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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Looking back on Barnsley 10k memories
THE rejuvenation of the Barnsley 10K race stirred a lot of memories for local runners. So we’ve dipped back into our archives room and found some pictures, taken by photographer Anton Want, from the 1991 edition of the race. It took place on November 17 and was sponsored by Barnsley and Doncaster Training and Enterprise Council. In conjunction with Barnsley Council and Dorothy Hyman AC. In the official programme, chairman of leisure and amenities council,...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Town shivered as worst snow in years blanketed the town Image
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Town shivered as worst snow in years blanketed the town
AS we all wait to see whether we wake up to the forecast snow, we took a look back at the Chronicle archive and found that 15 years ago to the week Barnsley was slipping and sliding and struggling to cope in the worst wintry weather the town had seen for years. The Chronicle of February 5, 2009 reported that most schools were closed and scores of people had suffered falls on icy pavements. Wheelie...
Looking back: Barnsley kids of the 50s Image
Looking back: Barnsley kids of the 50s
Another recent rummage around in our archives has yielded these old photos and we need your help to identify some of the people on them. The photos are from a photo album of unknown origin and seem to be of schoolchildren in the 1950s. Some show full classes and staff and have captions, there are also some of the children getting involved with the tradition of maypole dancing. Do you recognise anyone?...
How Stuart’s repainting the town ...
FOR nearly 30 years a photography enthusiast has been recolouring historic pictures of Barnsley to bring the past back to life. Stuart Sykes picked up the recolouring skill when he was teaching computer studies in the early 1990s. Since then, he has been developing his skills, and over the past year began a popular Facebook page showing ‘Old Barnsley In Colour’. “The biggest thing is getting the picture to the stage that it wants to...
The rain causes pain as big day is washed out Image
The rain causes pain as big day is washed out
Ashley Ball digs into the archives to remember Yorkshire Cricket Club’s visit to Darfield… DEATH, taxes and the English rain ruining a good party. These are the only certainties in life. The latter struck in April 1981 when Darfield Cricket Club hosted Yorkshire County Cricket Club to celebrate the opening of their new pavilion. Unfortunately the weather put a bit of a dampener on things. As the Chronicle reported at...
Totty Cup’s history celebrated in new book Image
Totty Cup’s history celebrated in new book
A CENTURY of a local football competition has been reviewed and celebrated in a new book. The Totty Cup: A Century of Schools Football in the Don and Dearne area has been produced by co-authors Steven Penny and Chris Brook. It’s a follow-up to the successful book about the adult football competition, The Montagu Cup. The Totty Cup, originally donated by Goldthorpe cinema owner Russell Totty, celebrated its centenary earlier in 2023. The competition is...
TRUE CRIME HISTORY: Yorkshire's Murderous Women
Some of the most notorious cases of women being tried for wilful murder in English history involve moral beliefs and ideologies of power that are impossible to accept today. Something profound in the human mind and in the sense of moral community feels an extraordinary revulsion at the thought of a woman taking a life. Until 1827, a woman who took the life of her husband was committing, not murder, but petty treason. Until 1790,...
Holgate Heroes: Jack Wreakes
Another installment in our 'Holgate Heroes' series. Jack Wreakes Jack Wreakes in flightsuit FLIGHT navigator Jack Wreakes suffered a mysterious death when the wing of his plane suddenly fell off during what should have been a routine exercise. Raised on Wilthorpe Avenue in town centre, Jack was the only son of Fred and Doris Wreakes and comes from a family of military men. His father was a veteran of World...
Holgate Heroes: Raymond Bruck
Another installment in our 'Holgate Heroes' series. Raymond Bruck Raymond Bruck A FORMER police officer and the apple of his sisters’ eyes, Raymond Athol Bruck made the most of his 22 years of life. Born in the third quarter of 1922 to parents Albert Edward Bruck and his first wife Beatrice Virginia, Raymond was the younger brother to five sisters. Despite the nine years between him and his youngest sister, he was...
