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Opinions
Welcome to our opinons page, here you will find columns from well known locals such as Chrissy Dawson, Dan Jarvis MP, Ian McMillan, Milly Johnson, Stephanie Peacock MP and Jenson Young.
As always we like to encourage our readers to get in touch with issues that matter to them.
If you'd like to send in a letter to our Editor based on something you have read today, or on another topic you can do so via email here.
Gary Rowley: Memories of the day we changed our change
MONDAY February 15, 1971, was a big a day. Equally anticipated with feelings of excitement and dread, it was the day the UK underwent a much-needed monetary makeover, finally going decimal – replacing old money with a new method of remuneration, which still exists today.
Not even diehard purists could deny that the centuries old imperial currency of pounds, shillings and pence (£sd) was complicated and difficult to work with – making advanced algebra...
Milly Johnson: World Cup dreams make me glad I’m English
ARE you smitten with football fever? Isn’t it lovely to feel pride in something ‘national’.
I get so sick of feeling pressured to feel ashamed of our flag, of our country. We were in desperate want to get behind something that unites us and this is exactly what we need.
Especially as we have a Barnsley lad in the squad. I do hope that Harry Kane gets a big honour because there are...
Ronnie Steele: Hilarious and disastrous holiday where everything went wrong
IT’S 1987, I’m married with two children and I’ve never visited a hot country.
We envy friends and relatives who show-off their sun-tans and share their photographs and foreign-holiday stories.
One day I say to my family, “I’ve booked a fortnight on the French Cote d’Azur. I haven’t a lot of money, so we’re going to have to slum it. All five of us, including Grandma, will be travelling by overnight train from...
Gary Rowley: The secret second life of print...
THAT 10,000-page book I’ve written; don’t ask me why – it’s a long story.
I’ve always loved the feel of a brand spanking new paperback between my fingers, joyfully flicking back the pages like a would-be magician, experimenting with a pack of dodgy playing cards.
Everyone’s different, I know - but my personal preference has always been to instantly flex the spine, making the book more pliable, preventing pages from springing back, losing...
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Milly Johnson: Testing times are bad for the blood pressure...
MY judging criteria for anything to do with medical or council stuff is always ‘How would my parents have managed to negotiate this system?’
Well considering the experience my other half is having with the former, they wouldn’t have had a chance. My OH has all his marbles intact and is pretty tech savvy and even he was tearing his (figuratively speaking) hair out.
Once upon a time the system for getting a...
Ian McMillan: One man’s guide to getting lost in Shropshire
A COUPLE of weeks ago my wife and I went to Shropshire for a few days to have a look around the industrial archaeology of the area and to wander around a few places we’d never been before, which is always part of the fun of a holiday.
I recommend Bridgenorth and the Apley Farm Shop: a great steam railway and some lovely chutney.
When we’re away we like to buy guidebooks and...
Ronnie Steele: How Barnsley football prodigy beat addiction
I FIRST noticed Jonathan Walman (Jonny to his friends) in the playground at St Hilda’s Junior School, skilfully juggling a football with his feet, thighs and head. He was eight years old and I’d never before seen a youngster of that age with such a mastery of a football.
I recommended him to my colleague, Pete Bevis, who ran the school football team. Pete immediately picked him for the team, two years ahead of...
Dan Jarvis MP: ‘Reform have big shoes to fill at the town hall’
BARNSLEY’S politics changed last week. After decades of Labour leadership, voters chose a new direction for our borough, ending a crucial chapter in our town’s history.
For 30 years, Steve Houghton led Barnsley through good and bad times alike. No council leader anywhere else in the country can point to that kind of service; none can point to a record of change on the scale Barnsley has seen under his leadership.
When Steve first became...
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Ian McMillan: Lifelong love story with wonderful libraries...
ONE chant that we sometimes hear at Oakwell when the home crowd is silent (which has been quite often, let’s face it, in the season just gone) is: ‘Is this a library?’
This is repeated until something happens and the perceived silence of the library is broken by the sudden awarding of a penalty.
‘Is this a library?’ They sing this, astounded at their own wit and originality.
As a chant, of...
Ronnie Steele: Marking a pivotal moment in the history of Britain
IT’S 1972 and the world is suffering its usual political and economic turmoil.
The Vietnam War is going badly for the USA and, in Northern Ireland, 14 unarmed Catholic protesters are shot dead by British soldiers in what was to become known as ‘Bloody Sunday’.
