With Norman churches, Roman roads and Victorian inventors making up just a few chapters in its rich history, Barton certainly has a heritage worth shouting about.  That’s exactly what the Historic Barton blog is here to do.

We’ll be looking at the places and people who made this town great, such as St Peter’s, and Chad Varah to name just two.  We’ll be commemorating important milestones in the town, like the 200th birthday of Trinity Methodist Church last Sunday, as well as looking forward to celebrations of the town’s ever evolving culture, like the great Lantern Parade on November 26^th.  Finally, we’ll be covering the special things that keep Barton’s heritage alive from day to day, whether they are high street shops, museum exhibitions, or residents with a tale to tell.

Our mission is to take a heritage that is worth shouting about and to well and truly shout about it.  While many Barton residents know a good bit about the town’s rich heritage, not many people from further afield know that we have one of Britain’s oldest surviving churches or one of its longest pre-20th-century buildings.  Our mission is to change that and to bring more people into our lovely town in the process.

Of course, there will be plenty in the blog for well-informed Bartonians as well.  Did you know for example that Barton was home to not one, but two of Britain’s best-loved comic Dans?  Because while Ken Harrison was drawing that rambunctious rogue Desperate Dan, Chad Varah (he of Samaritans fame) was writing the stories for Dan Dare.  That was one of the more recent nuggets we dug up from the rich seam that is Barton’s past, but there’s so much to choose from.

So, who will be doing the choosing?

This blog is just a small part of the Arts Council Funded Past Forward Project, which is designed to make the most of Barton’s great heritage for the town and the people who live in it.

I am Jamie Smith, and I am responsible (some might say culpable) for everything written in the blog.  Joanne Marwood is the new group’s social face, especially when it comes to Facebook, Twitter and the training classes we will be running for volunteers.

Also on board is Abbie Padwick who will be responsible for much of the imagery for the project.

Next week we’ll be getting into the swing of things by looking at the huge number of books on Barton, particularly Anthony Berridge’s soon to be released book, The Railway Comes to Barton on Humber: 1844 – 1914, – The Later History of Barton on Humber: Part Seven.