A plea to the people of Barnsley

Please support our town centre.

If you want a quiet drink with your partner or a friend we've got classy bars for that.
If you want something to eat we've got restaurants and bars galore.
If you want something to do we've got an industry leading, cutting edge cinema, a retro cinema that gives fills you with pride and nostalgia, we've got a state of the art bowling alley.
Want culture? We've got a great art gallery and a beautiful museum.
Want shops? We've got the glassworks with expensive shops like flannels, lower budget like to maxx and even a few independent little shops inside it now too.
Want to feel safe? Well we've got the glassworks carpark, all brightly lit, clean, monitored by CCTV and with bright airy stairwells and lifts connecting directly into the glassworks itself where there is security on an evening.

We really are lucky to have such a wonderful town centre but please, please support it. It's not just shops, it's entertainment and leisure .Gone are the days of bars where you stick to the floor and drunks hanging out all day, weve actually got places you can dress up a bit for and have a good evening out. Somewhere you're proud to take a date.

The reason I post this is because tonight at half 6 I went into town, thinking that with it being 2 weeks to Christmas it would be packed with Christmas shoppers. Sadly it wasn't, I saw hardly anyone and every single shop was locked up. Now I could criticise the shops for closing but in reality who can blame them if people aren't out?
So come on, get behind the town. Get out there and enjoy yourself in a town we can be proud of and hopefully in the future the stores will have the confidence to open later and we can shop in Barnsley instead of Sheffield or meadowhall. There's really no reason to go anywhere else these days.

Was surprised how good the parkway cinema looks now they've done the front back to how it once was.

 

Is that a new Die Hard film?

 

I genuinely thought that when I saw it but no it's two separate films.

 

It was busy yesterday

 

Maybe the trick around Christmas time then is to get the Christmas market for the whole of December. People literally drive for hours to go to Nottingham, Lincoln or Manchester do why not Barnsley?

 

Whilst I totally agree about the town. You present a really good advert.
I'm guessing monday is the slackest day of the week. Most folk out at the weekend and it not a market day. But I agree the Cinemas and Bowling ought to be attractive in the week.
I would also think most towns would be pretty quiet on Mondays in the evening at least. People only have so much money. And will go when the atmosphere is greater.

 

I've just bought my Stevenage ticket so I'll be out on 23rd.

 

I didn't expect it to be busy but was a little surprised that just 2 weeks before Christmas it was basically closed completely. Again, it's not a dig at the town or anything. I think people just need to get into the habit of using it and then they'll stay open longer. Also completely accept what you say about Monday's but I have also been to meadowhall tonight and it was rammed so the people are there. We just need to get them here which we will, it just takes time.

I took a panoramic photo from next to the kes statue outside the Alhambra showing everything from the Alhambra abd round to the other side showing down cheapside abd there genuinely isn't a single person in the shot and the only 'shop' that's open is Gary's fish and chips. I would post that one but it's a poor photo and I didn't want to highlight the negatives too much so instead I'll show a couple of nudgers bridge

 

It's like 28 days later.

 

It was packed on Saturday. Had an enjoyable mooch round with the kids and a sneaky couple of pints.

 

The Botanist:

Leffe Blonde 330ml £6.95

Morrisons:

Leffe Blonde 330 ml x 4 £6.00

No further questions, Your Honour!

 

Totally get what you’re saying but for me going out for a pint in a pub will always beat drinking at home.

 

They do but I don't know why, Christmas Markets are usually just a load of old tat.

 

Supermarket were cheaper in the 80s, 90s..... Always have been.

It depends whether or not you want to socialise.

 

Great post .. I would describe it as very busy yesterday so hopefully you dropped for a quiet period

 

Glasshouse car park was full by lunch time, busiest day they've ever had in the Glassworks.

A good attempt for a first Christmas market for a decade but a lot of room for improvement. It attracted a lot of people from out of town.

 

Absolutely not! Except with Lady Kaht, that is!

 

We had a few beers in The Botanist on Sunday (and quite a few other bars), yes it’s quite expensive but I really want to places like this to do well in Barnsley, to be fair it was packed with folk eating and drinking,

 

I hope it does well, Mr B. But I think it's not for me and Her Ladyship! More a place for you young 'uns!