When the First Barwicker was Published
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When the First Barwicker was Published……….
From the Barwicker No.100
December 2010
This 100th edition of the Barwicker represents 25 years of continuous
publication. A great achievement for the Historical Society in
recording the history of our Parish and the settlements it contains.
Articles have documented the changes, the buildings, the people and
the events that have taken place in the area during the last 3,000 years.
“History” is defined in the dictionary as “the branch of knowledge
dealing with past events”, so yesterday, last week, last year and
certainly 25 years ago is history. I thought it would be interesting to
look back, a little tongue in cheek, to the first year the Barwicker was
published in 1986, to see what was going on in the Parish.
The first Barwicker was published in March 1986 and included articles
about the Battle of Winwaedfield in A.D.655, the story of Barwick
Windmill 1780 – 1943, details of a great thunderstorm in the parish in
1861 and a copy of the Barwick directory for 1822. Perhaps on a
Saturday night the television would be giving the first run to the
Cannon and Ball show on ITV with BBC1 showing Keith Harris with
Orville, Cuddles and Dippy!
A large 4 bedroomed detached house with integral garage in Scholes
was available to purchase for £48,950 and local semi-detached and
terrace houses were substantially cheaper than this!
The Barwick Village hall was causing considerable concern with ailing
finances and many repairs required. The management committee
started a campaign to raise money and increase usage of the hall. A
“Big Band” night of ballroom dancing in March proved a great success
despite local teenagers mis-reading the publicity and expecting a disco!
They were given partial refunds and offered the hope of a disco later in
the year.
Planning permission was granted for a residential development on
Richmondfield Lane by Kass Construction (Yorkshire) Ltd. Many
locals objected to this scheme saying it would increase traffic on Long
Lane, interfere with sight lines, pose a threat to wildlife and ruin views
of fields and Parlington Woods.
Scholes residents were up in arms about their bus service. The West
Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive announced that the 65
service would be axed. Residents were angry that this would cut them
off from the shops and services in Cross Gates. An alternative
proposal also met storms of protest as this would involve walking to
the Coronation Tree, “for some people these new services could mean
a three-mile walk to the bus stop, a lot of elderly people in the village
cannot walk that far, nor can mothers with children or people with
shopping” said a resident. A 600 signature petition was obtained and
200 villagers attended a meeting at Garforth. In the end the service was
put out to tender.
The Barwick and Scholes Parish Council decided that dog fouling on
local public footpaths had become such as problem that they would
write to the Home Secretary in London to see what could be done. As
yet I have not discovered what his response was!
When a Scholes lady discovered that her whippet was pregnant she
expected to hear the patter of tiny paws - but what she got was a
stampede! Rani gave birth to nine pups which all survived, it was
believed that this multiple birth was a record, at least in Yorkshire if
not nationally.
The year finished off with the publication of the first Bygone Barwick
book of historical photographs of this district compiled by the
Historical Society. Priced at £3.20 including postage and packing it
was a great success with all copies selling out.
Maybe you will remember some of these events or perhaps see much
commonality with current affairs!
Sources:
The Barwicker
Various Local and National Newspapers
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