15th November 2001
HIDDEN SEAMS UNVEILED

Golden opportunity for Barnsley folk to Talk it - Write it - Read it at book launch

Barnsley was once described as a little Paris, because of its writers, painters, sculptors and actors; a sort of left bank on the Dearne. The analogy will be brought to life on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 November, when visitors to the Alhambra in Barnsley are in for a unique treat in the form of a book launch combined with an innovative workshop from 9.30-4.30pm on both days.

The new book Seams of Gold - chronicles local residents’ positive memories and thoughts about Barnsley and will be launched in the Alhambra at 12.00pm on Friday 16 November.

Local celebrity and broadcaster Ian Clayton, Ian McMillan, poet/broadcaster, the Mayor of Barnsley, Eric Hill of Barnsley Development Agency, Roger Head of Open College of the Arts and the co-authors including Brian Lewis will all be attending the event and will be available for interview. Seams of Gold follows an unorthodox alphabetical format, covering a multitude of topics from ‘Aborigines’ to ‘Wit’! It is an excellent read and highly entertaining, whilst also containing serious positive accounts of some of Barnsley’s social history.

Eric Hill, Barnsley Development Agency (BDA), who are supporting Seams of Gold with advice and funding, commented: “There is much to shout about in Barnsley and an important role of BDA is to make sure that the positive things that are happening across the borough are not lost among any negative and often false perceptions about Barnsley.

“Seams of Gold is certainly a massive positive, and it makes an important contribution the economic development and social fabric of the town and wider borough. We’re delighted to support the launch and wish the publisher, co-authors and all the contributors every success with sales of the book.” The publication of the book is supported by Open College of the Arts, The Coalfield Regeneration Trust, who join BDA, Yorkshire Arts, Barnsley TUC Training, Barnsley Metropolitan Council, and the Alhambra Shopping centre in a collective partnership backing Seams of Gold and the community workshops.

Co-editor Brian Lewis said: “What the Seams of Gold launch represents is a remarkable partnership between public, private, arts and training organisations for the overall benefit of the Barnsley community. The book is a tremendously exciting development, but what we’re equally excited about is the community workshops surrounding the launch. So often the arts and literature are made inaccessible to people by virtue of the fact that you need to commit to a course, a time, a date, and a venue. What we’re trying to do on Friday and Saturday is make the arts and literature as accessible and relevant to as many people as possible, bringing the arts into the community, to everybody and anybody that passes through the Alhambra centre - it will be great fun so we hope to see you there!

“When we did something similar in Grimethorpe some time ago, the local residents contributed 32,000 words, and we think we could get at least 20,000 words out of Barnsley at the weekend; we could maybe even beat the Grimethorpe figure, so there’s the challenge! Typists and reporters will be on hand to record peoples thoughts whether they be spoken or hand-written, and the PC literate will be able to type their memories, reflections, and aspirations straight onto a computer. We’ll collect all the contributions and hope to use them in the future - who knows, maybe for Seams of Gold Two.”

At Saturday’s workshops, poet Ian McMillan will take over from Ian Clayton as the celebrity contributor tasked with stimulating shoppers and visitors into contributing their thoughts on Barnsley. On both days everybody is encouraged to offer a few words about some aspect of the town, whether it be a recent memory or a future aspiration, that can form a written text taken from the two days. The community workshops have been given the theme of Talk it - Write it - Read it. No matter what an individual’s contribution may be, whether it be spoken word, written text or verse, or typed copy, all the submissions will be collected and collated and may be used in future books or publications that promote all that’s good about Barnsley.

Notes to editors
Seams of Gold is priced at £9.99 and is available on the day and from all bookshops in Barnsley, and also from the Open College of the arts on Open College of the Arts, Unit 1B, Redbrook Business Park, Barnsley, S75 1JN. Tel 01226 730 495, Email open.arts@ukonline.co.uk

There are some well known contributors to the book like Darren Gough, and Joanne Harris of Chocolat fame, but whilst extremely welcome, their texts are not the main point of Seams of Gold, it’s all the other contributions from extra ordinary local folk that makes the book what it is - entertaining, serious, humorous, and reflective - all in one go.

For further information on Barnsley Development Agency, contact BDA on (01226) 784444



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