What's your unpopular opinion about Barnsley?

I'll be honest I agree that this isn't something confined to purely Barnsley folk- I hear it lots from people from all parts of the country, I don't think it is a characteristic of Barnsley people. Its a bit like saying there's too many racists and homophobes in Barnsley. There probably is, but there probably is in every town and city throughout the UK.

 

I've highlighted some good bits. I've compared it to other towns and cities, here and in our European neighbours of contrast and what I consider beautiful, that's all.

It's not negative to say that somewhere else is more beautiful. Or a building elsewhere in another place is more stunning, elaborate or interesting.

As I say, I don't understand why its such heresy to acknowledge this.

And I can't talk something up when its not true to me. I can look at Barnsley Town Hall and admire it. Is it the most beautiful town or city hall in the UK? No. Not to me. Somebody else may say so, but its not as elaborate or grand as many. There's nothing wrong with that sentiment at all. You can say something is good or decent, but there are better, no?

 

And to add balance to my earlier post about people saying "near Sheffield" instead of Barnsley when you're chatting to localish people- having thought about it more I've heard similar from people living in Rotherham (near Sheffield) and Wakefield (near Leeds).

There are a lot of people who are a bit ashamed of where they're from and it's a shame really.

I just take the piss out of them for trying to hide it

 

Your post reminded me of Ian Nairn's film on Barnsley in the 60's which I've just rewatched. I'm loathe to comment in general on the thread as we all care passionately about the town but in our own ways and from our own experiences which can - due to this medium - be misinterpreted and/or generalised. For what it's worth I'm looking forward to my first visit to town in over 2 years next Friday

 

Sadly, there are people of such ilk all over. And sadly, some places have higher incidence rates per capita than others. I've spent more of my life in Leeds, Sheffield, Barnsley and London and visited lots of places for work and leisure.

The worst prevalence of the things you mentioned were in my home town and oddly Cirencester.

 

What an absolutely fabulous snippet of footage. Fascinating and incredible that 60 years ago, similar sentiment was being expressed.

I nearly asked the other day what was before the development of the metropolitan centre, and that answered it, pretty much nothing. I guess it poses the next question then, what was there before the open air market? Was it always open air? Did Barnsley suffer much bomb damage in the war? Did we ever have much victoriana or was little built in that period? I'm curious how its evolved and why its always been quite a disjointed centre lacking in stand out buildings. Have councils bulldozed things in the name of progress?

Thanks for posting that though, really enjoyed that footage.

 

Is the following quote negative? All in your own fair hand:

" Are people denying Barnsley is a **** hole?

All things considered I would never choose to live in Barnsley.

how many lakes fields and woods are in Barnsley town centre? if you want green within half an hour, with Kent and Sussex on your doorstep and so many lakes and rivers, worlds your oyster

just because people are used to perceiving Barnsley is some unknown haven of paradise... doesn’t mean you can’t be open minded to see that other places have more going for them.

it’s fine for your own ignorant opinion to be wrong, I completely accept that.
the food and ale really isn’t up to scratch in Barnsley, but it’s all subjective so I respect your opinion that you sadly think it is.

Barnsley fans slag off another town, yet can’t take what they throw... there’s a shocker!

My last 5 dialogues with locals I didn’t know in Barnsley have resulted in racist bigoted xenophobic views that I didn’t ask for or welcome.
There are some good people in Barnsley. There are also some vile scummy people there too.

that’s not to say such imbalance is local to Barnsley, but at this time, I’m very content keeping my returns to my home town to a handful and not increasing them."

Perhaps it is just slightly negative.

 

And just to add, he makes a comment about that "new development" which replaced the outdoor market, I got the impression he thought it was going to be a negative addition.

It's certainly changed quite a lot when you look at the flows of roads going through the precinct, but sadly once you've got rid of anything old which had character, its very hard if not impossible to put it back in.

 

What you are doing in your post is denigrating Barnsley (and Wakefield) to enhance/'prove' your political views.

 

I think there's a lot of truth in this.

I'm not aiming the following comments towards anyone here, this is a generalised view (apologies for the essay):

I think it's easy for people once they've left the town to distance themselves not just physically but psychologically/emotionally and find faults and criticize the place they've left behind (in doing so they disrespect the people that raised them). Equally, it is easy for those that never leave the town to criticize those that do, through insular views that are backed up by the collective of those who also choose not to leave. There is also a huge grey area of people that leave but keep Barnsley in their hearts and don't criticise but respect where they are from and show due respect, and those who stay who recognise that some leave and wish them well. Some also leave and come back, naturally. There are also people that leave having had bad experiences and can't look fondly on the place, by association of their experience.

I do think as @JLWBigLil points out that racism, bigotry, homophobia, ignorance etc cannot define a town, it defines a person, but it can absolutely be a product of upbringing with certain behaviours and beliefs. But I also believe every individual has the free choice of right over wrong, and to recognise that some views are hateful and nonsensical, and some are good-natured and more accepting. Case in point, I grew up alongside someone who was a casual racist and frequently used a term linked to disability to abuse people - that was his own choice. This never sat right with me, but his views weren't due to him being from Barnsley however, they were just his views, which seemed to get worse the more he repeated them. I do wonder how things would be between us now with my partner being British Asian. I hope he has had the capacity to grow and has changed his views - maybe he never will, but Barnsley has nothing to do with it. He also left the town and maintained those views after leaving.

