Barnsley Museums

We're celebrating International Women's Day 2026 with a selection of interviews from our collection featuring some recognisable Barnsley voices and others we'll introduce you to for the first time: Rita Britton, the Barnsley fashion icon, Dorothy Hyman the Olympic champion, 'Mrs Barnsley' Mel Dyke. Prof Selina Wray, Dana Kubick who designed tins for the Barnsley Canister company and Gail Haimes sh...

After a short break we're back with regular episodes in 2026 as we make more of our oral history interviews available online for the first time. It's been 21 years since Stan Richards passed away but he is still fondly remembered, this interview was recorded by John Kelly for the Second Sight magazine in 1983. You will hear more interviews from these tapes later in the series. The second half of t...

Welcome back to the Barnsley Museums Natters podcast, we're taking you back to the 1980s for the majority of this series and exploring a series of cassette tapes. Second Sight was a talking newspaper which launched in 1982, and for the first time these recordings are being shared online. We begin with an interview with Dickie Bird, take a tour of the Mayor's parlour and hear from the then Mayor Ke...

A Christmas carol lost for 90 years and re-discovered by Barnsley Museums in 2023. Watch videos, read blogs and download the lyrics from our website https://www.barnsley-museums.com/the-barnsley-carol-christmas-eve-by-arthur-godfrey

There's lots of interviews online with Arthur Scargill that focus on his involvement in the miners strike. In this interview that pre-dates the strike John Kelly focuses on Arthur's formative years in Barnsley, his interests and influences away from the pit. This is the first time this interview has been shared online, it's from a recently digitised cassette tape from a Barnsley Archives collectio...

#Strike40 Kenneth O’Mara shares his memories of Elsecar and the miners' strike by Barnsley Museums

#Strike40 Gerald O'Brien shares his memories of Elsecar Main Colliery by Barnsley Museums

The interviews in this episode were recorded on 12th May 1984 at a large Women Against Pit Closures rally at the Barnsley Civic Hall. The event was much larger than expected with an estimated 10,000 women travelling from all parts of the country to the event at the civic hall and had 40 speakers. You are about to hear speeches by Ann Hunter (chairperson of rally), Lorraine Hunter, two miners' wive...

Continuing our miners' strike podcast series, this episode was recorded as part of the Elsecar Building Bridges project which you can read about on our website https://www.elsecar-heritage.com/elsecar-building-bridges-project

Recorded in 2004, Brian speaks with Ernest Kaye about his lifetime down the mines, including his striking memories

Throughout the year we are going to share highlights from Brian Elliott's oral history collection, a local historian and published author who has generously donated his sound archive to Barnsley Archives and Local Studies which we are now making available online for the first time.

Betty Cook was a founding member of the Barnsley Miners Wives Action Group which led to the formation of The Woman Against Pit Closures in Barnsley. This interview was recorded in 2009 as part of The South Yorkshire Women In Industry lottery funded project. It is being shared for the first time as part of Barnsley Museums' year-long programme of events marking 40 years since the Miners' Strike. Fo...

A Christmas message from Barnsley Museums, featuring a Barnsley carol 'Christmas Eve' written by Arthur Godfrey and published in the Barnsley Chronicle in December 1933. With photographs of Barnsley at Christmas from Barnsley Archives. Read our blog to learn more about the carol https://barnsleymuseums.art.blog/2023/12/12/a-barnsley-christmas-eve-carol-1933/

We've got a brand new podcast, find us over on Acast for Barnsley Museums Natters https://shows.acast.com/barnsley-museums-natters the first series is all about Experience Barnsley Museums

Episode 39 - Merry Christmas! by Barnsley Museums

Episode 38 - Remotely Digital with Barnsley Archives by Barnsley Museums

Episode 37 - Brains In A Dish by Barnsley Museums

Episode 36 - National Poetry Day 2022 by Barnsley Museums

Episode 35 - In conversation with....Dorothy Hyman by Barnsley Museums

Episode 34: Pigeons, Ping Pong & Peoples Possessions by Barnsley Museums

In 2022 Graham Ibbeson has two exhibitions with Barnsley Museums. In this interview Graham talks about his work and his career.

Welcome to series 2 of the Barnsley Museums podcast! This episode is all about the Slazenger tennis ball factory. For more details about the exhibition and for more content visit our website www.experience-barnsley.com/slazenger

We're coming back with a brand new series! Episodes will be released on the last Friday of each month.

Watch the Barnsley Museums Christmas concert on Wednesday 8 December 2021 on YouTube, available on demand afterwards too https://youtu.be/ZPXp7lpD_DU

In a break away from our usual podcast format this episode is all about the music created by Barnsley Museums over the last few years. Most of the songs have additional content to watch and read: 'Of The River' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSRBjDRBXTw Barnsley Libraries Youth Music Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdMUDCpsH1I&list=PLlPUNLu4xzunFELWYq5ngEnjsWmbQTqwx Women of The Working C...