Holgate Heroes: Remembering Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice Image
Holgate Heroes: Remembering Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
When it comes to loss of life in service to one’s country, one Barnsley school paid far more dearly than any other. During World War Two, 98 pupils from Barnsley Holgate Grammar School tragically lost their lives when they went to fight for their country. The names of the former pupils who made the ultimate sacrifice were unveiled on an impressive memorial board within the school on Armistice Day 1948 and have been solemnly...
Holgate Heroes: Christian James Stubbs
The final installment in our 'Holgate Heroes' series. Christian James Stubbs A REVEREND who served on the flagship of the home fleet may have found the horrors of war too much to handle. Reverend Christian James Stubbs was born in Stairfoot in the third quarter of 1911 and was a well respected man throughout his life. His keen theological mind was often noticed by those close to him, especially those he served...
Holgate Heroes: Walter Leslie James
Another installment in our 'Holgate Heroes' series. Walter Leslie James A MEMBER of an elite Reconnaissance Corps left his wife a teenage widow when he served on the front lines. Walter Leslie James – known as Leslie – was born in Barnsley during the second quarter of 1924 and was the eldest of five children. Originally attending Higham Church of England School, he left to become a pupil of Holgate Grammar School...
Holgate Heroes: Harold Clegg
Another installment in our 'Holgate Heroes' series. Harold Clegg Harold Clegg in the Chronicle 1942 JAPANESE prisoner of war Harold Creighton Clegg’s mother is said to have taken to bed and never left after the death of her only son. Harold, a First Class Aircraftman, was born in Barnsley in 1920 and the only child of bus driver Thomas Arthur Clegg and his wife Jane Clegg, who was 37 when she...
Memories of Barnsley: Revisiting issue six, Don Booker writes of Sir Michael Parkinson and his early days as a Chronicle Reporter Image
Memories of Barnsley: Revisiting issue six, Don Booker writes of Sir Michael Parkinson and his early days as a Chronicle Reporter
Following the recent death of Sir Michael Parkinson, we revisit our Memories of Barnsley magazine from 2008 and his early days as a reporter working on the Barnsley Chronicle. The late Don Booker contributed this piece to the sixth issue of the magazine. Cudworth-born Michael Parkinson, Britain's best-ever television interviewer, was Knighted in the Queen's New Year Honours List. The son of a Grimethorpe miner, his career started by recording news in...
Memories of Barnsley: Ken Gambles looks back at his trainspotting days as a youngster in Cudworth Image
Memories of Barnsley: Ken Gambles looks back at his trainspotting days as a youngster in Cudworth
This article was first featured in our Memories of Barnsley magazine back in 2021 Ken Gambles looks back at his trainspotting days as a youngster brought up in Cudworth… Those days were indeed idyllic. From the age of six in 1956 until I began Barnsley Grammar School in 1960 at eleven, most of my time during the holidays was spent either sitting on a wall by the approach road to the north of Cudworth Station...
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Memories of Barnsley: From Barnsley Basin to Smithies Lane
There are still signs of life on the former canals around Barnsley. In this article from issue 26 of our sister magazine, Memories of Barnsley, Mark Green followed the trail of the story. From Barnsley Basin to Smithies Lane It all began in July 1792 when the Aire & Calder Navigation Company instructed its manager, William Martin, to obtain a plan and estimate for the building of a canal from Barnsley to Wakefield. ...
From the Archives: Here’s what made the news in….August 1976
A NATIVE American has travelled 3,000 miles – to take a close look at the sea. Mrs Stella Stewart, a member of the Chipewa band, her husband, James, a former Wombwell man, and two children, are staying in Ings Road, Wombwell. The family live at Fort McMurray, Alberta, Stella and the children, Rosita (four), and Ivan (two), have never seen the sea — apart from a bird’s eye view from a jumbo jet en...
