Welcome to our opinons page, here you will find columns from well known locals such as Chrissy Dawson, Dan Jarvis, Ian McMillan, Milly Johnson and Stephanie Peacock.

As always we like to encourage our readers to get in touch with issues that matter to them.

If you'd like to send in a letter to our Editor based on something you have read today, or on another topic you can do so via email here.

Milly Johnson (Credit - Roth Read Photography)

Milly Johnson: 22.09.23

Back in 2003, Barbara Streisand tried to stop the California Coastal Records Project showing photos of her cliff-top house in Malibu to demonstrate coastal erosion. Her attempts to suppress information in order not to draw attention to it had the reverse effect of drawing lots of attention to it because the secrecy fuelled the public’s need to know why information was being kept from them. This gave rise to the term ‘The Streisand Effect’...

Dan Jarvis: 22.09.23

When I go out door-knocking in Barnsley, the issue of immigration often comes up, and I know many people locally have legitimate concerns about our immigration system, which need to be addressed. Concerns that, as Shadow Security Minister, I share. From wave machines to jet ski patrols, it’s hard to keep track of all the gimmicks the Government have floated to get a grip of the small boat crisis, meanwhile the number of people...

Milly Johnson: 15.09.23

A big thank you to everyone who attended the 3rd annual Ladies Lunch in aid of Barnsley Youth Choir and the LimbBo Foundation recently at the Holiday Inn in Dodworth. There were 175 ladies in attendance (if you can still say that) and they raised a whopping £5000 which is lovely lump of generosity isn’t it. Stainborough Rotary Club would like to tell everyone who came just how chuffed they are with that. I saw...

Chrissy Dawson: 22.09.2023

I do find as I’m getting older that I really am getting quite annoyed at certain things, and some people are really getting on my nerves and to be honest I haven’t many left. Take the other day for example. We went into a café. I shan’t mention which one for a coffee and a slice of toast. Of course, no one seems to just do one slice of toast anymore, you must have...

Ian McMillan: 15.09.23

The other day I got a message from my mate Jimmy. It read ‘did I see you picking blackberries earlier on?’ You sure did, Jimmy, you sure did. That must have been you tooting your horn the other night as I worked my way steadily up the top road, filling my bread bag with gorgeous pies-in-waiting. It's funny how not every year is a great year for wild fruit. I don’t remember 2022 being...

Stephanie Peacock: 15.09.23

Over the past few weeks, the possible presence of RAAC concrete in secondary and primary schools across the country has caused concern. We know of almost 150 schools so far that are affected, leaving school leaders confused, teachers uncertain, parents having to find unexpected childcare at short notice. Though none of the schools affected are currently in Barnsley, and I sincerely hope this remains the case, there are still more schools built using...

Dan Jarvis: 08.09.23

This week I was proud to accept Keir Starmer’s invitation to serve as the Shadow Security Minister on the Labour frontbench in Parliament. As we prepare for a general election next year, I’m pleased to have been chosen, alongside some excellent colleagues to play my part in a strong team, ready to deliver the change our country so desperately needs. There is nothing more important than the security of our nation, and I...

Milly Johnson: 01.09.23

My friend’s son has just done his A levels in a school in Liverpool where there was one science teacher for the whole school covering GSCEs and A levels – ONE. Because her son wants to do medicine, he has had more or less to teach himself the course thanks to YouTube videos and I think we can all agree some subjects are easier self-taught than others. He got a B, not the A he...

Stephanie Peacock: 01.09.23

Between 2012 and 2022, Yorkshire and the Humber have seen a 43% decrease in the number of bank and building society branches in the area. In Barnsley East, Barclays announced the closure of its Hoyland bank branch earlier this year. I know that this has been a real concern to many local people and followed a string of other physical bank branch closures, such as Yorkshire Bank in Wombwell, as well as a...

Dan Jarvis: 25.08.23

Across the borough over the last two weeks, students have received their A-level, T-level, B-tec, and GCSE results. Results days are always a time of great anticipation and trepidation following years of hard work. An agonising wait to open the dreaded envelope. Relief if results have gone the way you hope; a mad dash through back-up choices if they have not. Hasty preparations for a night of celebration or commiserations! It’s always a whirlwind of...

