SO Twelfth Night has come and gone, Christmas truly is over, though you can tell that with the Easter eggs in the shops. I don’t know about you lot but I’ve eaten so much rich food, the idea of coming within five foot of chocolate isn’t doing much for me.
But 2026 did start as least with a settled heart because the little dog I wrote about last week was found, and found late afternoon on New Year’s Eve, just before the fireworks which might have terrified him out in the open.
It was a bit too late to alter my column so I am totally delighted to tell you now. ‘Barnsley Barney’ as he has become known was finally located in a field and is now at home none the worse for wear apart from a tick. Not bad going after twenty-three days.
Credit where it is due because this ended up being a military operation. Barney’s plight touched a lot of people who made a massive effort to get him to safety before the weather claimed him.
Local lady Angie Fulham first spotted him loose near her house and put a call out on social media to find who he belonged to.
She went out walking, her son Matt was out on his bike, at all hours of night and day trying to catch him. Pete my other half, and I went out looking.
Then Pete’s mate Danny Parker went a-searching with him every single day.
Danny was out some nights until 4am, cycling all over Barnsley. Bev Sadler in Poggy joined them after spotting Barney on her Ring doorbell. Others bobbed in hoping to help because this whiskery little Scarlet Pimpernel was seen everywhere from Old Mill Lane to Higham.
The drone operators who came onboard – Erica Hart, Dan and ‘The Drone Ranger’ were, it has to be said, fantastic. I’m not sure if little Barney would be sitting in the warmth of Diane’s house now if Erica hadn’t found him with her device and guided Diane tentatively into the field in such a way that Barney could catch her scent.
It played out like the best sort of film because Barney ran to her, tail wagging. Job done.
My other half had put up a reward in the hope of encouraging some extra eyes, and as it was Erica Hart who found him, it was only right and proper that it went to her..
Her service – HARTSAR - is a voluntary one that relies on donations. You can find them on Facebook where you can see the sterling work they do. I hope that putting their name in the public arena will bring them some more donations because they are amazing.
We hear in the Proud of Barnsley nominations about the selfless people in our midst but I did want to name those who put themselves out over Christmas for a little doggy that needed to go home.
People traipsing over fields in the bitter cold dark when they could have been in front of the fire with a Baileys.
Special mention to St Anthony, the saint of the lost, because I was praying to him for help and I’m not even a Catholic. I’m sure he was involved.
A lovely happy ending with which to start off the new year.
Talking of dogs. The crows in our garden are totally ignoring the bird table and the pellets I’ve put out for them and instead are hoovering up stray dog nuggets.
Meanwhile, the dog knocked over the bird table to get to the pellets and I found her chomping merrily on a fat ball. I give up!
