Dec 10, 2022·edited Dec 10, 2022Liked by Dan Hayes
This is generally a fair article but it’s interesting that it doesn’t mention the town centre regeneration or the jobs created there. Pictures of this would have given a more balanced view: the two old ladies would have seen Matilda in the new and very fancy Cineworld in the Glassworks centre.
I’m new in town but grew up in a similar demographic in Newport South Wales. When I left school in 81 unemployment was over 1 in 10 in that town and was created by declining coal and steel industry locally.
But what I loved about Newport, I love about Barnsley- it’s a spirit of open slightly cheeky friendliness. I hope there are better times ahead for us all.
Also, re anti-depressants the journalist might read and consider Johann Hari’s book, ‘Lost Connections’.
I grew up in Staincross Barnsley and left Uni in the middle of the miners strike. There were no jobs in Barnsley so headed south, like many of my peers to find work. 32 years later I have moved back to Barnsley and it is SO much better than it was then. The Glassworks ( which you didn't mention) is a new £200m+ hub at the centre of the town; the Seam digital campus is the focus point of 250+ tech businesses in Barnsley and high-speed internet has allowed a new generation of well paid jobs to thrive in the borough. Affordable housing and the wonderful countryside is attracting a new generation of young people into the area and retaining people who grew up in the town to stay here and have families. There is a very different side to Barnsley than the one you portray.
That is not to discredit your journalism ( which I highly rate and appreciate) or belittle the very real issues than far too many people have in their lives now- it is a tragic fact of life for far too many people in the UK, but I would love to host you back in Barnsley Dan to show the other, more positive, side of this wonderful town and its friendly, open and honest people.
Firstly, Dan, well done for being open about your use of medication. If you need it, you need it. Nobody would even dream of telling people with diabetes to come off their insulin, and psychoactive medication is the same. Anyone thinking otherwise has bought into the myth of mental disorders not being "real" illnesses. (#MeToo, btw, since the birth of my last, now 40!)
Secondly, it isn't just Barnsley, is it. It's the whole country, including the rural poor who rarely get a mention as they're living in largely comfortably-off areas, so don't show up in the data. My view is that we are finally coming to the end of the material benefits of the Empire. It had to come at some point, and I think that that time is now. One could point to various hastening events, like the pandemic, and the European war in Ukraine: but anyway, it's happening. I remember the 1950s. People didn't have cars, and didn't go to cafés for coffee and carrot cake. No matter: kids could play in the street, and their mums (always mums then) drank tea and munched rich tea biscuits in each others' kitchens. We can go back to that. It's a lot of capitalism that won't survive! (See "The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressell.) Like Starbucks, the car industry, 75% of the toy industry, etc., etc.
This thoughtful article contrasts markedly with a similar visit report by BBC Look North's reporter, aired one day last week. Look North also spent time in Barnsley town centre but majored on regeneration efforts, e.g. around the Glassworks, as described in the comments posted below by Simon Biltcliffe. I am confident that both reports are accurate and impartial, but reflect different aspects of today's Barnsley because they approach the subject from different starting points. Perhaps there is more to explore about the reasons for heavier prescribing of antidepressants here than in other local towns.
I read this after returning from a family lunch in Doncaster with a lovely auntie who is the last of a large Rossington pit family on my wife’s side.
She is upbeat about life in the new Rossington. What upsets her is the impossibility of seeing her GP to talk about her personal health problems: blocked by a receptionist offering either a telephone appointment or go to A&E.
How about a similar piece on the apparent inertia of the NHS to return to a properly responsive service now most people think COVID is over?
You wrote a great perceptive, and shocking, piece there which, to my mind, resonates with places all around the UK in 2022, and now, like it or not, I can’t stop thinking about Orwell’s masterpiece, Road to Wigan Pier, and the effect his reporting of the wretched sights (he saw) had on me, and most of my class mates it should be said when we read it all those years ago. But thanks for writing it, not easy I’m sure, especially when you're witnessing the subject, and it’s effects, close at hand - excellent first account journalism - no one does it any more.
I'll echo others' comments: this is a thoughtful piece, refreshing both for its personal honesty and the time spent on location actually talking to people. The point made by some about regeneration is well made. What regeneration gives us is hope, rather than a solution. It will take rather more than new - or, preferably, reused - buildings to make either place feel like itself again, but without them the hope would be even less present. We also need to remind ourselves of the stories that we have inherited and will add to. There's a danger of thinking that with the loss of our traditional work our story has come to an end, leaving us floundering, but it has merely taken an unexpected turn. It's still the same narrative. My heritage work aims to keep the things that help us to recall the story so far, but I want to see the next chapter too.
Excellent state of the nation article Dan. Spot on chronicle of Broken Britain. I enjoy these long, in depth Tribune reads. Although sad about the contents - all the things we have lost as communities and as a region. Boosterism and bluster is no substitute for decent jobs, community and identity.
This is generally a fair article but it’s interesting that it doesn’t mention the town centre regeneration or the jobs created there. Pictures of this would have given a more balanced view: the two old ladies would have seen Matilda in the new and very fancy Cineworld in the Glassworks centre.
