Take A Walk Around Town - a fascinating new way to explore Barnsley's Principal Towns

Come with us on A Walk Around Town – and immerse yourself in Barnsley’s untold stories.

As part of our Storying Barnsley programme to celebrate our community’s creativity, a new collection of beautifully illustrated card packs have been designed by artist Patrick Murphy and poet Ian McMillan.

There’s a pack for each of our Principal Towns of Cudworth, Goldthorpe, Hoyland, Penistone, Royston and Wombwell.

Each comes in a plastic wallet with a lanyard, inspired by Ordnance Survey walking maps, and is designed to accompany you on your own adventure around each town.

The packs guide you through surprising historical facts and contemporary landscapes, with each card highlighting a local location and offering a creative activity to do while you're there.

Patrick has dreamed up original, colourful artwork for each card, while Ian penned more than 70 poems - each beautifully weaving humour and emotion into its setting.

You can scan a QR code on the cards to access an interactive online map and easily find every location.

In this unique collection, favourite landmarks and lesser-known locations are celebrated along with local legends and fascinating stories.

The aim is to inspire people living in each town to take a fresh look around and discover something new about where they live, and to encourage newcomers to visit and explore.

You can take A Walk Around Town by picking up a special pack for free from the library in each Principal Town.

Ian and Patrick, who are both from Barnsley, held a series of workshops in each town so residents could share their stories and local knowledge.

As well as the fantastic A Walk Around Town cards, these community conversations also inspired the companion project ARtQuest for Barnsley.

ARtQuesters can scan a QR code in each town to reveal an awesome augmented-reality creature created by Patrick, which can be photographed and shared on social media.

Cabinet spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, Cllr Robin Franklin, said: “We want everyone in Barnsley to enjoy memorable cultural experiences and both A Walk Around Town and ARtQuest for Barnsley will enable people to do just that.

“The cards are beautiful to look at but also packed with fascinating stories and details about each town.

“I can’t wait to get out and explore our towns with fresh eyes, and I’d encourage everyone to do the same.”

Ian said: “It’s been great to work with Patrick to discover and rediscover places on my doorstep and places a few strides or a bus ride away!

“Working on these brilliant Storying Barnsley projects has allowed us to dig deep into the community fabric of each town, uncovering gems of stories which we can’t wait to share further.

“We’re grateful to everyone who took the time to come and meet us and tell their spell-binding tales.

“I hope everyone will enjoy the journey of discovering Barnsley’s untold stories as much as we have.”

Patrick said: “It's always great working with Ian. Our 'A Walk Around Town' project was like setting off on a treasure hunt through towns we thought we knew.

“Through our series of community workshops, we uncovered all sorts of surprises—a forgotten airfield, a local link to Wordsworth, whispers of secret tunnels, even lions and unicorns tucked away in town crests.

“It’s incredible what you discover when you look at your surroundings with curious eyes.” 

Both projects are part of Storying Barnsley, our three-year cultural programme to support artists to thrive, celebrate creativity around Barnsley and share the untold stories of our Principal Towns.

It is funded by Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through the Cultural Development Fund.

We hope these projects sparks curiosity, conversation, and connection -and we’d love you to share your own discoveries using the hashtags #StoryingBarnsley, #AWalkAroundTownBarnsley and #ARtQuestForBarnsley.

Learn more about this project at https://www.barnsley-museums.com/projects/storying-barnsley/a-walk-around-town

Find out all about Storying Barnsley at https://www.barnsley-museums.com/projects/storying-barnsley and explore our Principal Towns at https://www.barnsley.gov.uk/principaltowns/.

Captions: Images show Ian McMillan and Patrick Murphy (wearing a cap and glasses) showing off the A Walk Around Town packs; the art cards at Netherwood Marsh near Wombwell; and Patrick Murphy at St John’s Church in Penistone.

Pictures by Gavin Joynt Photography.

High-resolution versions of these images are available on request.