Planes, Trains and Automobiles! Well, minus the planes and trains! On a sweltering summer Sunday we enabled the Friends of Locke Park to open the tower to the general public whilst the classic car show was on in the park. Two of us turned up at the tower ready to start our shift, but found that they currently had a couple of volunteers in attendance and not too many visitors. Because of this we were informed that it may be best if we had lunch and came back a little later on to relieve the other volunteers before the numbers started to swell later in the day. We used this time to peruse the copious amounts of classic cars covering the park. We saw hot rods, contemporary classics and a variety of vintage vehicles.

Car-b loading for park-running

When we arrived back at the tower, James was assigned to the middle floor. Only a certain number of people were allowed up the tower at a time to prevent congestion and to keep everyone safe. The role of the middle floor volunteer was to funnel people out of the staircase onto the balcony, and then keep them there until enough people had descended from the top floor, before sending a quota up. There is only room for 8ish people on the top balcony, not to mention the impossibility of passing on the narrow stairs. People were keen to get to the top and oft needed calling back from their speedy ascents of the spiral staircase, trying to bypass the first floor entirely.

Our other volunteer, Cheryl, was on duty on the ground floor, meeting and greeting visitors, and setting a fun challenge for the kids (and some keen adults) to do in the tower. The kids were asked to count all of the steps in the tower and report back the correct number in order to win a much coveted sticker! I didn't count the number myself but I heard there were disputes on the exact number to the first floor, depending on whether you counted the floor itself; it was 28/9. A fabulous time was had by all today, and the tower provided a cool haven from the heatwave outside. Masses of visitors got to experience the 360 degree views of Barnsley from the top thanks to all of the volunteers in attendance. Fabbo job all!