Chrissy Dawson: 25.08.23

I don’t mind admitting that I’d got myself into a right bit of a flap. In other words, I’d got my knickers in a right twist, in fact no one’s knickers could have been twisted more than mine were. I was so worried about the tea, coffee and cake event. So much hard work had been put into it. So many kind donations were made, and all I could think was. What if no...

Milly Johnson: 08.09.23

The sight of a very tearful Dickie Bird on TV talking about the loss of his friend Michael Parkinson had me in tears myself. Dickie and Michael went back a lot of years. No idea why some people in town seem so ready to knock our famous Barnsley folk. Don’t we in Barnsley get enough of that from outside without doing it to our own? Michael ‘did nowt for Barnsley’ said someone. Did he...

Ian McMillan: 01.09.23

Many decades ago, when I first started writing poems, the thrill of seeing my name in print was immense and overwhelming. It meant that somebody who wasn’t my mother had read my verses and liked them and, more than that, thought they were good enough to print. I recall a magazine called The Barnsley Metropolitan that was around in the mid-1970’s that published some of my early work and, although I never saw anybody on...

Chrissy Dawson: 01.09.23

Firstly, I shall begin by telling you just how ridiculously petrified I am of certain things. 1. Deep water. I can swim, but I refuse to go into any water where I can’t stand up. and I need to know that if I did accidently wander, could I grab something. I have even made old ladies and small children go around me once, when I realised at the local swimming pool that I couldn’t...

Milly Johnson: 25.08.23

I am indebted to Neil at Best Behaviour K9 dog training for giving me a life which sounds like an exaggeration but it’s not. I took on a rescue dog and I can understand why so many dogs are returned to the shelters within a few weeks. ‘Buyers remorse’ can set in when you find out just how much the dog that is supposed to fit seamlessly in with you, doesn’t. Don’t get me...

Milly Johnson: 18.08.23

Congratulations to my friend Chrissie Yates on the publication of her first book ‘When Evil Walks Amongst Us’. I know that Chrissie has long wanted to see her name on the front cover of a book and I can imagine the thrill. But if you know Chrissie who is petite and glamorous, you wouldn’t have thought she’d have it in her to write such a dark (but thrilling) book. I started it in the bath...

Ian McMillan: 18.08.23

Just so you know, I’m writing this before the Barnsley League One game against Peterborough but after the League One games against Port Vale and Bristol Rovers. This column is suspended in time like a Tardis with a home kit on. My six-year-old grandson Noah is football crazy, training and playing with the Pinfold Pumas and taking every opportunity he can to dazzle me with his stepovers in the garden as he makes his way...

Dan Jarvis: 11.08.23

WITH the summer holidays in full swing, and despite the weather, I hope these next few weeks will offer a welcome break for folk to spend quality time together. I know for many families August means balancing childcare with work and keeping the kids entertained. Fortunately, there are lots of affordable events and activities taking place on our doorstep for all to enjoy. To the delight of many (and the dismay of a few)...

Chrissy Dawson: 11.08.23

FOR the very first time, I am going to do a tea and cake event to raise money for breast cancer research. I think that it was the fact that I’m hearing of more and more women – and men – being diagnosed with breast cancer that made me finally decide that this is the year I had to do something myself instead of ‘just’ donating, although donating is what it’s all about. After...

Ian McMillan: 04.08.23

EACH Thursday from September to July, I go to Salford to record my Radio 3 show The Verb. I used to catch a bus into Barnsley to get the train but now there’s no bus that will get me there in time so I get a taxi and then catch the train. I get to the station and check the train times: ah, the 0702 to Huddersfield is on time, as is the 0645...

Stephanie Peacock: 04.08.23

THE summer months mark the end of the school year, bringing with them excitement for many children and young people in Barnsley as they look forward to a well-deserved break after a year of learning. For some, this means having finished school or college exams, and looking forward to finding out results, and what the next important step in their life will be. However, for parents, summer holidays can be a time of anxiety,...

Stephanie Peacock: 18.08.23

During the cost of living crisis, one of the most significant pressures on household budgets is the price of fuel. Whilst this is a huge expense for people across the country, I have recently noticed that petrol prices in Barnsley are regularly around three pence per litre higher than in neighbouring areas such as Wakefield or Kirklees. Many people have contacted me to say that they regularly travel out of the area to...

