Here we take a look back at what made the news in Barnsley in 2018.
January
FASHION giant Next has signed up as the first retail tenant in the new Glass Works development in Barnsley town centre, the Chronicle can exclusively reveal.
Barnsley Council and development manager, Queensbury, has confirmed the global clothing, footwear and home retailer, will take up the chief pitch within the new glass-covered mall.
The 20,000 sq ft Next store will be spread over two floors and will replace the town centre’s existing Next store in the Alhambra which will remain open until the store is ready.
A STATUE honouring Barnsley’s most famous writer through his most famous characters, ‘Kes’ and Billy Casper, will take pride of place in the town centre according to plans revealed this week.
Peel Square, close to where the infamous empty plinth once stood, has been named the preferred site for the statue by the group raising money for the project.
It will depict Billy Casper and his kestrel as they appeared in Ken Loach’s revered 1969 film Kes assuming the estimated £106,000 needed can be raised.
SCHOOLS will continue to open as normal following the collapse of the country’s second biggest construction company, Carillion, which provided a range of services to schools.
The council issued a statement this week to reassure parents, staff and children that secondary schools in Barnsley will continue to operate as normal in the light of the collapse of Carillion, which held the contract to provide facility management services such as caretaking, cleaning and maintenance in all nine of the borough’s advanced learning centres and two special schools.
February
BARNSLEY Central MP Dan Jarvis has put himself in the running to be Labour’s candidate in the Sheffield City Region Mayoral election because he believes it’s the only way to achieve a wider Yorkshire devolution deal.
Mr Jarvis says if elected he will continue to serve as an MP but won’t take any salary for his role as mayor.
He told the Chronicle he made his decision to stand knowing that the only two other Labour Party figures who have entered the race are both from Sheffield, and both opposed to wider Yorkshire.
A MUSIC festival has been thrown a possible lifeline just days after organisers announced it was to be scrapped.
The shock announcement that Coalfields Festival held in Darton every summer since 2004 would not be returning was made via its Facebook page last Friday evening.
But on Tuesday it was revealed organisers are now in talks with a charity organisation to look at keeping the popular festival running.
A post on the festival’s Facebook page said: “This has happened very quickly and nothing is 100 per cent set in stone as yet due to planning and licensing, but it’s looking very positive, and they would want to keep things running as the family community festival it always has been.”
March
THE top floor of the market multi-storey car park is being transformed into a huge painting which will be visible from the cameras in the sky when the Tour de Yorkshire comes to Barnsley.
The giant work of almost 30,000 sq ft will feature a colour painting of Barnsley town centre with two cyclists passing the town hall.
The Tour de Yorkshire race is accompanied by a tradition of large-scale eye-catching pieces of ‘land art’ lining the route, which should be captured by TV cameras in helicopters when the race comes to town on May 4.
A FAMILY-RUN farm in Barnsley has been chosen as the main host for a new Channel Five television series.
Daisybeck Studios - famous for producing The Yorkshire Vet selected Cannon Hall Farm to front Springtime on the Farm which focuses on the hard work the farming community puts in to capitalise on its busiest time of the year.
April
A TEACHING assistant who volunteers with the Army Cadets will be among those attending the royal wedding next month.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will tie the knot on May 19 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Nicola Pettinger, who works at Jump Primary, has been selected as one of the 2,600 who will be there in the grounds to welcome the royal couple, and while she won’t be in the chapel for the ceremony, she’ll be right outside and able to watch it on a big screen.
She is one of just two people from Barnsley selected to go.
May
FANS of Peter Andre are in for a treat.
The singer and television personality will present ‘An Evening With Peter Andre’ at the Metrodome in September.
Best known for his 1996 track Mysterious Girl, Peter will take part in a live interview hosted by his manager Claire Powell on September 20.
Peter rose to fame in the 1990s and became the sixth highest selling artist in the UK.
MILLIONS around the world saw Barnsley at its best when the Tour de Yorkshire came to town last Friday.
Thousands gathered in the town centre and along the route to cheer on riders as the footage captured from a helicopter was beamed around the world.
The hugely successful event put Barnsley on the ‘global map’ according to Mayor of Barnsley Coun Jeff Ennis.
June
MORE details about the new £5.3m central library `" due to open next spring have been revealed by the council this week.
The Library @ the Lightbox, currently under construction in May Day Green, will be a welcoming hub for the community across four floors.
The building is part of the town centre redevelopment programme.
Coun Jenny Platts said: “It’s much more than a library, giving people access to a wide range of services, provide venues for community groups, events, and encourage our customers to use technology to experience Virtual Reality, programming, music and dance.”
CELEBRITY hairdresser Andrew Barton is to launch his training programme in Barnsley.
Royston-born Andrew will launch the programme at Barnsley College’s Open Kitchen restaurant at 6pm on Tuesday July 10 with hairdressers invited to attend.
Andrew Barton London Education is a training programme which offers colleges add-on training to their existing hairdresser education.
The programme is designed to give students an extra qualification to further their employment opportunities.
It will also provide stronger links between colleges like Barnsley College and industry specialists.
