I’ve been continuing with adding new images to the South Yorkshire section of the website recently and, having covered Barnsley last year on a summer’s afternoon I had been intending for a while to get back there and photograph the lovely Portland stone Town Hall in morning light and at dusk.

The front of the building was lit nicely in morning sunshine and the early spring flowers in the gardens around the war memorial were in full bloom so the morning shoot was quite quick and easy to complete.  Obviously it was quite a while to wait until dusk for the second half of the shoot, so I hopped on the train, changed at Meadowhall and went to have a look at Rotherham…

This was my first visit and I’d saved it until last of the larger South Yorkshire towns, not expecting a great deal to photograph, but I was pleasantly surprised with the town centre.  Right in the centre, Rotherham Minster is a fabulous old building and there’s a nice stainless steel sculpture entitled the Heart of Steel in Minster Gardens.  This is a replica of the heart for the upcoming Yorkshire Man of Steel by artist Steve Mehdi.  I did photograph the whole thing, but rather liked the more abstract close-ups of it!

There’s another great steel sculpture in the square in front of the Town Hall off Moorgate entitled The Millennium Cyclist.  There didn’t appear to be a credit on the sign but a bit of Googling revealed that it’s by Andy Fealey.

After a visit to Clifton Park, home to the remains of Templeborough Roman Granary no less, along with a great free museum in the Georgian Clifton Park House, I headed back to the station having a quick look at the chapel on Rotherham Bridge on the way.

Back in Barnsley, as twilight approached, the lights in the fountain in Barnsley Pals Centenary Square next to the town hall came on making an interesting long exposure subject in the fading light – a bit different to photographing the building itself, which was also nicely lit.

For more images, visit the South Yorkshire gallery on the website.