FASCINATING old footage of Barnsley from the 1970s and 80s has been saved from the dump-it site and preserved online for future generations to see.
Eric and Pat Gillott had been clearing out the home of a relative who had died and came across a suitcase filled with a load of old cine films.
They looked in a poor state and Eric thought they probably weren’t worth saving - he had nowhere to play them anyway.
Eric, of New Street, Worsbrough Dale, was on his way to the dump-it site with them when he decided to stop off at his old friend Dave Cherry’s house, just to check if he could do anything with them.
“He was literally about to sling them,” said Dave, 72, of Saxon Crescent, Worsbrough Bridge.
“I said I’d take a look at them and get them digitised so they could be uploaded to YouTube.
“They’re a fascinating peek into Barnsley’s past and a bygone era. It’s social history at its best.”
The films show scenes from mayors’ parades in the town centre in the 70s and 80s, celebrations for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, and shots of Worsbrough Mill before it was modernised.
It also takes a tour through the town centre in the days before pedestrianisation, and shows the old Woolworth’s store in the middle of town, Boots in its early days with original shop front signs, the old Beckett Hospital and the old John Briton toy store on Shambles Street.
One of the clips shows a parade heading up Shambles Street away from Town End before the roundabout was built. To the right of the image, a building site can be seen when the building which became the Simco supermarket was under construction. It later become Dunnes Stores, and then Clothing Direct, but is now a gym.
Dave said: “It’s fascinating footage and it’s gone down really well on YouTube. I’ve already been contacted by a lady who lives in London who’s featured in it on one of the floats from the mayor’s parade.”
