Barnsley Town Centre update, 30 questions.

As its been 7 months since I left Barnsley I thought I'd ask a few questions to keep me in the loop.

1. Have they finished the Aldi across from KFC?
2. Is the new Burton Road road finished yet?
3. Is that 14 story unfinished tower block still unfinished?
4. Have BMBC built anymore unnecessary glimering glass office blocks?
5. Is the markets complex still there including all those coloured boards in the windows of the Metropolitan centre?
6. Is the entrance to the bus station still blocked by smoking spitting swearing Chavs?
7. Have the finished cleaning the town hall and is the clock still stuck on Midnight/Noon?
8. How many Xmas shops selling nodding raindeers with flashing noses for 99p sprung up this Christmas?
9. What's the latest Greggs count?
10. What's the latest Wetherspoons count?
11. What's the latest Eldon Street Chippie count
12. Have they built anymore pointless buildings on the Courthouse Carpark?
13. Have the toilets in Chambers been cleaned since I left?
14. Is there still pictures of athletes in shop windows on Shambles Street?
15. Is the Plaza in Gateway Plaza still Windier than any other place on earth?
16. Is the Wellington Street road surface still 96% chewing gum?
17. Did that furniture shop on Peel Street ever close down after 3 years of Closing Down Sales
18. Has anyone managed to get served in less than 4.5 hours in Joseph Bramahs yet?
19. Has that bird been named yet, the drunk one that fell under the train?
20. Did they wash the piss poor Banksy graffiti off the new college?
21. Is there still free Wifi in the town centre, and if so can you access all the top notch porn sites?
22. Is the strip club still open on Wellington Street and if so are the birds still a bit rough?
23. Is Blah Bar still putting twigs in drinks and charging the earth?
24. Is Walkabout still shut at 10.30pm every Fri/Sat?
25. What ever happened to Wil Alsop and how much money was wasted on his stupid ideas?
26. I heard they were knocking the Gas storage thing down near Asda to build another Supermarket, is this happening and how many supermarkets does one medium sized town need?
27. Is it Sparrow Park or Spuggie Park, either way, is it still full of the dregs of society?
28. Has Summer Lane got anymore multicultural?
29. Is Barnsley getting a Starbucks, and will it serve Pies?
30. What festive garments had the Dickie Bird statue had on it this Xmas?

If you think of anything else, get it posted.

 

I started answering each question and the nthought, whats the point as you seem determined to just slag the town off. One good thing though - The Arches is still shut!

Positives.....more real ale establishments, pubs now wanting to tap into the only growth market in the pub trade. Old No 7 owned by Acorn. That seems to have prompted the White Hart and Chennels to start serving real ale. Was in both on Xmas Eve and a decent pint at reasonable prices. Chennels has been refurbished and looks decent....they also have 10 HD screens in there for the sport.
For coffee shops - we have a number of good, independent coffee shops.

99p stores etc - well, there's a global recession and Barnsley is being hit as many towns are.

 

Can't stand the last lot that had the Arches, went downhill when after we left. Better off boarded up than having some of the criminals that drunk in there around.

 

And there never was any plans to build an Aldi in tarn

if you get your facts straight you'll find that it is a Lidl. Still bairning from afar I see.

 

Yeah but is it built yet? Crumbled concrete last time I walked past in May.

 

They've been excavating the site. Think they're still doing the foundations, not too sure though.

 

Wild cats is closing down, sale on all this week

brammahs is still ****, has a few australians working there now for some reason

blah bar is on its arse apparently but still insisting in charging 4.20 for a desperardos

 

I might be visiting next year, I'd hate to look like a tourist in town.

 

I don't know what a tourist in town looks like, or is supposed to look like. Seen plenty of coaches on market days though.

 

Getting budget Supermarkets mixed up, could get me glassed that on Peel Street.

 

Thought all Supermarkets were' budget' thats the idea isn't it?

Stack em high sell em cheap. Living close to an Aldi and a Tesco, I use both and Aldi often leaves Tescos on its arse with quality and price on food and non foodstuff.

 

Re: Thought all Supermarkets were' budget' thats the idea isn't it?

Agree wi thi. I have to walk past tescos to get to my local Aldi and it never seems to be busy compared to the Aldi

 

Not yet. The reason being that they were going to build with some smaller retail outlets in the same building, however they have been in negotiations with a "major non-food retailer" that wants a larger store so the plans are having to be changed.

Nothing wrong with budget supermarkets - we use them for the missus to buy baking supplies...no difference between a bag of flour costs 40p and one costing a quid so might as well save the money.
Also find that Aldi and Lidl have some interesting continental foods in.

 

really, in hemsworth its very busy.
that busy they are making it busy after buying co-op plot.

 

Is there any other supermarkets in Hemsworth, mate?

 

iceland and home bargins fella
but when tesco was first built we had
iceland tesco co op and sumerfields

 

asda south elmsall

 

Is that farm shop place still open on the outskirts?
Had some bargains there in the past, but not been for a few years.
Does the market still open or did they close it down altogether?

 

I've been to Tesco at hemsworth a few times and while you're right it does LOOK busy when you're in there in reality it is just the size of the store that makes it look that way (take Barnsleys home fans and put them in Glanford Park and it'll look more impressive than an half empty Oakwell). Look at the carpark and it is usually largely empty. Compare that with tesco at Stairfoot, Asda in Barnsley or Tesco at Wath and you'll realise that the tesco at Hemsworth isn't really that busy at all. In fact i've never seen more than three or four checkouts manned at a time and never had to queue for more than a minute. At Asda in tarn i've queued for 10 minutes when all checkouts are in operation.

 

Aye the farm shop is still there just off the roundabout.