Balls went brighter for Wimbledon back in 1996
As the tennis heats up at Wimbledon we go back into our archives to trace the link between the world-famous tournament and Barnsley. Many readers will know about the link between the town and the prestigious tournament, held every July. The balls for the tournament were made by a dedicated staff at a factory on Doncaster Road for years. As of 1996, the order for the tournament was 34,000. But there was...
From the archives: Memories of cycling's good old days as the Tour de France gets underway Image
From the archives: Memories of cycling's good old days as the Tour de France gets underway
THE death of pioneering cyclist Brian Robinson last year triggered a host of memories for fans of the sport. Brian was the first Brit to win a stage at the Tour de France when he did so in 1958. He followed it up with another stage win a year later and went on to win the famed Dauphine race in 1961. Though from over the border in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, Brian certainly mixed in...
From the archives: Lyons Bakery Barnsley, the biggest bakery in the world? Image
From the archives: Lyons Bakery Barnsley, the biggest bakery in the world?
EXCITEMENT was building back in early May of 1972 when plans for the world’s biggest bakery, to be built in Carlton, started to take proper shape. The Chronicle reported on the early planning stages of the Lyons’ bakery, which was set to cost a whopping £15m and provide work for up to 1,750 people. It was predicted the development, which would be built with potential further expansion in mind, would take four years...
TRUE CRIME HISTORY: More Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in Barnsley
Barnsley’s notoriety has been so bad - it’s filled two books! Below is a tale from the second instalment in the series, More Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Barnsley, which is available to buy here… This shocking story ended at the gallows and involved a woman and her alleged lover killing her husband in Wombwell way back in 1903. There was also a lengthy manhunt to North Yorkshire for one of the accused. ...
From the archives: A housewarming party with the flying Doctor
As housewarming parties go… Doctor Peter Lansley threw one to really remember. Way back in August 1975 we featured the unusual arrival of the doctor and his pals Nick Owen, Ron O’Brian and John Hitchen in Staincross. The quartet wanted to mark the moving in at the home off Limes Close in style and as members of the Grindale Parachute Club had the perfect solution. Peter said: “I decided to make a...
From the Archives: Why Wimbledon was not Wimbledon without Barnsley
The start of the tennis at Wimbledon will always trigger memories for Barnsley people. And it’s true what they used to say. Wimbledon wouldn’t be Wimbledon without Barnsley. For many years the Dunlop Slazengers factory in Measborough Dike was completely in control of the production of balls for the esteemed tournament. Many Barnsley people will have worked in the various departments over the years. We dug back into our archives to...
From the archives: Penistone Golf Club Image
From the archives: Penistone Golf Club
PENISTONE historian, the late and well-known Mr J W Penistone, once asked readers in an edition of the old Penistone Almanac ‘was there ever a Penistone Golf Club?’. Yes, there was, and on July 29, 1967 he wrote a newspaper article for the Barnsley Chronicle about Royd Moor Golf Club. The club was formed in 1905, with a nine-hole course at Royd Moor Farm, Thurlstone. There was no need for any man-made bunkers,...
True Crime History: Resentment and poisoning backfired Image
True Crime History: Resentment and poisoning backfired
The incredible tale of resentment and attempted murder is just one of the many stories detailed in the book 19th Century Barnsley Murder, available here. It may read like an Agatha Christie special but was not concocted by a creative novelist and is actually part of the huge local true crime archive which has been documented in a number of titles. Below is an extract from the book: Sometimes it is unclear...
Looking back: Yoxall family name is explored
CHRONICLE readers have helped to provide information for a family history website dedicated to one particular surname. Those called Yoxall can now research their family history thanks to 20 years of work. Several years ago, James Wignall, from Lancashire, wrote a letter to the Chronicle looking for help from people whose last name was Yoxall – which crops up in his own family tree. James once again wants to appeal to Barnsley...
True Crime History: The Monk Bretton Murder
The chilling murder of little Aileen Ethel Dona Burke sent shockwaves across Monk Bretton in 1888. Alcoholism was at the core of the problems the seemingly happy and well-respected Burke family endured and it led to the shocking killing at the Norman Inn. Below is the story from the book 19th Century Barnsley Murders which features many more shocking crimes. Monk Bretton is a peaceful little village that has been occupied since...
