Index to this Page
Sections on this page.
The Picture - A typically busy Show Day. This one was in 2007.
Top People
The first Penistone Agricultural Show was held in 1853 (as an Exhibition), following the founding of Penistone Agricultural, Horticultural and Floral Society, which would later become Penistone Agricultural Society. Its founding Committee:
President: John Spencer-Stanhope (Cannon Hall); Vice-President: John Dransfield; Treasurer: John T Rolling; Secretaries: Joseph Exley and John Bedford. The other Committee members were: Joseph Brook; Jonathan Swinden; Charles Freares; John Freares; Alfred Brearley; Joseph Hudson; Charles Webster; George Leather; Adam Hawksworth; Charles Marsh; John S Crossley; Hugh Tomasson; William Pearson and Joseph Marsden.
Ten years later, it had continued to grow in strength. From the 1863 Stock Catalogue on its tenth anniversary (Penistone Library), the Committee had changed somewhat.
President: John Spencer Stanhope (Cannon Hall), Vice Presidents: John Dransfield, Penistone, and Thomas Tomasson, Thurlstone. Treasurer: Mr John Greaves, Penistone. Secretary: Mr John Haigh, Penistone. Also a committee of 24 men, which included John Ness Dransfield, who would become a solicitor and Penistone Town Clerk. He also was author of ' A History of the Parish of Penistone', 1906.
The 1863 list of patrons reads like a local 'Who's Who' and includes MPs, Earls, Lords, Esquires and assorted Sirs:
The Right Honorable The Earl of Scarborough, The Right Honorable The Lord Wharncliffe, The Right Honorable James Stuart Wortley, Sir Lionel M S Pilkington, Bart., F W T V Wentworth, Esq., J S Stanhope, Esq., MP, R M Milnes, Esq., MP, W B Beaumont, Esq., MP, John Chapman, Esq., MP, Walter S Stanhope, Esq., C D Charlesworth, Esq., G W B Bosville, Esq., Samuel Coward, Esq., Penistone, W F Dixon, Esq., Page Hall, Wilson Overend, Esq., Sheffield, R G Ramsden, Esq., London, W P Milner, Esq., Dykes Hall, W Smith, Esq., Barnes Hall, R J Bentley, Esq., Rotherham, Bentley Shaw, Esq., Lockwood, R C Clarke, Esq., Noblethorpe Hall (National Archives), Thomas Vickers, Esq., Manchester.
This picture shows the very proud 1913 Penistone Show committee. Left to right, they are: Harry Lindley, George Beard, Fred Bailey, James B Durrans (Thurlstone blacking works), John Fallas and James Henry Wood (of Wood's Printers). Perhaps not as eminent as before but all well-known local citizens at the time.
Notice the old-fashioned uniform of the policeman, right of JB Durrans' bowler hat. All of the committeemen appear to be wearing waistcoats, some with prominent watch chains. Mr Wood had some kind of badge of office on his lapel, which is not clear enough to make out in close-up. It was taken by J Biltcliffe & Sons who had shops in Penistone, Skelmanthorpe and Denby Dale. There is not enough detail on the very hazy day to give a clue to where it was taken. Picture courtesy of The Don Press.
In the Great War of 1914-1918, Shows were held in 1914, 1915 and 1916 but cancelled by the Minister for Munitions in 1917. Profits would go to local distress funds. There was no Show for 1918. The 1918 President: HSTomasson, JP; Hon Treasurer: WJ Winterbottom; Secretary: JH Wood.
The Second World War broke out on 3rd September 1939. The last pre-war Show occurred just before it started on 24th August 1939. There was no Show in 1941 but Lord Harewood opened a fete and sale on 2nd August. Society President: GH Wilby; Chairman: W Corbett; Hon Secretaries: J Alec, and H Gordon Wood; Ladies' Secretary: Miss Layfield; and Hon Treasurer: GG Smith.
There would be no more Shows for another eight years but some fund-raising events were held instead. Nearly £6000 was raised for the Red Cross Agricultural Fund during those lean years. Penistone Young Farmers' Club held small events in 1946 and 1947. The first post-war Show was on 3rd June 1948 at which time Mr JH Wood (82) vacated the office of Secretary after 53 years, to be replaced by Gordon Wood (Wood's garage, Oxspring). Society President: JT Carnelly. For the 84th Show, 9th August 1952, Mr. RP Coldwell was President. The 1952 Show was officially opened by Sir Harold West (Master Cutler-elect). The Show's centenary year would be held in 1953 with the 85th Show.