I left the town 16 years ago last month and won't say a bad word against it. My grandparents died some years ago (not too distant past) and for a while I associated returning with pain and loss - I now look at it through misty-eyed nostalgia (in terms of family), pride in terms of how far it has come, and realism in the fact that there are elements to it that I don't like (due to individual perceptions, not the town). I have seen racism and other forms of hate all over the shop: at random on a bus in Shepherd's Bush, in Bristol where I live - perceived to be an accepting, liberal place, which it is, but with an undercurrent of opposition and hate to anyone not from Bristol; also in Poland, where my friend (not a racist or homophobe) introduced me to a group of old friends, who readily admitted they didn't like anyone other than themselves and openly criticized blacks and jews. In Krakow in the 21st century. History can only teach lessons to those willing to accept and learn from them.

Barnsley will always be the place I call home. It has good and bad people like anywhere. You are more likely to get a friendly welcome from most people than most places.

 

Sorry but leaving or not I think the idea that people from Barnsley look down on anyone who works in an office or goes to university is just wrong. I grew up with the type of friends who became drug addicts, labourers, long term unemployed, had kids young to people they weren't in relationships with etc (in other words not the type to go to university or work in an office) and can honestly say I dont remember any of them ever making comments about university in a negative way. I went to college, I didn't get any negative comments at all from them, I considered uni and didn't get any. I've pretty much never heard any negative comments about people who go to university. Since the removal of the pits the amount of office or call centre jobs (which is essentially office) has gone through the roof and again nobody looks down on anyone for that.

The other thing he mentioned about private schools, yes that's a thing. People look down on that, but so do people in Leeds or Norwich or Kent or Cornwall.

 

There’s places in Hereford that’s deprived and I don’t think his missus would live there neither , along with no so friendly people as well .
It’s not just Barnsley I think some are having a Moan about people in general and trying to compound it to being Barnsley imo .
Nothing in this thread apart from the accent generalises people from tarn apart from imo people are more friendly than In some other areas .
When my mate first went to Hereford he mainly socialised in the British Legion Club (Which is not there now and now uses the Welsh Club )
locals although friendly to his face etc weren’t as inviting in his opinion as his hometown . He said they spoke nicely to him etc but when he went socialising he didn’t seem to fit on , no one asked them to sit with them etc and to let you know he gets on brilliant with everybody always the first to speak crack a joke etc .

 

Some people also think others are taking umbrage when they defend or speak well about the town as well when they aren’t .

 

I left Barnsley for work in 1989, originally moving to Altofts & then Hyde Park, Leeds in late 1990, when my marriage broke up. I was working for Yorkshire Bank at the time & did until 1996, combining it with playing in various bands. The last one had moderate success, but not enough to give up the day job.

Running a DJ agency from Barnsley would be hard & I now live in a lovely flat in Headingley overlooking Meanwood Ridge. I've lived within about 1 & a half miles radius in three places since the early 90's.

I wouldn't rule out moving back to Barnsley in my latter years. Hard to say TBH. I love the town & the people, it just isn't a hub for music like Leeds is & the logistics would be hard at the moment.

 

This a 5 minute drive from my house in Barnsley...



This is a 5 minute walk from my house...



What a sh1thole...

 

I'd like to comment on this thread. But coming from Birdwell I can't.

 

We've all got our experiences though haven't we? And we make our perceptions of people, places, things accordingly. I've never really experienced this friendliness. I'm not trying to be obtuse or anything here, but I just haven't. Maybe its in particular parts of Barnsley, or a generation, or you have to have lived in a street for so long or maybe I'm mistaking it for something else. Certainly neighbours to my Mum have never been seen as friendly, quite the opposite really.

I've seen people talking at each other without listening. I've seen people be rude and aggressive. I've seen people absolutely scream and swear at another person for a prolonged period. I witnessed not long after Brexit in the Boots in the precinct, one woman, then another denigrating foreigners while they were being served by someone from the Baltic states. I witnessed my friend at school get racially abused by parents as we walked home one day. The two instances where I've actually felt unsafe were both in Barnsley. There are so so many other examples, and plenty more I've likely forgotten.

Now let me make this really really clear, I'm not saying all people in Barnsley aren't friendly, I'm just not. And I'm not saying all are racists and xenophobes. But as some others have eloquently said, we can't tar everyone with the same brush. And that goes for suggesting all people are friendly and salt of the earth too, because that's not true either.

They are my lived experiences, as sad as it sounds and as much as none of us would would wish them to be. But those views help shape our views of a place, and when they are in the place you grew up and had your formative years, maybe they make you feel all the sadder still.

And I equally accept that there will be people who have had negative experiences and hold negative perceptions of just about every single town, village and city on this Isle of ours. Sadly thats the country we live in. Plenty of good things, plenty of bad things.

 

Can't argue with that. I ran two silent discos for Light Night Leeds a couple of weeks ago in the food court at Kirkgate Market in Leeds. The market is a fantastic building in Leeds, iconic. That said the new food hall in the Glassworks is much nicer & has better food options, other than Kirkgate having Manjit's Kitchen, which is amazing.

Credit where it is due.

 

Nobody’s saying Barnsley people or it’s area is the best but most posts to this affect are defending against other posters who are using it for agendas not solely related to Barnsley or it’s folk but to their own personal experiences which could happen in Any village,Any Town in any part of the country or world even .
Barnsley is not a shithole or the worst people in history , I know there’s Bus company’s from south uses it as a base for touring Yorkshire,