hear my voice – this is my home€¦ · p.20 song lyrics and verses, ... and ghazal inspired...

An anthology of poetic words, haikus, Ghazal inspired verse and stories.

Hear My Voice –

This Is My Home

2 Haikus – Barnsley and My Home – 3

Acknowledgements‘Hear My Voice- This is my Home’ has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, in partnership with Hear My Voice (funded and supported by Barnsley TUC Training Ltd) and delivered by Barnsley Museums.The project would have not been made possible without the following champions; Hayley Youell, Helen Boutle, Gemma Geldart, Simon Grainger, Amy-Rose Aitkinson, Emma Wilde, Anthony Carr, Khalid Ashraf (Leeds Involving People) and all the wonderful staff and participants at My Barnsley Too and Wednesday’s Voice, St George’s Church, ‘In Your Shoes’ Barnsley LGBT Mind Group and Barnsley Deaf Forum.

This Is My Home

4 – 5IntroductionHEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME

Contents

p.6 Haikus, created with members of My Barnsley Too and Wednesday’s Voice

p.10 Quotes, and Ghazal inspired poetic verse, created with members of the Iranian Community St George’s Church

p.20 Song lyrics and verses, created with members of ‘In Your Shoes’ Barnsley LGBT Mind Group and Simon Grainger

p.24 Quotes and stories, as told by members of Barnsley’s Deaf Forum

p.34 A Place to be Me (collaborative)

Introduction

‘Hear My Voice- This Is My Home’ has focused on the memories, feelings, thoughts and stories of communities across Barnsley, who have recorded their voices about our ever changing town.

The project has worked with St George’s Church Iranian Community, ‘In Your Shoes’ LGBT Mind Group, My Barnsley Too and Wednesday’s Voice, and Barnsley Deaf Forum, with the theme of ‘home’ in its widest sense. Where people have come from, what they consider to be their homes in Barnsley and beyond, how they felt growing up here, settling here, getting around here, raising their families here, and expressing themselves and their identity here.

Barnsley is a town changing in its demographic and diversity, all members of the project were encouraged to tell their own personal stories, through poetry, prose and song. The groups have worked with professional artists, song writers, deaf musicians and oral historians, to bring their own thoughts and feelings to this anthology.

An exhibition of poetry and film has been created to display in Barnsley in March 2018, as part of the Hear My Voice Festival. Voice recordings and transcripts have been deposited in Barnsley Archives, our film created in BSL is available to view on Barnsley Museums’ YouTube and this anthology has been made available through Barnsley Libraries and online. Through the project, the Sound and Film Archive in Barnsley Archives has become more diverse and representative of the Barnsley population, with these voices being available in it for the first time.

We hope you enjoy reading their words.

6 – 7

Barnsley is my home No one here says town centre They always say tarn!

Barnsley born and bred Homemade: I was born at home Somewhere I feel safe

More than just a house I have moved around a lot Home is a suitcase

Straight talking people Honest, blunt, come across rude I like Yorkshire folk

Yes, I’m anglo sax This will always be my home I won’t go back

Haikus – Barnsley and My Home

My Barnsley Too and Wednesday’s Voice Making a right mess The town centre is changing To make it better

Historical town We are famous for mining Dad was a miner

All meet together Good being around people Close community

I am from Barnsley “Flat cap and whippet?” is what People always ask

I left, I came back Always come back to Barnsley The familiar

Haikus – Barnsley and My HomeHEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME

8 – 9

Engaging in groups Good to know what’s going off Opened my world

It’s my second home Over the border and back Nowhere like Barnsley

Through volunteering I feel more part of Barnsley Than I have before

It makes you feel safe Getting away from it all That is what home is

It’s an attitude A bad one? No a good one I’m twice proud, twice proud

Home is the people Rather than the things I do Barnsley is My Barnsley too

Sat in same four walls I want someone to talk to I’m lonely at home

Talking to people I can bring my problems here An ear to listen

Had low confidence I didn’t have friends before Here I feel better

Here I feel I’m safe A lot of people around It makes me happy

It has changed a lot If I can put it that way Welcome to Barnsley

Dusty you can smell Four years until new market Like a building site

If an alien Came down from space to Barnsley I’d say come in peace

HEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME Haikus – Barnsley and My Home

HEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME

Quotes, and Ghazal inspired poetic transcript – My Home

Iranian Community, St George’s Church Barnsley

“If you are a good person, wherever you go, that place is good for you.”

اگر شما انسان خوبی باشید، هر کجا بروید، آنجا جای خوبیستبرای شما

Quotes, and Ghazal inspired poetic transcr ipt – My Home – 11 10

“It doesn’t matter where you live, where your family is, is home.”

