Experiencing Barnsley

In Brief.

Barnsley is a market town, once surrounded by many collieries, with a grand town hall that hosts a modern local history museum, Experience Barnsley, near to on the Cooper Gallery that contains bequeathed art collections from various locals. Reflecting its status as a market town, Barnsley still hosts a thriving market, established as long ago as the 13th century.

Town Hall and Crossing Vertical sculpture.

What's Here?

Though Barnsley covers a wide area, formally containing many surrounding settlements, the main features of the town centre are close together. Though the main shopping street contains a variety of more-or-less modern buildings, which tends to provide the opportunity for some to look past their prime, in fact the centre was bustling during my weekday visit, and everyplace seems well looked after.  

The shopping area contains the popular market, and is adjacent to both a leisure area and the civic buildings. I first visited the Cooper Gallery, which was established in 1914 to host for the town the art collection of a local industrialist, several of whose artworks are still on display. The permanent collection builds on several such bequests, and it is interesting to see the different tastes of the benefactors reflected in the gallery a century on. I note that the gallery is quite small, so it won't take long to do the rounds. 

Experience Barnsley occupies a large space within the town hall, and contains many artefacts associated with different aspects of the town, including the local industries, sporting organisations and the lifestyles of the people. As many of the exhibits are fairly routine, the narrative matters, and perhaps this is more vivid to locals than to visitors.

The Victorian Arcade.

After lunch in the Victorian Arcade, which hosts various independent shops and restaurants, I headed out of town to the Elsecar Heritage Centre. Located in an industrial site that includes a former Ironworks and an old station, there is a small visitor centre with some displays on the history, but mostly this is now a destination for shopping or visiting the various eateries.

Elsecar Heritage Centre.

Practicalities.

Distance from Manchester Town Hall: 36 miles

Drive Time: 1hour 15 minutes

Price: Free - donations requested

Parking: There are various town-centre carparks.  I parked at the Alhambra Shopping Centre.  OK multi-storey if you don't have a Range Rover.

Food and Drink: I had coffee and slightly over-the-top cake in the Cooper Gallery cafe. There are plenty eateries in the town centre.

Retail therapy: There are gift shops in both museums, lots of independent outlets in the market, and standard chains in the centre.

Child Friendly: The Barnsley Experience seems quite aimed at kids, and there is a soft play at Elsecar.

Toilets: Yes.

Do it justice in: I was in each of the Barnsley Experience and Cooper Gallery for less than an hour.

Inside-Outside: 80:20

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