Barnsley: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Barnsley is a large town in South Yorkshire, England, lying on the River Dearne, approximately twenty kilometres north of Sheffield. It is between junctions 36 and 37 of the M1 and has a railway station on the line from Leeds to Sheffield and a branch to Huddersfield. It is the main town in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley.

History

The name Barnsley originates from the Anglo-Saxon description 'Beorn's lay' (where a 'lay' is a clearing). The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1089.

The town is famous for coal mining, but all the mines have now closed. Barnsley is twinned with Schwabisch Gmund in Germany, and Gorlovka in Ukraine. The coat of arms for the town includes a coal miner and a glass-blower. It is now moving towards a service economy.

Alhambra Centre

Barnsley College

Locke Park

Cannon Hall Museum, Park & Gardens

Wentworth Castle & Gardens

Cooper Gallery

Famous people from Barnsley include Obadiah Walker, Joseph Locke, Joanne Harris, Joe Brammer, Michael Parkinson, Geoffrey Boycott, Brian Glover, Darren Gough, Harold Bird, Mick McCarthy, Arthur Scargill, Kate Rusby, Jenny Murray, and Sam Nixon.

Barnsley is home to a proud tradition of Brass Bands, originally created as social clubs for the mining communities. Grimethorpe Colliery Band is perhaps the best band in Britain - it rose to fame in the film Brassed Off and is now the 'artist in residence' at the Royal College of Music, London. They have performed in Hyde Park during the Last Night of the Proms.

There is a live rock music scene, which reached its height in the Britpop years, around 1997, due to its proximity to Sheffield and Manchester.

The Lamproom Theatre has its own theatrical company, and gives performances ranging from West End musicals to Shakespeare.

The 'Bard of Barnsley', Ian MacMillan, writes in local dialect, and was recently nominated for a chair of poetry at Oxford University.

Barnsley's past as a coal-mining centre came to an end with the Thatcher Government. Thatcher closed the pits abruptly and an extended period of mass unemployment began. For a time, Barnsley was classed as the 31st most deprived area of the EU, and was voted the 'worst town in Britain' by the 1998 Guinness survey. However, Barnsley received many EU grants and regeneration is now underway. Hi-tec business parks such as the Dearne Valley provide EU subsidies for startup firms; call centers have also become big business due to the friendly Barnsley accent. Recreation is a major industry, with coach parties travelling from nearby tows to access Barnsley's acclaimed nightlife. Sheffield's dry ski slope was created by former miners investing their redundancy money. Slazenger tennis balls [used at Wimbledon] were made in a Barnsley factory that was only recently bulldozed to make way for new housing.

More controversially, Barnsley is currently asking whether to rebrand itself to shed its coal-mining past. Plans are in progress to encircle the town with a 'ring of light'; a huge abstract sculpture of shapes and flourescence. There is also a scheme to remodel much of the town's architecture on a 'Tuscan hill village' theme.

The question of whether to celebrate Barnsley's coal past or to look instead to the future is epitomised by The Plinth. The Plinth was built in the centre of the town for a statue. However there has been disagreement as to what the statue should be of. Traditionalists would like to see a miner, or perhaps Arthur Scargill. Futurists would prefer to leave those images behind and choose an emblem of the EU, or of technology. The best suggestion so far seems to be a statue of famous Barnsley Cricket umpire Dickie Bird, a symbol of good will and fair play.

Barnsley F.C. football team play in the Second Division of the English league, now the Coca-Cola League Division 1 - just to confuse matters!

• Clubs:
  • Club Hedonism
  • Heaven and Hell (formerly Regents Park)

• Music venues:
  • Bodegas: live rock and heavy metal bands
  • The Theatre: britpop and indie bands
  • Panama Joe's: formerly a temperance hall now a pool hall