With the Show still going strong in 2,000, and with an estimated 15,000 crowd in poor weather, Society President Steve Lavender invited along some special guests, the Bishop of Wakefield, the Mayor and Mayoress of Barnsley and several councillors and MPs. To mark the millenium, a special Millennium Stone was fitted in the drystone wall. Of the four surviving members who had re-started the Show after the war, John William Stones died age 91 in 2,000.
50 Years of the Show - Part One
Notes from Mr Neville Perry, retired electrician to the Electric Board.
'The Show Society was formed in 1853 there were shows held prior to this as early as 1804 onwards. These were held alternating between Penistone and Wortley. For many years the show was held on the open fields that existed until after the Second World War. When the war ended some shows were held on site (some of the shows were held during the war and were fund raising for the Red Cross war effort). I attended one show aged eight years. The site was quite soon after the war and used for housing termed as 'Emergency Housing.'
'The Penistone Agricultural Society obtained permission to stage shows on the Water Hall Land off Wentworth Road. I as a young apprentice was employed by Hector Ducket to install the sound system for the show in 1950-51-52, after which I left to do my stint of National Service. When I was demobbed, I discovered the show had ceased to exist. All that was left were the trophies donated by well-wishers, which were stored in the bank vaults.
'In 1959 the late George Senior made a decision to try to resurrect the show. He wrote letters to a number of people who he thought might be interested. His daughter Mrs. Hazel Coldwell has a list of these people. Only three people responded and four people attended the meeting at the Spread Eagle Hotel in Penistone. Mr. Ben Goldthorpe, Mr Eric Hoyland, Mr. Les Littlewood and Mr George Senior. After much discussion, they agreed to formulate a plan to kick-start the show in 1960.
'As a newly married couple we, my wife Wendy and myself, took up residence at number 1, Stottercliffe Road, the garden of which backed onto the then Recreation Ground, which has finally become the car park to 'Tesco.'
'We returned from holiday one Saturday afternoon, to see arrows flashing across our view. We discovered that Penistone Archery Club were giving a display in the area just over our garden wall, and in addition to this a Push Ball contest between local pubs was taking place on the soccer pitch which was where the new Bowling Green and Tesco now stand, teams competing to roll a 6ft. diameter rubber ball over the opposition goal line. The only livestock was a crate of turkeys brought by the Wartigg family. Using funds raised in this small event, the following year the archer, Frank Clegg and George Bashforth became involved in helping to organise a second show, along with a band of volunteers to create a perimeter fence, and a Pay Box system. Dorothy Clegg, the wife of Frank being a farmer’s daughter was able to persuade a few farmers to bring some cattle to compete. The cattle were tethered on the bottom side of the bowling green.
'The entrance gate and fencing was a work of art! Consisting of wooden posts with horizontal rails, with Hessian unrolled and tacked on, this would not make a secure fence nowadays. As a result of this very basic show funds gradually grew so that the show was able to slowly expand.
'My first most serious involvement was being asked to substitute for the then Chairman Mr. Norman White, (a Y.E.B. Employee) who was taken ill during the build up week. I was presented with a drum of cable; a 13amp socket mounted on it and told I could obtain a supply of electricity from the Bowling Green Pavilion, (A wooden one in those days). The electricity was for the West Riding Police Tent; furnishing lights and simulated driving displays.
'From then onward my electrical involvement grew to the extent that I was laying cable for all manner of people. Extending to as many as 25 different people, lots with musical equipment and in later years computer use, plus kettle-boiling for teas and coffees of charity organisations, in particular for the handicraft tent for Joyce Parker’s kettle which on one occasion I supplied from my garage laying a cable along to pass Fearns Building. The duty became so involved that I began to take three days holiday before show day, to be able to fit it all in.'
Thank Yous
Many thanks to Mr Perry for his permission to use this work, and to Elaine Hastings and Marlene Marshal of the Penistone History and Archive Group for supplying the material. Also to Carol and Chris Bradbury for passing it on.
150th Year Special
In 2023, a special newspaper was printed ready for the 150th Show with details and photographs from its long history. It was not the 150th anniversary but it was the 150th Show to have taken place. The special, free newspaper can be found in Penistone Royal British Legion, Penistone DiY shop opposite the Cop Shop ('the Nuthouse') and other shops. Some details are borrowed on this page, although there is much more to read in the paper.