Meanwhile, a young Don McLean dominates the British pop charts with ‘American Pie’ and ‘Vincent’, and on the industrial front, British mineworkers attempt to re-establish their form
Dan Jarvis MP: Ministerial visits show town is setting good example
ANOTHER column and another ministerial visit to Barnsley.
Because hot on the heels of visits from the Transport, Health, Technology, and Energy Secretaries, we’ve now welcomed the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson.
Bridget was in town to visit Base71, the state-of-the-art youth zone co-delivered by our council and its partners, and hear all about Barnsley Council’s Great Childhoods Ambition: their commitment to giving every child the best start in life.
Whether it’s pr
Ian McMillan: One spring stroll – yet I experienced 12 seasons
WE sometimes talk about having four seasons in one day and that’s truer than ever in these days of unstable climate.
The other day I experienced four seasons, maybe eight seasons, maybe at a pinch 12 seasons in one afternoon stroll.
You know what it’s been like lately; after a winter that seemed to be as grey as that old vest you used for a floorcloth the spring seemed to arrive like a...
Gary Rowley: How the West was won with a fistful of ha’pennies...
GET off your horse and drink your milk – yee-haw!
Okay, I get it. The world has moved on, and some. Kids nowadays have much more engaging things to be getting on with than playing silly cowboy games. At least in their eyes, anyway.
In the view of those who grew up with weekly televisual feasts such as Bonanza, The Virginian and High Chaparral, however, the opinion collapses as quick as a misguided varmint,...
Dan Jarvis MP: Government ministers coming here to see how things are done
‘LEADING the way’.
That’s how the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, summed up Barnsley Council’s MiCard initiative when she visited our town last week.
MiCards let under-18s travel free across South Yorkshire if their journey starts or ends in our borough. The scheme has delivered around a million journeys, helping kids to get to school, keeping bus services running, and easing congestion.
It’s no wonder the Transport Secretary has taken inspiration from Barn
Milly Johnson: When your ‘prime’ is someone else’s ‘bless her’
SO there I was in the railway station this week waiting for the Leeds train, eavesdropping on a conversation which had struck up between a young woman and a pensioner sitting on the bench on the platform because I get some great material from being a nosey sod.
‘So are you bringing up your child alone?’ asked the OAP. ‘Yes, but I’ve got my mum for support,’ says younger woman.
And then she...
Ronnie Steele: Blurred vision, clear principles: A Journey from the dunce’s seat to the workers' garden
IN OUR classroom in 1962, we were ‘streamed’ according to ‘ability’. The so-called cleverest boy sat at the front of row one, and the dumbest at the back of row four.
Our position in that strict order was determined by how we fared in a test. Unfortunately, on test day, I couldn’t read the questions because I desperately needed reading glasses. After the test, I was placed 36th in a class of 36 and...
'Forget Denis Law, I want to be James Bond when I grow up'
IN the run-up to the 70th anniversary of Parkway Cinema, joint owner, Rob Younger, has been asking for our memories. Here are some of mine.
It’s October 1962 and I’m eight years old when my family visit the Odeon to see ‘Pinocchio’. This is a rare occurrence because normally we only visit the cinema together when we are on holiday in Blackpool.
The film takes my breath away. For 90 minutes, real life...
Stephanie Peacock MP: ‘Tech Town status brings exciting opportunities’
I am delighted that Barnsley has been named the UK’s first Tech Town.
This means that our community will be at the forefront of cutting-edge AI technology, positioning Barnsley as the UK’s trailblazer for how AI can improve life for everyone.
The Tech Town status means that Barnsley will be provided with bespoke government support to secure AI adoption across the borough, bringing a host of benefits to the community, such as delivering for our...
Milly Johnson: ‘Drink the wine, eat the cake and buy the bag’
VALENTINE’S Day is coming up. Are you one of the miserable ones who says: ‘I’m not buying into all the commercialism’.
If so, you’re a miserable git. Buy the card, have a meal together, take the time to just share a bit of romance, an evening of quality time even if it’s just a Maccy D and a boxset.
And if you fancy someone but they don’t know it, send them an anonymous...
Ian McMillan: Breaking news... I am now officially an old man
I LOOK in the mirror: who’s that old gentleman staring back, his eyes a bit watery, his hair as white as a snowman’s?
Who is that pensioner with bags under his eyes the size of carry-on luggage? Who is that elderly chap with fuzz sprouting from his ears?
Why, It’s young Ian McMillan, of course. It’s Ian McMillan who thought he was a young man, or at least a middle-aged man but then...
