Barnsley town is a large town in South Yorkshire, England and is located roughly half way between Leeds and Sheffield.  It lies on the west bank of the Dearne Valley.  It is twinned with two communities: Schwabisch Gmund in Germany and Gorlovka in the Ukraine.

Barnsley is surrounded by a few other towns, like Rotherham.  It is a former industrial town centred on coal mining and glass making.  The heritage of Barnsley is rooted in industry and it has a tradition of brass bands which originated in mining social clubs.  It is also famous for the food 'The Barnsley Chop'!

Barnsley town can be accessed from the M1 motorway at junction 36, 37 and 38 and it has a railway station on the Hallam and Penistone lines.  It can also be accessed from the A1(M), junction 37 at Marr.  This network of close-by motorways means that it can be accessed easily, but also residents in Barnsley can access lots of interesting and lovely surrounding areas.  The Pennines, Derbyshire Moors and North Yorkshire Moors can be easily accessed and provide scenic alternatives to the bustling town centre, as does the East Coast which is only approximately one hour from Barnsley.

Barnsley is one of England's oldest market towns, with one of the oldest market charters dating back to the 13th century (the Royal Charter to host a market was given in 1249 under Henry III).  It still is well known today for its newly renovated indoor and outdoor market spaces.  Barnsley has a well established and used Town Hall, which stands proud at the top of the town centre.  There is also a Barnsley Museum which is excellent and the renowned Cooper Gallery also.  Barnsley has a serving Mayor called Cllr Jeff Ennis (his twitter feed can be found at https://twitter.com/mayor_barnsley?lang=en ).

In recent years Barnsley has established a well respected College and University Campus (University Campus Barnsley, commonly known as UCB), which is linked with a number of University institutions (Universities of Derby, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds Trinity University and Sheffield Hallam University) and offers an ever growing range of courses for Further Education.  Lots of building renovation and new high tech buildings have been built in recent years to accommodate this concern.  More information can be found at: http://universitycampus.barnsley.ac.uk/

There are lots of opportunities for families too to have fun in Barnsley.  Locke Park is a well known parkland area which can be enjoyed by all ages (http://www.friendsoflockepark.org.uk/ updates regularly with all of the upcoming events) and Cannon Hall Farm provides a fun day out for the family too. More information for Cannon Hall Farm can be found at http://cannonhallfarm.co.uk/ .  Many families also enjoy times spent at Elsecar Park and Heritage Centre.

Barnsley is also home to 'Barnsley Football Club' (BFC) who compete in the Championship Division.  Further information about the club can be read at: https://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/

Wombwell is a small town within Barnsley, with around 12,000 inhabitants.  There is a newly founded secondary school (2012) called Netherwood ALC and there are three primary schools which feed in to it: Wombwell Park Street, High View PLC and King's Oak PLC.  St Mary's Church is the Parish Church, located on Church Street.  It is a Grade II listed building.  The Cemetery is led by a group called 'Friends of Wombwell Cemetery' and they actively tend to the grave yard.  Wombwell is close to amenities at Cortonwood, where high street shops can be found, as well as restaurants like 'Pizza Hunt'.  Wombwell has its own railway station on the Hallam and Penistone lines.  Wombwell used to be home to two main collieries: Wombwell Main and Mitchells Main.

Further information of interest about Barnsley can be found on the following pages: