A boy and a kestrel. They were made famous by the late Barnsley writer - Barry Hines in his novel, "A Kestrel For A Knave". Both Shirley and I met him - she as his practice nurse and me at a political meeting in the Sheffield Trades and Labour Club. Now there's this impressive memorial statue to Barry Hines in the very heart of Barnsley. I am delighted that he has not been forgotten. Many is the time I read "Kes" with classes of teenagers. It always went down well. A sure fire winner.
Today I caught a train from Sheffield Midland Station to Barnsley. After photographing the statue, I then went back to the Transport Interchange and climbed aboard a Number 32 bus bound for Cudworth which is one of Barnsley's suburban villages - all of which were once associated with coal mining.
Soon I was back out in the sunshine walking to Smithies and then on to Monk Bretton before descending into the valley of The River Dearne. As I passed Oakwell football ground, I could hear the combined voices of thousands of football fans as Barnsley FC took on Blackpool FC in English League Division One.
At three forty three, I was on a homebound train - sitting at a table with three black women. Two of them - probably in their forties - had been clothes shopping and were well-groomed. Lord knows what they made of Mr Scruffy. The other woman was seventeen and I had witnessed a lot of her phone conversation on the station platform - much talk about "God" and how "God" guided her decisions.
So yes - a nice day out in Barnsley and a good, long walk - ticking off "Geograph" squares I had not previously covered. I was pretty weary when I unlocked our front door at four forty five and noted with the aid of our television that Barnsley had lost by three goals to nil
Remembering Patrick O'Connor by the Dearne Valley Lake. He was born ten days after me and died just two weeks short of his 70th birthday
Remembering Dylan Sharland who was born in 1977 but did not make his 30th birthday. The bench had so many offerings on it that you could
not sit there to admire the view of The Dearne Valley
Street sign on the street that is still home to
Monk Bretton Working Men's Club.
Crocuses in Monk Bretton Park speak
eloquently of this season - springtime!
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/IWVPBb0