Chronicle chief reporter JACK TOLSON takes a look back at what was making the news in July 2008.
BRICK FIRM FALLS VICTIM TO THE CREDIT CRUNCH
THE credit crunch has claimed its first victim in Barnsley after production at Hanson’s Stairfoot brickworks was halted with a loss of 76 jobs.
Workers were called to a meeting on Monday when bosses broke the bad news that the plant would stop making bricks in August.
A skeleton staff will remain on site to supervise a production run down and sell any bricks that are already in the store yard.
Hanson’s decided to mothball the Stairfoot site because of the economic downturn which has hit the construction industry hard.
It is anticipated production will not start again for at least two years.
Spokesman David Weeks said firms were simply not buying bricks.
He said: “The factory is one of two we have had to mothball this week in reaction to a massive downturn in the market for bricks.
“The house builders we rely on are laying off staff.
“We were in the position where we simply could not go on making bricks because there is no demand.
“If builders are not building, they are not buying our bricks.”
A HAPPY DAY AS THE FONZ DROPS IN
HEYYYY, children at a Barnsley school gave Henry ‘The Fonz’ Winkler the thumbs up when he dropped in this week.
The former Happy Days icon, who starred as Arthur Fonzarelli in the hit TV show, was without his famous leather jacket but still turned on the charm for the kids at Silkstone Common school.
He was at Silkstone Common to promote his series of books, Hank Zipzer The World’s Greatest Underachiever, about a young boy who suffers from dyslexia.
Henry suffered from dyslexia as a child and decided to write the book to describe some of the challenges he faced.
He said: “School was unbelievably hard for me.
“Teachers didn’t know what dyslexia was at the time so I was labelled stupid.
“Hank is a glass half full boy like I was.
“He has a problem but he learns to deal with it.
“Aside from children, the books are one of the things I’m most proud of.”
STRONG MESSAGE OF PLAY
ACTORS in a play to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the Huskar pit disaster will give their last performance tonight.
‘Profit and Loss’, by local playwright Sylvia Le Breton, has been performed to sell-out audiences at All Saints’ Church, Silkstone, all week.
It tells the story of the mining disaster in which 26 children lost their lives on this day in 1838.
Rachel Sisson, treasure of the Huskar 170, said the play still carried a relevant message.
She said: “The legacy of the play will keep alive this pivotal local historic event for future generations but also remind people of the continued exploitation of children in work world-wide.”
