Barnsley pre EU (1970ish)

are you trying to say that Barnsley would still be like it is in the video if we'd never joined the EU?

If you are, well, I think that may just be the stupidest thing i've ever heard.

 

Chuffing hell that was depressing!

 

Nice covering of green on the railway arches.

 

You haven’t heard anything,,,,, I haven’t SAID anything!

 

I just don't know why you had to mention the EU?

My opinion is that the EU has done more good than bad for the Barnsley area, but it's been run down and built up before and during the EU membership. I wager it will be again.

 

Excellent post, John Betjeman made similar positive comments about Barnsley. Town Planners ruined the North of England, Wakefield,Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield had so many lovely buildings taken down. The problem is that in Europe, people live in their centres, in the UK it's common to live it and journey in. Until people start living in our centres, they will be soulless and desolate.

 

If he'd gone to Barnsley 10 years earlier, none of those old buildings had been demolished and Barnsley was a thriving market town. The town planners in the late 60s have a lot to answer for. Not sure why you've headed it "Pre EU" it had bugger all to do with the EU. You could have posted a picture of the town last year and headed it "Post EU" and it would have been equally depressing. The ruling parties and a crap council have more to do with the state of Barnsley than the EU.

 

I thought Betjamen was more bothered about railway architecture.I wonder what Betjamen would have made of the demolition of the Courthouse Station? and Halifax railway Station?

 

It was the concrete revolution and the governments back then taking bungs off construction engineers. It coincided with an influx in cars entering the country and motorways being built. A lot of palms were greased back then.

 

aye, its deffo pre EU,

pits,foundrys,engineering,textiles,glass manufacturing,etc,

 

I love this guy. So honest, and he cares.

"I like Barnsley, but I wish it didn't look so much of a dump"

 

John Poulson was the architec that championed poured concrete construction as the way foreward. Sent down for bribery, too late to save a lot of towns from ugliness.

 

Warning. This is what happens when you allow undertakers to make documentaries.

 

You might be mistaking pre EU for pre Margaret Thatcher. Don’t know, but might be

 

Looked like a decent pub near market.

 

The presenter of that programme is (I think) Ian Nairn, Nairn was, like John Betjeman and Nicholas Pevsner fiercely critical of the movement in the 1960's to destroy the old buildings and replace them with modern concrete structures...much of this was pushed by the corrupt architect John Poulson, who collaborated with major building companies like Bovis....they were prepared to build anything...anywhere, paying politicians of both major party's, both local and national to further this aim.
Quite a few got sent down when the story was exposed, but not before they'd buggered up the town centres of much of Britain. Without naming which....one Yorkshire town gutted it's town centre of its traditional streets and shops for Poulson and Co to build an indoor and outdoor Market, complete with multi storey car park, supermarket and parade of shops...its a hideous eyesore nowadays but unfortunately the Council can't do a thing about it due to the fact that Cllrs at the time leased it on a peppercorn rent to a US finance house who sublet it to a company based in Paris, who now charge the Council £400k to rent the market and car park back....and there's still another 50 odd years left on the lease.

 

Cross Keys I think

 

i'm most definately not pal,i was simply joining in the spirit of your thread

 

Barnsley didn't actually have many nice buildings to preserve to be honest. That was mainly down to it being a boom town when the pits were sunk. Houses were built very quickly, mainly terraces and back to back. Anyone who lived in the Quarry Street - Sheffield Road- Taylor Row area which were pulled down in the 50-60s were most likely living in slums. I certainly don't remember Barnsley being a nice town in my early years it was a dump. But what do I know I'm only 69.