Milly Johnson: 11.08.23

SO WHERE do you stand on Cakegate then? If you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, then let me enlighten you. A small bakery in Keighley got a request from a party planner asking for a cake for a ‘well known celebrity’ for their 40th birthday, a smaller cake for her husband and a hundred cupcakes. Payment would be made in the form of posts on social media (there’s no mention of...

Milly Johnson: 04.08.23

JUST when you think the world has gone madder than mad, I read in the papers this week that a man who was wrongly convicted of a rape charge and spent 17 years in prison (more than if he had admitted he was guilty, which he wasn’t so he didn’t admit it obviously) might have to pay 17 years’ worth of board and lodging charges to the prison service if he receives compensation. What?...

Dan Jarvis: 28.07.23

There’s an institution in our town that’s older than the Victorian Arcade, Oakwell, or even The Civic –Barnsley Station rail ticket office! Whilst the building might have changed a few times since 1850, generations of passengers have bought tickets from a staffed booth. However, if the government gets its way, the shutters will come down permanently after 173 years. Barnsley is one of nearly 1,000 rail ticket offices across the country earmarked for closure, to...

Chrissy Dawson: 28.07.23

I just love the seaside, especially Bridlington. The smell of candyfloss, fish and chips and of course the sea. It all takes me back to when I was a kid. Back then most families had a fortnight away on holiday once a year. Me, my brother, sister, mum and dad stayed in the same small chalet every year. Back then families didn’t have holidays like they do now, and I didn’t know anyone who...

Milly Johnson: 28.07.23

I was beyond gutted to hear the news last week that my old friend Mel Dyke had died. I didn’t think it was possible our ‘Mrs Barnsley’ would ever leave the planet, but that’s what happens with some people, you automatically presume they will go on forever and you hope somehow that they will and then it’s a shock to realise they aren’t immortal. I never saw her looking less than a duchess...

Ian McMillan: 21.07.23

I was in a café in the North East the other day, not far from Newcastle, that thriving and exciting city. I ordered an espresso and when it arrived, in its beautiful little white cup that clinked on its beautiful little white saucer, the woman behind the counter said ‘Is that all you get? It doesn’t seem like very much!’ and it was then that I realised that Barnsley was the thriving and exciting place...

Dan Jarvis 14.07.23

Barnsley is a brilliant place to live, work, and raise a family. Our town centre is flourishing and bucking the national trend, and our Council has twice been recognised Council of the Year 2023. However, like all post-industrial towns across the UK, we face deep-rooted structural challenges that mean residents are about 12% more likely to be out of work than the national average. We know that currently there’s around 6000 people out...

Chrissy Dawson 14.07.23

We were so looking forward to a holiday, as we hadn’t been abroad for a few years. It was an early morning flight, so all the cases were packed into the boot of the car the night before. Obviously, me being me I had to go and re-check that I had packed certain things like chargers etc. several times to be precise. We were up bright and early the next day and set off...

Stephanie Peacock: 07.07.23

This week marked the 75th anniversary of the NHS. There have been events taking place across the country to show our appreciation for this excellent institution and its remarkable resilience. Over the past 75 years, the NHS has been central to many scientific and public health breakthroughs, including the development of various widespread vaccination programmes, the introduction of routine cancer screenings, and the invention of medical technology such as CT and MRI scanners. ...

Stephanie Peacock: 21.07.23

Around 30,000 people experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest annually. Tragically, fewer than one in ten of them will survive, meaning that around 27,000 people die from cardiac arrests each year. In Yorkshire, survival rates are even worse, with only one in thirteen people survival an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and in our region alone, approximately 3,000 people die each year in this way. These are shocking statistics, and to lose a loved...

Milly Johnson: 21.07.23

Dear Webuyanycar.com, down Harborough Hills. You are always busy so people book an appointment online. But what’s the point of that when you also take drop in appointments. Friends of ours took their car down at their allotted time to find themselves in a very long queue of people, none of whom had appointments but who had just dropped in on the off-chance. I think your system might need a bit of an MOT. I...

Milly Johnson

I will not be by myself grieving the loss of Marks and Spencer in town when it closes in November. If I’m in Barnsley centre I always pop in for an impulse buy and get my other half his favourite veggie wrap. I salivate over the desserts trying not to pop anything into the basket, stock up on the baby sprouts when they’re in season, check out the toiletries and the gifts at Christmas,...