The seed for the Show was sown at a meeting in 1804 at Penistone's Rose & Crown with Mr James Stuart Wortley of Wortley Hall. This is where local farmers established the Wortley Farmer's Club which could donate prizes to worthy farmers and other agricultural workers but the Wortley club appears to have lapsed at some point. Mr John R Dransfield helped re-launch Wortley Farmer's Club as Penistone Agricultural Society in 1853 and this would lead to a Show that same year, although it was called an 'Exhibition' in those early days. Sir Walter Spencer-Stanhope of Cannon Hall, Cawthorne, acted as President. It seems that the Show alternated between Penistone Wortley in its earliest times.
Also special for 2023, Penistone History and Archive Group has an article in their journal covering the history of the Show with highlights taken from various Penistone Almanacks for prominent years in its history. The journal can be purchased the group's HQ (Thursday mornings, Lower Hall, Community Centre), from Clark's Chemist and Cafe Crème.
The Show Fields
The Show did move around different sites from time to time. The first Penistone Show was held on 21st September 1853 on fields behind the Town Hall (not yet built), and was an Exhibition, not yet a 'Show.' A Stock Catalogue dated 20th August 1863 referred to that year's event as: The Tenth Annual Exhibition of Penistone Agricultural, Horticultural and Floral Society, 'Established in 1853' (viewable in Penistone Library). The 1991 Penistone Guide says that the 'Show' had been given this name by John Ness Dransfield, whom we might presume was a son of Mr John R Dransfield referred to above.
In 1883 it moved to Brickfield, Unwin Street and changed to a Saturday but rainy weather and the change of venue killed it off until its come-back in 1889. Fairly obviously, Brickfield was land rich with clay and there used to be a brickworks somewhere near there. In 1889 it moved back to a Thursday and was held in Bailey's Park, an area off High Street which is now under the Park Avenue estate.
In 1895, the Show returned to land behind the Town Hall, as in the picture below, and where it stayed until 1948. The Penistone Agricultural, Horticultural and Floral Society was called Penistone Agricultural Society around the turn of the century.
This undated picture has the Show in the fields behind the later Town Hall (Paramount) which were quite open then, roughly where Church View Crescent and Lees Avenue are now. You can see the factory chimneys of Cammel Laird puthering out pollution behind with a northerly breeze. 'Station Row' is visible on Church View Road and was owned by the railway company. The air was very sulphurous in those days.
Station Row was fully occupied at the time but by the 1960s it had lain empty and delapidated a long time and was a magnet for children to play in, or perhaps some other disreputable activities. The rooftop of the railway station is just visible above the house on the right of the row. Names on the tents to the right were 'Day, Son & Hewitt' of London and 'Makbar'. Only one person on the picture was without a hat.
Smoke was a constant companion in those days. Everyone had coal fires and the local factories were not concerned about air quality. Up to perhaps the 1960s photos of Penistone's buildings showed blackened stonework caused by pollution. You could almost taste the smoke in cold weather. All houses then relied upon having a good hot fire. In modern times with lower air pollution buildings have weathered back to a much lighter colour. In the 1970s, it was the fashion for houses to be sand-blasted back to their natural colour.
The 1927 Show suffered tremendous flooding through incessant rain, which resulted in a quagmire and with only around 3,000 visitors compared to the more usual 15,000. In 1949 the Show moved again to land near Water Hall, presumably what we call Watermeadows Park by the viaduct but the land was (and still is) notorious for flooding.
The 1953 Penistone Almanack reported that the 84th Show of 9th August 1952 had suffered the worst weather since 1927, resulting in a loss of about £500. 1953 was the centenary of the Show and it rained heavily throughout. The 1954 Penistone Almanack reported a nine-year lapse for the duration of and beyond the Second World War, returning on Saturday 21st August 1948 as the 80th show. It moved around quite a lot before settling on what we now know as the Showground.
Way back in 1923, John Ness Dransfield thought that money allocated to build a War Memorial would be better-spent on land for purely recreational use by the public. This would eventually be fulfilled through a gift of land from a local farmer (date uncertain). But even that would come under threat because of politics.
Under the 1972 Local Government Re-organisation (enacted in 1974), Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council assumed control over Penistone's assets and the local council lost most of its influence over planning decisions. At some point, plans were drawn up for a large housing development to be built on land above or near the Showground. This was largely unknown locally but, at a public meeting opposed to plans for a children's nursery being to be built on the playing fields near back Lane, some people at the meeting claimed to have seen the housing estate plans.
