HERE’S a selection of stories as they appeared in the Chronicle back in August 1995.
A 79-YEAR-OLD’S home was burgled on the afternoon she ventured out for the first time in months.
The woman — who asked not to be named — left her home in Tower Street at around noon on Tuesday to visit an art exhibition.
When she returned six hours later, the terraced house had been ransacked and her collection of sentimental jewellery stolen.
“She normally stays in the house during the day and this was the first time she had been out for months,” said her daughter.
“The jewellery they stole will probably be worth little to the thieves but it is very sentimental to my mother and she would like to get it back.”
BARNSLEY could land a starring role in a new feature film being produced by a London company.
Researchers for the production company Prominent Features have been spending
time in the town to see if it is suitable for the film about colliery brass bands called ‘Brassed Off’.
Steve Abbott, of the company, said: “Things are still at an early stage but Barnsley is one of the places being considered.
“We want to tap into local communities with strong mining backgrounds and obviously Barnsley has plenty of those.”
The company is based at the same Pinewood studios where many of the British film industry’s biggest blockbusters have been shot.
HOUSING staff are hot under the collar since leaving Royal Street for new offices in County Way.
Now the department’s UNISON representatives and colleagues in contract services
have lodged a formal complaint after getting sick of sweating it out in the heatwave.
“Members in the contract services department complained that the offices were too hot even in winter,” said the branch’s safety officer, Keith Hodgson.
“We identified the heat problem before housing staff moved in and management
promised to do everything they could to alleviate it.
“Very little has been done. We suspect that heat exhaustion may be a problem whenever we have hot spells unless air-conditioning is fitted.”
TELEPHONE callers to Higham Post Office should not be too alarmed if they are
greeted by some heavy breathing — and a lot of panting.
It’s not postmistress Maureen Rollin suffering from ‘flu. It’s probably her pet Rottweiler, Ellie, who has acquired a real knack for answering the old dog and bone.
The one-year-old is so irritated by the ring that she ‘answers’ the phone herself by
nudging the handset off the receiver and panting down the line.
“It must be annoying for her hearing it and she’s trying to shut it up,” said Maureen.
“I used to blame the lads for leaving the telephone off the hook, but it must have been Ellie.
“People are supposed to phone you with dirty phone calls, not the other way round.”
CHANGES in Barnsley’s controversial voucher parking scheme have come too late for two Doncaster Road businesses.
Traders claim that since the scheme was introduced last year, takings have plummeted.
And for two — Northern Arts and a DIY window store — it proved the final nail in the coffin.
Now, almost a year after the scheme was introduced, Barnsley Council’s ruling Labour Group has agreed to some minor changes.
Motorists will be allowed to park up to two hours on Doncaster Road at an hour’s cost of 60p, and neighbouring Quarry Street has been taken out of the scheme.