July
STAFF at Barnsley Hospital celebrated the 70th anniversary of the NHS with a visit from the Mayor.
Coun Steve Green joined the hospital’s chief executive Dr Richard Jenkins and chairman Steve Wragg yesterday to give a presentation thanking staff for their dedicated hard work.
He also cut a celebratory cake, met staff and visited stalls to learn more about hospital services.
Some of the staff who were invited have worked at the hospital for more than 40 years.
n ENGLAND defender John Stones became the first Barnsley man to score at a World Cup last month but his side were agonisingly beaten 2-1 in extra-time by Croatia in the semi-final of the tournament in Russia this week.
Having headed in twice in the 6-1 victory against Panama on June 24, the Thurlstone-born 24-year-old started the crunch match at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, on Wednesday night.
August
A SPORTS facility in the centre of Grimethorpe was officially reopened on Monday after a major refurbishment overseen by ex-Barnsley striker Bruce Dyer.
The 43-year-old, who bagged 57 goals in 181 appearances during a five-year stint at Oakwell, agreed a 25-year lease to take over the failing Miners’ Welfare Sports Ground, on Cemetery Road, late last year.
That kick-started a host of improvement works at the site which was once a thriving sports hub home to football, cricket and rugby teams, before it closed more than two years ago when its previous tenant, Access to Sport, pulled out due to persistent vandalism.
A PETITION has been started by angry residents who have blasted Barnsley Council’s multi-million pound plan to create a new gyratory system at the expense of a popular park.
The stretch of the A628, which runs from Broadway traffic lights to Town End roundabout, is set to receive a raft of work to combat long queues into the town centre.
But the creation of a multi-lane one-way gyratory, which will cut through Penny Pie Park, has been met with fury from locals who labelled the plan as a ‘money-wasting’ exercise’ this week.
The petition, which has already amassed more than 500 signatures since it was launched on Sunday, says the park is an integral part of the community and one of just a few remaining recreational greenspaces left in the area.
September
WENTWORTH Castle and Gardens is to become the first National Trust attractions in South Yorkshire and will be open to the public again as soon as next summer, the Chronicle can exclusively reveal.
Barnsley Council is investing £4.1m to see the site, which has been closed for almost 18 months, re-open with improved parking facilities and a new visitor centre.
In return for the council’s one-off investment, the National Trust will take over responsibility for the site for the next 25 years, although it will remain in the council’s ownership.
STRIKING dinner ladies at risk of losing their jobs picketed outside a primary school this week.
The strike at Ladywood Primary in Grimethorpe was ordered following a staffing review which resulted in proposals to make nine staff redundant.
They picketed outside the school on Wednesday along with unison representatives, who described the move as ‘a sad case of the lowest paid staff being treated as disposable’.
It was the first of six days of planned strike action opposing the cuts.
October
BARNSLEY has been selected as a host town for the Tour de Yorkshire for a second year running.
Barnsley was among eight locations unveiled by Welcome to Yorkshire and the Amaury Sport Organisation at a launch event on Wednesday evening in Leeds, confirming Barnsley as one of the locations to host either the start or finish line part of the race next May.
The town joins Bedale, Bridlington, Doncaster, Halifax, Leeds, Scarborough and Selby as hosts.
The Tour de Yorkshire will take place between May 2 and May 5.
THE cost of a new footbridge over Jumble Lane crossing has gone up by £600,000 because of an engineering problem, it was revealed this week.
The idea to shut the town centre level crossing and replace it with a pedestrian bridge was mooted three years ago when the town centre revamp was revealed.
Network Rail had also expressed concerns about the crossing being dangerous and ‘high risk’ with numerous incidents reported of cars running red lights and pedestrians jumping the barriers.
It was initially thought the Market Gate Bridge would cost £5m, with Network Rail contributing towards £2m towards that cost.
But council papers show the cost has gone up to £5.6m an increase of 12 per cent.
November
AN ENERGY tariff dedicated to Barnsley people has been launched just two weeks after a technical glitch forced a delay in the service aiming to help lift people out of fuel poverty or protect them from it in the first place.
Barnsley Council, in partnership with energy provider Great North Energy, launched the new energy tariff which is dedicated to the residents of Barnsley.
The offer is open to any resident with a Barnsley postcode.
n A WORLD record-breaking power lifter who credits the sport with turning his life around is hoping he can inspire others in similar situations.
Keenan Freer was 16 when he was kicked out of his home and off his college course, had experiences with drugs and, at his lowest, contemplated suicide.
With nowhere else to turn he went to Titan Fitness in Wath, and 18 months later, was lifting the trophy with a record-breaking performance at the World Championships in Florida.
December
FORMER sprinter Dorothy Hyman was delighted to be presented with a replica of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year - 55 years after she won it.
Dorothy, 77, of Stairfoot, received the trophy from Steve Cram and Paula Radcliffe at the annual BBC sports ceremony on Sunday.
A campaign to get Dorothy a trophy was started following the Proud of Barnsley awards, at which she said she didn’t have one but had always admired them.