According to the special Penistone Agricultural Society newspaper marking the 150th Show, a development company had planned to build in 1982 on an upper field but went bankrupt. The Society then became able to purchase 15 acres of land near Rud Broom Lane, although it drained their funds severely. The pluse side was that this could assure the future of the Show which had been insecure for a long time. From around 2010, the higher fields owned by the Sociey could also be better employed for the Show, having been drained, levelled and planted with hard-wearing grass.
A regeneration plan from BMBC would bring a new market and a Tesco food store to the town centre. The Tesco was allocated an acre of Showground and the Bowling Club was reconfigured. It looked very much like a threat to the future of Penistone's Agricultural Shows, particularly with access and parking problems. The Tesco opened on 30th August 2010. The Show committee put great effort into making it work. And it worked well.
The 2003 Show was its 150th year (not the 150th Show) and 2011 was declared as the 50th Show (the 139th to take place) since its post-war return. The Show had mostly kept to various August dates before moving to September at some point between 1950 and 1955. In modern times it continues to be held on the second Saturday of September.
Penistone Field in Trust
What we generally call the 'Showground' is bounded by a drystone wall on its upper edge and controlled by Barnsley Council, but it has a singular use - that of recreation (and perhaps grass-cutting for silage) and this is now protected by Royal Warrant. The Field in Trust does not strictly include land higher up the hill which was purchased by the Show committee for use as a continuation of the Showground.
As part of a scheme to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee of 2012, a national scheme was set up via the National Playing Fields Association 'Fields in Trust' (NFA FiT) to protect, by Royal Warrant, recreational land from being used for other purposes such as land development for building. Please note that 'protected' has a perverse definition in the world of Planning but is used correctly here. Following a popular public feedback exercise, the bid to class the Showground as a 'QEII Field in Trust' recreation field succeeded. The last time this had happened was on the death of King George V in 1936.
We could say that it started in 2005 when it looked (again) as though the land might be used for a housing development. Penistone Town Council then applied to register the Showground as a village green. That idea failed but the thought persisted into 2012 when nominations were invited for recreational areas throughout the UK and a voting system set up on the Internet.
In April 2014, Penistone 'Showground' (as it is universally known) received 395 votes, putting it in eighth place nationally out of more than 700 sites, which meant that its bid for protection was a success. On the strength of this, Barnsley Council (BMBC) received a grant of £27,000 to provide an Outdoor Fitness Area on the recreation ground, which was match-funded with the support of the six BMBC Penistone Ward councillors. Ten Outdoor Fitness apparatuses were set up on the field, near the Bowling Club and swings area. In April 2014, an official QEII Playing Field plaque was erected and dedicated in a small ceremony.
Barnsley Council (BMBC) announced this on their news page 'Playtime in Penistone Given a Royal Boost'
'Penistone recreation ground will be formally dedicated under the Fields in Trust, Queen Elizabeth ll Playing Fields Challenge, in celebration of the Queens Diamond Jubilee.'
The actual area of the protected recreational land is about 9.68 Acres (3.92 Hectares) and bounded by a drystone wall at the top, the Trans-Pennine Trail (former Woodhead Line railway), the rear of Tesco/Bowling Club wall, the lane by the garages, Back Lane and an area behind but not abutting Schole Avenue residents' gardens. Again the use of the word 'protected' here is the normal one, not the perverse definition employed by planners in a certain situation which means 'reserved for building.'
Although it had long been called 'The Showground' and was originally donated by a local farmer for recreational use by the people of the Penistone district before BMBC adopted it under Local Government Reorganisation in 1974. The official title on revised deeds was changed to 'Queen Elizabeth II Field (Penistone Recreation Ground).' (see 2012 timeline)
The field is used for more than the one-day Penistone Show. Occasional horse jumping events take place there. Also outdoor concerts, Penistone Armed Forces Day and Penistone Gala. Amongst the dog-walkers and picnickers, we might also find Impromptu football games, kites and skating in the attached Skate Park. Also fun runs and parkruns and other similar activities. The field gets used but less so the outdoor gymnasium by the Bowling Green.
This is so much better for our sanity than just another built-up area, which is what at one time it could have been destined for. All thanks to our late, great Queen and the Fields in Trust organisation. And to the local residents who voted to preserve the Showground for public recreation.
Hits and Misses
The Show had lapsed for a time following the Second World War, in a period of austerity. In Mr Perry's anecdotes above, you can read that it was rekindled on a small scale, almost a gala, in 1960 but it would gather strength year on year to be a great success. However the Show has had its share of luck. There were several near-cancellations to follow on. One was a gun siege in the 1980s, with armed police watching a house near the Showground and it made it to the national tv news. It was resolved in the nick of time and the Show could open as normal.