Magnum P.I star a big fan of Barnsley chef’s chocolate cake
FOLLOWING the recent revelations about Tom Selleck’s family history in Barnsley, we dug deep into our archives to find the original story about the couple who took up posts with the former Magnum P.I superstar. John and Lynn Daykin, who are now divorced, were hired by the Selleck’s in the early 1990s and worked as his ranch manager and personal chef. The former police officers from Monk Bretton had held similar roles at...
Trip across the pond for bell ringers Image
Trip across the pond for bell ringers
THURLSTONE Handbell Ringers were formed in 1855. The minutes of Thurlstone School Board stated that the bell ringers should always have a room in which to rehearse. They won the Yorkshire Handbell Ringers Association Shield and Cup in 1930, 1931 and 1932 and first prize in the English Championships of 1930. Winners of the English Championships in 1930. Back row- L. Sykes, C. Mitchell, N. Crossland, M. Walshaw, E. Wood. Front row- T. Sykes,...
The great mascot confusion - cleared up Image
The great mascot confusion - cleared up
PEOPLE of a certain age will have heard tales of the original Barnsley FC mascot... and it’s not Toby Tyke. Amos Riley was the first recognised mascot at Oakwell and he was more than happy to make an ass of himself. Confusion has lingered for many years over whether Amos was the man or the donkey in the double act but Kevin Langley wanted to clear it up once and for all. He said:...
Memories of Barnsley: Pioneering takeover by factory workers
We take a look back at a historic moment in the town when Raven of Barnsley Ltd became the first workers’ co-operative. This is a piece taken from issue ten of the popular Memories of Barnsley magazine. (Back issues available here). Raven of Barnsley Limited made history when they became the first workers’ co-operative in the town. The Pond Street factory, the home of a former velvet works, had earlier gone through a...
Photos of ‘Old Barnsley’ are unearthed
A recent dig around in one of our storage rooms has yielded these old sketches of areas around Barnsley. They were originally printed in the Chronicle back in 1932 and are from the Old Barnsley Collection put together by Kenneth Leslie Graham. The pictures are taken from around the Barnsley area and will be familiar to some of our readers. You can view these photo's below individually, or watch them as a video here. ...
From the archives: Barnsley's 19th Century nail makers
IN THE medieval period, nails were hand made in small rural workshops next to workers’ cottages. Such an industry thrived in the village of Hoylandswaine, where by the 18th century, nail makers, if not full-time, would have fitted in forging work in between working in the fields. Records show that by 1806, there were around 60 nail makers in Hoylandswaine, increasing to 90 in 1851. But by 1861, this figure had fallen to 53, and...
From the archives - free download of Barnsley Chronicle - December 2009 Image
From the archives - free download of Barnsley Chronicle - December 2009
We have started re-visiting past editions from our extensive archives at the Chronicle and wanted to share a couple with you. The third one is from this time of year but in 2009 and it is free to download here: https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/storage/pdf/bc-11-12-2009.pdf (51.2 MB) Please note the file size before you download. Keep visiting the Chronicle website for the next instalment.
From the archives - free download of Barnsley Chronicle - December 1950 Image
From the archives - free download of Barnsley Chronicle - December 1950
We have started re-visiting past editions from our extensive archives at the Chronicle and wanted to share a couple with you.The second one is from this time of year but in 1950 and it is free to download here: https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/storage/pdf/bc-16-12-1950.pdf (16.2 MB) Please note the file size before you download.Keep visiting the Chronicle website for the next instalment. We really hope you enjoy going back in time and think you will be a big fan of the adverts...
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From the archives - free download of Barnsley Chronicle - December 1980
We have started re-visiting past editions from our extensive archives at the Chronicle and wanted to share a couple with you. The first one is from this time of year but in 1980 and it is free to download here: https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/storage/pdf/bc-12-12-1980.pdf (64.4 MB) Please note the file size before you download. Keep visiting the Chronicle website for the next instalment. We really hope you enjoy going back in time and think you will be a big...
