BARNSLEY - THE BUSES AND THE ATTRACTIONS

Many moons ago, we could have arrived in Barnsley by Booker's charabanc. 

We would have found Barnsley & District's trams in operation.

This one came a bit of a cropper!

Barnsley & District became Yorkshire Traction.

This Leyland Titanic had been new to Doncaster Corporation and had entered the "Tracky" fleet after the takeover of Cawthornes, one of several vanished Barnsley area independents.

By the early 1970s the old livery was being replaced by standard NBC red.

More photos in NBC days, with a good variety of buses.

Some more modern Yorkshire Traction buses in its later days.

Yorkshire Traction had a low cost subsidiary called Barnsley & District.

Yorkshire Traction was taken over by Stagecoach and this Olympian is still in the old red colours but has received Stagecoach stickers.

Stagecoach is, today, the major operator in Barnsley.

It's nice to see that Stagecoach have painted no. 15414 into the former "Tracky" livery.

Other NBC operators to be seen in Barnsley have included West Riding, Yorkshire Woollen District and West Yorkshire Road Car.

 South Yorkshire PTE also served Barnsley.

Firstbus inherited many former PTE routes.

The last traditional Barnsley independent to go was LP Coaches of Thurnscoe.

Post deregulation, various companies tried running services into Barnsley. These included SUT, Veolia and Shearings.

Smaller operators were Jowitts, Aldham Coaches, Tates, Clarksons and Pride of The Road.

Two surviving independents are Globe and Watersons.

Right, that's enough buses. Time for a look around the town centre. Here's the top of Market Hill before the Town hall was built.

And here is that Town Hall.

A postcard of Cheapside and Queen Street.

One of Barnsley's town centre attractions is The Arcade. seen here in 1910 and 2016.

Within The Arcade, a micropub, the Arcade Alehouse, since renamed as the Jolly Tap on The Arcade.

A purpose built Wetherspoons was the Silkstone Inn, but they closed it down.

There was once a brew pub called the Orchard Brewery. 

The Orchard Brewery has transformed into a Wetherspoons, the Joseph Bramah.

One's best bet for real ale in Barnsley town centre is the Old No. 7.

It would have been nice to have concluded this tour at the Wheatsheaf, a great Tetley pub, but they pulled it down shortly after my visit in 1989.

Next time, we'll take a town around the edges of the town then, head off in a northerly (ish) direction.