Dan Jarvis: 07.07.23

The cost of living crisis is hitting people hard in Barnsley and many will increasingly view the Government as a ship without a sail, but there’s lots locally that we can be proud and positive about. This is in no small part down to the hard work of brilliant local people and organisations who, despite hardships, are really delivering for our Town. Take Barnsley Council. They’ve recently done the double, becoming the first council...

Dan Jarvis: 30.06.23

In 1866, Barnsley’s Medical Officer, Dr Michael Sadler, wrote in the Barnsley Chronicle about sewage in our local waters posing the deadly threat of Cholera. While such diseases have been largely consigned to history, 157 years on, Dr Sadler would be shocked at the waste still in our local waterways. This is because, in 2022, Yorkshire Water pumped raw sewage into Barnsley’s rivers and streams for a staggering 13,228 hours. This stream of waste...

Ian McMillan: 30.06.23

I’m sitting still in a comfy chair. I haven’t been told to sit still bit I feel that I should. The chair is a big leather one of the sort that Bond villain might sit in to stroke a white cat before carrying out his plan to steal some nuclear warheads. I’m not used to sitting still, to be honest; I’m a bit restless, always wanting to get up and put the kettle on or...

Chrissy Dawson: 23.06.23

We’ve started to re-watch all the T.V programmes that I absolutely loved, one of them is ‘Escape to The Chateau.’ Oh, my good lord! I am totally obsessed with it. Now, for those of you who haven’t watched it, let me quickly explain. So, it’s a TV series following the lives of Dick Strawbridge who is an engineer, his designer wife Angel, their two children and Angel’s parents. It begins with Dick and Angel...

Chrissy Dawson: 16.06.23

I swear that I am the only woman in Barnsley that doesn’t enjoy clothes shopping. I can actually hear women screaming out “What kind of woman are you?” I know, I know. But it feels that it’s nothing but stress. But unfortunately needs must and I had no choice. So off I toddled, armed with bag, phone and purse. Oh. And clothing that is easy to remove without too much movement. I just can’t...

Dan Jarvis: 16.06.23

Barnsley Hospice holds a very special place in my heart and in the hearts of so many across our Town. As a local MPand as a newly appointed Patron, I have visited the Hospice many times over the years and have always been inspired by the staff and volunteers who make such a huge difference to patients and their families. We must not take them for granted. The work that Barnsley Hospice does to support...

Stephanie Peacock: 09.06.23

MAY was Mental Health Awareness month. This year’s theme was anxiety. Though anxiety is a normal emotion to experience throughout life, there are certain scenarios when it can become problematic, and cross the line into becoming a mental health problem. According to Mind, six in every 100 people are diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder every week. However, this is unlikely to be an accurate representation of incidences of anxiety, as experts believe that those experiencing.

Milly Johnson: 30.06.23

I was absolutely delighted to see a wonderful lady had been nominated for a Proud of Barnsley award in last week’s Chron. Lisa Hammond is the community champion at Tesco and I absolutely know how hard she works to help local charities with various initiatives such as the second hand book stall they hold there which yields a surprising amount of money (all book donations welcome as they change the charity every month I believe)....

Milly Johnson: 23.06.23

Milly Johnson: 16.06.23

I’ve had some rare time off. I have been working seven days a week, mostly thirteen hour days, since January on my latest book. I have no idea how these celebrities write their novels AROUND their busy lives while working, presenting, travelling, learning lines. I must ask them for tips. Anyway, I digress. The big pots outside my house have been full of weird looking weeds and triffid-like things for over a year so...

Ian McMillan: 09.06.23

I think Dr Who got it right in regards to time. It’s not a straight line, it’s a curve, it’s a loop, it’s as long as a piece of string or as short as a piece of string – and, of course, you can go back in time or forward in time as quickly or as slowly as you like. Let’s go back in time, to start with, to the day almost two weeks ago...

Milly Johnson: 09.06.23

YEARS ago there was a programme called ‘That’s Life’ which those of us of a certain age will remember. And there was a brilliant section in it where people were given the runaround so much that it was either a choice of pull their hair out, belt someone or write into Esther Rantzen in the hope that she could help. Someone I know is having that self-same runaround. For those of you who know the...

Articles