Looking back at Penistone Operatic Society’s Beginnings
PENISTONE has always enjoyed a great community spirit and in the past had a host of theatrical and choral groups to entertain the community. Sadly, like many events, television, videos and digital devices took their toll on not just audiences but people willing or inclined to give time and talent for the benefit of the community. The first ever pay performed by Penistone Players Penistone Operatic Society’s musicals complete with orchestra...
History group appeals for new members
MEMBERS of a group who have recorded Cudworth’s history for more than two decades are on the lookout for more people to join. Cudworth History Group was formed 25 years ago by members who hoped to find out more about the mining village’s past. The group quickly grew and members have gone on to produce books about their findings. Members were also instrumental in adding names to Cudworth’s war memorial at St John’s Church -...
Town's history comes to the surface Image
Town's history comes to the surface
WORK is ongoing to ensure the history of the town keeps coming to the surface. In the final part of the archaelogical series, Ashley Ball speaks to experts about recent discoveries, getting the public involved and future projects. Elsecar’s industrial past is likely to keep archaeologists busy for some time while also affording local people the chance to get up close to their ancestors and heritage. The rich history in the village has been closer...
Permanent home for town's historic artefacts  Image
Permanent home for town's historic artefacts
SOME of what lies beneath us has been brought into the light and since the opening of Experience Barnsley in 2013, it is on show where it belongs. In part four of the series, Ashley Ball looks at how closely we can see into the town’s long history. Without a dedicated home for archaeological finds, a lot of Barnsley’s discoveries were taken away from where they had laid undisturbed for centuries. That all changed with...
Chart topping performances at the Civic - looking back to 1974
THE prospect of chart-toppers playing a concert in Barnsley seems pretty far-fetched nowadays. But for music fans back in 1974, it was a regular occurrence with the biggest acts of the day regularly taking centre stage at the Civic Hall. There were regular appearances from artists in the top ten with The Bay City Rollers, Suzi Quatro, Cockey Rebel, Mud and Showaddywaddy all featuring. It was the Scottish heartthrobs who caused the biggest stir and...
Barnsley ferret-legger wows Aussies on TV chat show
THE art of ferret-legging may be from a bygone age but it once earned a Barnsley man fame... and a trip to Australia. Back in early 1985, the famed ferret-legger Reg Mellor, proved a major hit Down Under with his unusual skill. Reg, who was 74 at the time and living on Honeywell Street, appeared on the Mike Walsh Show on Australian TV where he wowed the host and audience alike by putting three ferrets...
History society help residents dig a little deeper into their roots
OF the many pastimes people have taken up during lockdown, genealogy has been at the top of the tree. Ashley Ball finds out more from the Barnsley Family History Society. FOR people researching their ancestral roots in Barnsley, the town’s family history society is often a port of call. Membership with the 35-year-old society during lockdown has risen significantly to 250 members as people have gone online and in some cases hit proverbial brick walls....
Andrew's potty discovery leads to more digging Image
Andrew's potty discovery leads to more digging
STUMBLING upon Roman-era pottery in his garden set Andrew Allen on a journey of discovery. In the third instalment in a series of features unearthing the past, Ashley Ball digs deeper into almost 2,000 years of local history. Luckily Andrew knew the value of what he was digging up. He is thankful that his own thriftiness resulted in him deciding to bury rubble rather than get a skip. That is when he quickly began to...
Darfield's links to 'Eternal City' explored Image
Darfield's links to 'Eternal City' explored
ROMAN coins were once so prevalent in Darfield that kids used to trade them for conkers. In his latest instalment, Ashley Ball speaks to local historian Martyn Johnson to dig up even more on the village’s strong links to the ‘Eternal City’.   The Roman empire was vast, fearsome and mighty - and it was partially powered by an inland port... in Barnsley. It has to, at this stage, be a theory but local historian Martyn...