Barnsley is Sheffield's little brother. It is a town some fifteen miles north of Sheffield and home to 72,000 people. It was at the heart of the South Yorkshire coalfield and so it is very familiar with poverty. Barnsley people have no airs and graces. They are considered to be the salt of the earth and they call a spade a spade.
After leaving the railway station, I strolled to a large open space called Glassworks Square. I swear it wasn't there the last time I was in Barnsley town centre. My eyes were drawn to a statue on the other side of the square so I went over to investigate.
It was unveiled at the end of 2021 in memory of those who died during the coronavirus epidemic and those who helped. The seven figures include a little girl, an old man, a volunteer, a nurse, a carer, a police officer and a teacher. I thought it was brilliant but I wish I had hung around to take some better pictures of it than this one...
I was mostly in Barnsley to "bag" three specific squares for the Geograph project so I needed to move on. I had about two miles to walk. Below - market stalls in the street with the tower of Barnsley Town Hall beyond...
Not far from Fife Street there are two large public house that would have once allowed hard-working miners and others to slake their thirsts and spend big chunks of their wages. This is "The Shaw Inn" at the corner of Shaw Street and Racecommon Road...
Below, the date on the parapet tells us that this pub - "The New Longcar" was opened in 1914 - possibly replacing the old "Longcar". On the side of the pub, the Barnsley Brewery Company is still advertised...
Finally, you might be wondering about the seven foot fish at the top of this blogpost. It's a salmon! It stands outside Sheffield Midland Station and was commissioned a few years ago to mark the return of salmon to The River Don which was once terribly polluted by industry but finally, through human intervention, the fish came back.
I love [which may not be the right word] the memorial to the victims and heroes of the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about "love" in this instance. Maybe "admire" would be better.
DeleteMuch better word.
DeleteThe Micro Manager often talks about Barnsley. Royston was near by and the kids took the bus to Barnsley.
ReplyDeleteShe would hardly recognise Barnsley town centre now.
DeleteI did wonder about the fish and I am glad they are now back in the river. You could go fishing and bring back a salmon for your dinner.
ReplyDeleteThough they are back, I am sure that they are not in the numbers they used to be.
DeleteI have not been to Barnsley in 20 years, apart from a brief few hours in November 2009 for Steve's funeral and to have his ashes scattered in the Garden of Remembrance. From Wath-upon-Dearne, where Steve was born and his Mum used to live until 2003, Barnsley is easy to reach by bus, and we went a few times. In fact, it was in a Yates's Pub there that he proposed, with the words "Are we gunna get married then or what?"
ReplyDeleteOh Steve must have been such a sweet talker! "Are we gunna get married then or what?" - so romantic!
DeleteIn Australia we call a spade a s*** shovel.
ReplyDeleteBarnsley looks quite nice, helped by blue skies no doubt.
The Covid memorial is also nice, and very representative. There isn't a statue of the Prime Minister who at the worst of Covid time courageously and bravely led the nation with decency and empathy?
Longcar pub? A tram connection?
It's always good to hear of environmental improvement and cleaning up the river seems to have brought great results.
Well I am glad I introduced you to Barnsley - perhaps the true heart of England.
DeleteDid you see the Barry Hines statue YP?
ReplyDeleteNo I didn't! Silly me! I will have to go back some time.
DeleteBarnsley indoor market is one of the best in Yorkshire. It moved to a new location 3 or 4 years ago. Hope you found your way home ok after visiting all those pubs.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think that you and Lady Dunham would be bothered about markets. Don't you get all your groceries from "Waitrose"?
DeleteIt would be interesting to see more of the statues on the coronavirus memorial, taken from different angles. You'll have to go back YP!
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a tall salmon!
The salmon is not life-size Carol.
DeleteThose are certainly sculptures to raise some curiosity (as in wanting to explore further when seeing them from a distance).
ReplyDeleteWithout memorials, how quickly we will forget those who died from Covid, and the lessons learned about public health.
ReplyDeleteNice photos and I would love to look through the jigsaw puzzle vender's wares.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you know this but there are racial overtones to the phrase "call a spade a spade". At least over here. Perhaps not in England.
In response to your enquiry over the wellness of me and mine, we are all doing great. 90 year old dad is back home and has just picked up his old life, doing everything he did before! He's like machine!
ReplyDeleteI do also thank you for not correcting my grammatical error in using there's when I should have used there are. Do I get a gold star, Sir?
Next time I'm in the company of AJ Oduda I will be sure to pass on your kind regards.
I have never been to Barnsley but they do good chops!
I would have never guessed the salmon statue was that tall. We needed a Yorkshire Pudding in it for reference!
ReplyDeleteThose pubs look so large. Did they rent rooms out too? Or did the family live above?
ReplyDeleteLooks like a nice place to visit.
The New Longcar is quite an impressive looking pub. I like the paint job! I like the salmon too.
ReplyDeleteYour travels always seem to turn up something interesting.
ReplyDelete