Yesterday I got invited to go and look at the Barnsley Archives which are based inside the Town Hall. The Archives are open to the public to view anytime, however if you are looking for something in particular, it's best to email in advanced and see what they have on the subject.

I went there to find out more about the Barnsley Co-Operative building and found some beautiful old photographs of it from the 50's and 60's, featuring some of their departments and shoppers.

However I also found out about a wonderful event that used to be held called the Barnsley Shopping Carnival. This type of event had already been held elsewhere and Barnsley wanted to join in too. It gathered all the independent shops throughout the town to make a week long carnival, featuring special deals, window display competitions and public competitions. Everyone worked together to attract new customers to the town and they produced a 'booklet', which was actually an entire book detailing all of the events, history of the town, advertisements and stories about certain shops.

I've got lots of pictures to share, keep an eye out on the blog!