invitation by telephone to the Mayor of Rotherham’s office was made about a fortnight ago because the store was so close to the boundaries of the two towns.
A telephone invitation to the Mayor of Barnsley was received on April 15.