I’m new in town but grew up in a similar demographic in Newport South Wales. When I left school in 81 unemployment was over 1 in 10 in that town and was created by declining coal and steel industry locally.
But what I loved about Newport, I love about Barnsley- it’s a spirit of open slightly cheeky friendliness. I hope there are better times ahead for us all.
Also, re anti-depressants the journalist might read and consider Johann Hari’s book, ‘Lost Connections’.
Another brilliant article. So well written. My home town is Rotherham and I recognise many similarities with Barnsley. It’s sad.
I grew up in Staincross Barnsley and left Uni in the middle of the miners strike. There were no jobs in Barnsley so headed south, like many of my peers to find work. 32 years later I have moved back to Barnsley and it is SO much better than it was then. The Glassworks ( which you didn't mention) is a new £200m+ hub at the centre of the town; the Seam digital campus is the focus point of 250+ tech businesses in Barnsley and high-speed internet has allowed a new generation of well paid jobs to thrive in the borough. Affordable housing and the wonderful countryside is attracting a new generation of young people into the area and retaining people who grew up in the town to stay here and have families. There is a very different side to Barnsley than the one you portray.
That is not to discredit your journalism ( which I highly rate and appreciate) or belittle the very real issues than far too many people have in their lives now- it is a tragic fact of life for far too many people in the UK, but I would love to host you back in Barnsley Dan to show the other, more positive, side of this wonderful town and its friendly, open and honest people.
Firstly, Dan, well done for being open about your use of medication. If you need it, you need it. Nobody would even dream of telling people with diabetes to come off their insulin, and psychoactive medication is the same. Anyone thinking otherwise has bought into the myth of mental disorders not being "real" illnesses. (#MeToo, btw, since the birth of my last, now 40!)
Secondly, it isn't just Barnsley, is it. It's the whole country, including the rural poor who rarely get a mention as they're living in largely comfortably-off areas, so don't show up in the data. My view is that we are finally coming to the end of the material benefits of the Empire. It had to come at some point, and I think that that time is now. One could point to various hastening events, like the pandemic, and the European war in Ukraine: but anyway, it's happening. I remember the 1950s. People didn't have cars, and didn't go to cafés for coffee and carrot cake. No matter: kids could play in the street, and their mums (always mums then) drank tea and munched rich tea biscuits in each others' kitchens. We can go back to that. It's a lot of capitalism that won't survive! (See "The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressell.) Like Starbucks, the car industry, 75% of the toy industry, etc., etc.
This thoughtful article contrasts markedly with a similar visit report by BBC Look North's reporter, aired one day last week. Look North also spent time in Barnsley town centre but majored on regeneration efforts, e.g. around the Glassworks, as described in the comments posted below by Simon Biltcliffe. I am confident that both reports are accurate and impartial, but reflect different aspects of today's Barnsley because they approach the subject from different starting points. Perhaps there is more to explore about the reasons for heavier prescribing of antidepressants here than in other local towns.
Dan's article gave a real feel about Barnsley past and present! I liked your openness and self-disclosure.
I read this after returning from a family lunch in Doncaster with a lovely auntie who is the last of a large Rossington pit family on my wife’s side.
She is upbeat about life in the new Rossington. What upsets her is the impossibility of seeing her GP to talk about her personal health problems: blocked by a receptionist offering either a telephone appointment or go to A&E.
How about a similar piece on the apparent inertia of the NHS to return to a properly responsive service now most people think COVID is over?
Have a good holiday and keep the copy coming!
I do like the way the insights come from the story and the people you interview- and are not imposed by the writer.
Good journalism again from the Tribune.
Dan,
You wrote a great perceptive, and shocking, piece there which, to my mind, resonates with places all around the UK in 2022, and now, like it or not, I can’t stop thinking about Orwell’s masterpiece, Road to Wigan Pier, and the effect his reporting of the wretched sights (he saw) had on me, and most of my class mates it should be said when we read it all those years ago. But thanks for writing it, not easy I’m sure, especially when you're witnessing the subject, and it’s effects, close at hand - excellent first account journalism - no one does it any more.
I'll echo others' comments: this is a thoughtful piece, refreshing both for its personal honesty and the time spent on location actually talking to people. The point made by some about regeneration is well made. What regeneration gives us is hope, rather than a solution. It will take rather more than new - or, preferably, reused - buildings to make either place feel like itself again, but without them the hope would be even less present. We also need to remind ourselves of the stories that we have inherited and will add to. There's a danger of thinking that with the loss of our traditional work our story has come to an end, leaving us floundering, but it has merely taken an unexpected turn. It's still the same narrative. My heritage work aims to keep the things that help us to recall the story so far, but I want to see the next chapter too.
Excellent article Dan,thank you.
Excellent state of the nation article Dan. Spot on chronicle of Broken Britain. I enjoy these long, in depth Tribune reads. Although sad about the contents - all the things we have lost as communities and as a region. Boosterism and bluster is no substitute for decent jobs, community and identity.