Other occasions have included animal diseases. The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) outbreaks among cattle in the 1980s and 1990s also threatened the Shows and ruined some farming and allied businesses. BSE was a form of dementia passed between animals on contact and for a while its cause was unknown. Although people did not normally catch a disease from eating scrapie-infected sheep products, BSE was different and people could catch the human variant 'Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease' by eating infected beef.
This was devastating to farming and huge numbers of cattle would have to be killed and incinerated to stop the spread. Wiki says: 'Over four million head of cattle were slaughtered in an effort to contain the outbreak, and 178 people died after contracting vCJD through eating infected beef.' The cause had been cattle feed which contained products derived from cattle and other animals such as sheep with scrapie. Cattle are vegetarian.
Cattle could also suffer from Foot and Mouth Disease. Most UK agricultural shows were cancelled in 2001 because of the disease but the 2001 Penistone Show was just able to proceed by banning livestock from the Showground. The disease undermined the fragile viability of Penistone's livestock market. People would be required to walk over carpet soaked in disinfectant to enter either the livestock market or the Showground entrance. The disease had knock-on effects to all manner of agricultural businesses, including those which supported the various agricultural shows.
Another national outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in 2007 almost prohibited livestock from being exhibited at Penistone Show. It was not as bad as the earlier outbreak and restrictions were lifted just in time to allow cattle and sheep to be exhibited.
Pictures
The first picture below is a tiny detail from the larger one above. The style of clothes is typical of around the turn of the 19th-20th century. It shows the florid style of dress which ladies wore and children wearing stiff white shirt collars in their Sunday Best clothes. Everyone wore a hat.
The second picture is an aerial view of the land used for the Show behind the Town Hall, the same location as the higher picture. Again you can see the white Station Row houses at the top. The building below it is the old New Connexion chapel which was built around the turn of the century and is now the Penistone clinic. The diagonal footpath emerged on to Lees Avenue before Church View Crescent was built (1960s). The muddy St Mary's Street gives evidence of the livestock comings and goings of the time.
The third picture was from 1974 and kindly contributed by Paul Fieldsend. It has Penistone Show on its current location on a sunny day but there were plenty of people wearing coats, so it was not very warm. That was a time of flared trousers, beards, love beads and miniskirts. Ladies of all ages would wear head scarves (or a 'Rainmate') to protect their hairdos from the exposed weather on the Showground. Many older men would have had a rolled-up 'Packamac' in a coat pocket for emergency use; a flimsy polythene 'waterproof' overcoat with built-in hood, fastened by press studs down the front.
The fourth picture here is the old Livestock Market in September 2002, after Foot and Mouth Disease in cattle had faded. It is not about the Show but tells us about restrictions which were imposed around that time to contain the disease and which were strictly observed both at the market and the Show. The sign reads: 'Public Right of Way. All footwear MUST be disinfected and entry and exit. Keep to the wall side and within the barriers.' For a time, there was a wide strip of disinfectant-soaked carpet at each entrance and people were encouraged to wet the soles of their shoes to reduce the spread. That area is the Tesco car park now. The road at the bottom is on the L-shaped Back Lane which persists to the present day but in two parts: Back lane off Scholes Avenue to the Bowling Club and Back Lane off Market Street to the Market Barn, Spread Eagle car park and 'Penistone 1.'
The Penistone Breed of Sheep
Also known as the Whitefaced Woodland, the Penistone breed is often exhibited at Penistone Show. It has a distinctive white face and legs, unlike its near-cousins with either black or speckled faces. It is relatively of a large size and has large horns. Originating near the Derbyshire border with Yorkshire, the Penistone breed is closely related to Linton Blackfaced Mountain sheep, with pinches of Cheviot and Merino thrown into the mix. The wool is finer than similar woodland types and of medium length at about 15cm. The mutton is said to be sweet.
This hardy breed is well-suited to the often harsh conditions on Penistone moors and fields and has been a great advantage to local farmers over the years. The wool produced used to be made into 'Penistones' which were strong coats which could withstand the local weather.
The agricultural society has always been keen to promote its use and there are always examples of this breed on display at the annual Show. Unfortunately, the numbers have fallen and it is now (2023) on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust 'Breeds at Risk Register' as a threatened species (Whitefaced Woodland Breed). See also the Whitefaced Woodland Sheep Society (Facebook).
Winston Churchill: 'It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.'
