I think Barnsley's a bloody lovely place, particularly the surrounding countryside. I also really like Sheffield.
Judt been for a walk up to Wentworth Castle frum Brigg. Give me that over a siege through Sheffield anyday.
My OP was comparing the town/ city centres really. Obviously most towns/ cities have good and bad bits. I think Barnsley suffers an unfair negative image in comparison to Sheffield though. As an aside, I drove through Page Hall today. I can’t think of anywhere in Barnsley as bad as that. It’s almost as if everyone has tipped any rubbish they can find, into the street.
I live here and love the place, but I don’t walk around with my eyes closed. Yes it’s laughable when people from equally awful (or even worse) places call it a shithole, and of course it has some lovely areas and lots of great countryside, but when people talk about Barnsley that’s not the Barnsley they’re referring to. Im sure if you made an honest list of bad, average, and nice places, you’d end up with more in the bad (**** hole) category - and I mean a realistic list e.g you can’t discount Goldthorpe from bad cos it has a new housing estate at either end. Barnsley is a relatively poor northern town with a higher level of unemployment and lower than average income. It often tops (or comes close to the top in) the lists you wouldn’t want it to. It’s easy to overlook a lot of this when you’re from here - especially if you live in a ‘nicer’ area, and I agree it does get a lot of unnecessary stick, but I stand by my opinion. Of course you can disagree - and I totally respect that.
It's the stupidity of those chanting it that annoys me. Yesterday they were chanting it on the way TO the ground. If they "want to go home" on the way to the match, why bother going in the first place - w@nkers.
There's deprived areas in every single town and city across the country! It's the way it is! Think of Fulham for example, and you think of a nice part of London, great bunch of fans etc.. Very close by are certain estates/areas where it's proper rough. For what it's worth i reckon Barnsley gets a bad press. Surrounded by great countryside and the locals are well friendly. May be biased like, but I've spent at least half my life "away from home", and from my experience the majority of folk I've encountered have always been a joy!
I have the opposite opinion. If you have a small minded view (I don't mean you you, I mean you in general) then Barnsley is a **** hole because it's all you see on TV. If you look further afield and actually look at what Barnsley includes then it's an absolutely beautiful place that destroys many other towns. Sure we've got places like princess street but we've also got rolling countryside, a glassworks that is unrivaled in similar sized towns, we've got Wentworth castle and cannon hall and worsbrough reservoir and Rspb Old moor
Got agree wholeheartedly there.... Barnsley has loads to offer! But when the ol' BBC come to town they seem to hit on the stereotypes even this day and age.
Lazy journalism. That's what it is. I remember as a kid thinking wow there's so many fields and green space here compared to where my grandparents live (which isn't Barnsley). Farmers fields were within walking distance of my house. I went to school in a different village to where I lived and the main thing I remember about the area surrounding the school is the green space and how fields were in walking distance. School dinners were often spent walking around fields or playing football on one of the many nearby fields. I've moved out into my own home now (obviously) and the main thing I like about my home is the amount of green space around and how many fields are within walking distance. My parents split up and my dad lives in another part of Barnsley; the main thing I think when I visit him? Wow look how much green space there is and how many fields are within walking distance. One of my ex workmates lives in Rotherham. Where do we regularly meet up and go for a stroll and a chat? Elsecar of course. We've also done it at old moor and as lockdown was ending did the same round worsbrough mill. Not once have we met up and gone for a walk in Rotherham. These places never get featured though because it's easier to get an ex miner with no teeth to talk about the BNP in the thickest most uneducated accent they can find.
Maybe you should try Wentworth one time There are plenty of lovely places for a walk in the borough of Rotherham too! Yes, Barnsley town centre beats Rotherham’s, but that’s partly due to the fact that Rotherham has a huge retail park 5 minutes from the town centre and all the major retailers moved there, and also due to the fact that it’s much closer to Meadowhall and Sheffield. It’s like saying Barnsley is lovely and better than Rotherham because it has Cawthorne, and Rotherham is awful and worse than Barnsley because it has Eastwood. Hardly a fair comparison.
I've been to Barrow...I thought it was nice, in fact I was gobsmacked compared to what I had in my mind's eye.
It's in Barnsley, people just often don't think about it as Barnsley but it's definitely in our town.
To be fair 95% of the Borough to the west of the m1 stretching towards the Pennines is scenically amazing. Like everywhere the urban areas need some tlc but the rural areas are our best kept secret parts of the Borough where the majority only pass through on route to the airport at Manchester.
I do respectfully disagree as I can think of too many villages more than a 10 minute walk from lush countryside and I cant leave my house without hitting traffic lights to accommodate new utilities being laid for new houses. I'm not saying there aren't areas that aren't the best aesthetically but it's a stretch to say they're in the majority.
**** chant tbf. Barnsley ain’t to bad. It has its worse places like any other place but Sheffield’s worse places will be worse as it’s a major city e.g manor top. Parsons cross
Care to list the Bad ones Freddie, more bad than good ? A realistic list what does that actually mean. ? Tankersley, Thurgoland, Thurlstone, Thurnscoe Ward Green, Wilthorpe, Woolley Colliery, Wombwell, Wortley, Worsbrough
A realistic list would be a list without the rose-tinted spectacles of a local resident. ‘My’ list would be subjective and would obviously differ from others - it’s fairly obvious people will disagree. I certainly wouldn’t want to offend anyone either, that wasn’t my intention. As I’ve said already, Barnsley has some amazing countryside and some lovely areas, but the majority of those are to the west of the M1 where the area is sparsely populated. I’m not slating the town. If it was that bad I wouldn’t live here. But I think it’s naive to think it’s infinitely better than most other northern towns - that’s all.