
New Elsecar visitor centre celebrates village's industrial past
Among the new displays are a "phone line to the past" allowing visitors to hear pieces of oral history from the Barnsley Museums archive via an old black telephone.The council said they had also worked with Barnsley Blind and Partially Sighted Association to make the centre more accessible.Elsecar was a model industrial village concept, built and developed over many years by the Fitzwilliam family in connection with Wentworth Woodhouse.It is home to the Newcomen Beam Engine, one of the oldest steam engines in the world still in its original location.
Franklin said: "This project is a fantastic example of how community engagement can create something truly special. Every contribution has helped to make this centre an outstanding resource for everyone, and it's truly fascinating to explore Elsecar's long and impressive history."Plans to develop the site further include work to repair and repurpose two mill buildings and a 19th Century railway station into "creative workspaces".Barnsley Council said people could expect to see drainage and public realm works later this year as part of preparations for other developments, with buildings including the former Ironworks due to be completed in Spring 2026.
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BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
New Elsecar visitor centre celebrates village's industrial past
A new visitor centre has opened at Elsecar Heritage Centre as part of a £4m-project to improve the updated displays, exhibits and activities, the centre tells the story of Elsecar's development from a quiet hamlet to a thriving industrial work has been funded through a £3.93m grant from the Arts Council's Cultural Development Franklin, cabinet spokesperson for regeneration and Culture at Barnsley Council said the improvements had made the centre "an outstanding resource for everyone". Among the new displays are a "phone line to the past" allowing visitors to hear pieces of oral history from the Barnsley Museums archive via an old black council said they had also worked with Barnsley Blind and Partially Sighted Association to make the centre more was a model industrial village concept, built and developed over many years by the Fitzwilliam family in connection with Wentworth is home to the Newcomen Beam Engine, one of the oldest steam engines in the world still in its original location. Franklin said: "This project is a fantastic example of how community engagement can create something truly special. Every contribution has helped to make this centre an outstanding resource for everyone, and it's truly fascinating to explore Elsecar's long and impressive history."Plans to develop the site further include work to repair and repurpose two mill buildings and a 19th Century railway station into "creative workspaces".Barnsley Council said people could expect to see drainage and public realm works later this year as part of preparations for other developments, with buildings including the former Ironworks due to be completed in Spring 2026. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North


BBC News
12-06-2025
- BBC News
Beat the Street game returns to Barnsley for summer
A competition with prizes has returned to a town to encourage people to become more active by exploring their local Beat the Street game in Barnsley runs until 23 July and asks participants to walk, run or cycle between sensors called "beat boxes" which are installed on can then record points on an app and be eligible to receive initiative is part of Barnsley Council's strategy to improve public health and wellbeing. More than 9,000 people signed up to take part on the first day of the competition being Clancy, active travel commissioner for South Yorkshire and a retired professional cyclist, said: "It's a great way to incentivise primarily young children."The last time we did this, Barnsley accumulated 130,000 miles, which is equivalent to going round the world five times, which is pretty impressive."Gamifying things is important. I think everyone enjoys a bit of friendly competition and I know there will be groups of children competing against each other." Primary schools in the town have received participation packs, including cards and of the public can also find packs in local libraries, museums and the Glassworks James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways at Barnsley Council, said: "It's been proven that Beat the Street makes a real difference to getting kids active."The data shows we need to improve physical activity levels, we need to get more people out and about enjoying everything we have to offer in the borough." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North


Telegraph
01-06-2025
- Telegraph
Forget Bath and Bloomsbury – the greatest Georgian architecture is found in Dublin
The clearest memory of my first visit to Dublin, nearly 40 years ago, is my initial sight of Merrion Square. It is – whatever the claims of Bloomsbury, Bath, or the New Town in Edinburgh – the finest Georgian architectural spectacle in the British Isles. For those who do not know it, Merrion Square is a vast rectangle of terraced houses in the centre of the Irish capital, surrounding a superb park – originally a private space for residents, now open to the public. The original landlord was the 6th Viscount Fitzwilliam, whose family had been in Ireland since the 13th century and was then the biggest landowner in the Dublin area. Both he and his son, the 7th Viscount, undertook extensive property development, of which Merrion Square is the foremost jewel. The 7th Viscount served for a time as an MP in Wiltshire, and left the bequest that founded the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The decision to lay out the square was taken in 1762 and began with the west side: the original plan was devised by two local architects, John Smyth and Jonathan Barker, and in 1780 the plan for the east side was drawn up by a third, Samuel Sproule. Benjamin Simpson won a competition to design the gardens in 1792, and by the early 19th century almost all the houses had been built. It quickly became a fashionable address, sought after by the 'quality' of Dublin. When I first walked around the square in the 1980s, many of the properties were still residential; now, it is dominated by offices and embassies, though some private houses remain. In the past, some of Ireland's most glittering names lived there: Oscar Wilde's father, William, had a house where Wilde (a statue of whom reclines in the park) lived until he was 22. Later, W B Yeats was a resident of the square; as were, in earlier times, Daniel O'Connell, the nationalist leader, and Sheridan Le Fanu, the gothic novelist. The original conception remains mostly intact – one sizeable property on the North Terrace was, however, demolished almost a century ago and the National Maternity Hospital was built on the site. Everything else on the east, south and north sides is conventional late-Georgian townhouses of three storeys, an attic and a basement, built in red brick, with the traditionally fenestrated sash windows and solid front doors with varieties of semi-circular fanlights above them. The west side contains two museums and the gardens of Leinster House. Looking up the south side there is in the distance at the end of Mount Street (which carries on from the square) a fine Georgian church, St Stephen's, designed by John Bowden, and known as the Pepper Canister after the distinctive shape of its spire. The view from the bottom of Merrion Square along the terraces of the square and of Mount Street, with this gem at the end, is one of the finest townscapes one could wish to see. It is something of a marvel that the square looks as good as it does. The uniformity is remarkable, given the length of time over which the houses were built, by a variety of labourers and craftsmen. Some of the 92 houses are narrower than others; and one of the great joys of walking round is to compare the different designs of fanlight and the colours of the handsome front doors. In some, the fenestration of 12 small panes (six in the top frame and six in the bottom) has been replaced by one large single pane in each frame, which detracts from the uniformity, but luckily is rare; and most houses are of three bays but some are of two bays. Nor are the heights of the houses always uniform, but the line of the terraces and the effect of the patina of the brick is what captures the eye. The growing wealth of 19th-century Dublin after the 1801 Act of Union led to the embellishment of some of the houses, notably with wrought-iron balconies on the first floor. The square is also blessed with tall and ornate lamp standards that complement the houses. Architectural guides – including the excellent Buildings of Ireland volume on Dublin – speak rapturously of the interiors of many of the houses, such as their ceilings, cornices, mantelpieces and staircases. But the great joy about Merrion Square is that even from the outside it is astonishingly special.