مهم نیست کجا زندگی می کنید، هر جایی که خانواده شما هست،همانجا خانه است

HEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME 12 – 13

The Heaven of the World : Our HomeIranian Community, St George’s Church Barnsley

The capital of the world, the heaven of the world He says he misses there, I think we all do, our home

پایتخت دنیا، بهشت روی زمیناو می گوید، دلش برای آنجا تنگ شده است، فکر می کنم همه ما

نسبت به خانه مان همینطور هستیم

It’s beautiful, a really old family place, With all of this beauty there is no freedom, in the land we call home

،بسیار زیباست، منزل قدیمی خانوادگیبا تمام زیبایی در سرزمینی که ما خانه می نامیم، آزادی نیست

It’s proper warm but its proper cold as well You can feel the four seasons in the place we call home

هم بسیار گرم ولی در عین حال خیلی سرد هم هستدر جایی که ما آنرا خانه می نامیم، می توانید چهار فصل سال را

احساس کنید

بهشت روی زمین : منزل ما

The Heaven of the World : Our Home

Gorgeous flowers in the city, night rides up on the hill Poets, kings and castles, lots of things to say about our home

گلهای زیبا در شهر، ماشین سواری شبانه در کوه کمرهاشعرا، پادشاهان و قلعه ها، گفتنی های زیادی در مورد منزل ما هست

We had everything there, then we have to start again with nothing People here won’t see you as part of this country, or part of them, of their home

در آنجا دارای همه چیز بودیم، حال باید دوباره از هیچ شروع کنیم ،مردم اینجا شما را جزء این کشور، یا جزئی از خودشان و یا از خانه خود نمی بینند

The unexpected thing to leave everything behind, you have nothing To take your life and move not knowing when you’ll next be home

این غیر منتظره بود که همه چیز را پشت سر رها کنید، وقتی آه نداری


وقتی دل بکنی و جابجا بشوی، اما ندانی چه وقت دوباره به منزل باز می گردیNo-one was there when they took us, alone and scared at night We didn’t have anybody, we didn’t know anybody: this is now home

وقتی ما را گرفتند، هیچ کس آنجا نبود، تنها و ترسان شبانهما تنها و بی کس بودیم، هیچ کس را نمی شناختیم؛ حال اینجا منزل است

We didn’t have the things we should have had, at 6pm shops close It’s difficult for us to understand the culture in our new home

چیزهایی که باید داشتیم را نداشتیم، ساعت 6 عصر مغازه ها بسته می شوندبرای ما درک فرهنگ جدید در منزل جدید مان دشوار است

For him it’s 14 days; he says “2 months, 10 days” Last winter he was camping in Greece, now 8 months from home

،“برای او 14 روز است؛ او می گوید “دو ماه، 10 روززمستان پیش او یونان در چادری بسر می برد، حال 8 ماه از خانه دور شده است

To have the same life, to be the same you as you were before At zero we start from the bottom, with nothing of home

برای اینکه همان زندگی را داشته باشی، برای اینکه همان شخصی باشی که بودیدوباره ما از صفر شروع می کنیم، هیچ چیز از النه و آشیانه نداریم

Shaped by our family, its culture and its thoughts

If my mother is not here how can I call this place home?

ما با خانواده، فرهنگ و افکار خانواده شکل گرفته ایم، اگر مادرم اینجا نیست چطور

The Heaven of the World : Our Home

می توانم اینجا را منزل بخوانم؟Home is where your family is, where you belong

It doesn’t matter where you live, where family is, is home

منزل جایی است که خانواده آنجاست، جایی که شما به آنجا تعلق داریدمهم نیست کجا زندگی می کنید، هر جایی که خانواده شما هست، همانجا خانه است

An atmosphere to feel safe, to feel loved A village, city or town, a community, your house and your home

محیطی که در آن احساس امنیت باشد، جایی که احساس کنی دوستت دارندیک دهکده، شهر بزرگ یا شهر کوچک، یک جامعه، خانه تو، منزل تو

Still in mind, the long journey and what we have seen The only place our mind is free and that we found peace is here, at home

هنوز سفر دراز و چیزهایی که دیدیم در حافظه نقش بسته استتنها جایی که فکر ما آزاد است و تنها جایی که در آن آرامش را

یافته ایم، همین خانه است

Now with friends, a place to meet, here is family To feel you can be yourself in here, a little piece of home.

حال در کنار دوستان، جایی برای مالقات، خانواده اینجاستجایی که می توانی خودت باشی، یک قطعه ای از منزل

To listen to a recording of this peom, search on Youtube: Hear My Voice - The Heaven of the World : Our Home


House or HomeIranian Community, St George’s Church Barnsley

House or home it’s a privacy it’s either for the person or for a family it’s where you feel safe in there, you feel loved in there, you’ve got the good atmosphere in there

And that house or a home it will become part of a community, either a village or a city or a town... and now you think your country is a part of the world community, where you can be safe there...

but sadly we wasn’t safe there, we had to leave there, we lost everything, family, house, everything and we had to leave there …. We weren’t safe there so we had to leave everything behind and come here.

We came to this country, we feel really good because we’re safe... but on the other side there’s a lot of problems as well... one of them is culture, it’s different between people … one of them is language, that most people have got a problem with it, it takes time to get used to it and to fit yourself It feels really difficult.

House or Home

We had everything there and then we have to start all over again and we’re in the position that we have nothing, and obviously most of the people here won’t see you as a part of this country or part of them. That’s why it’s difficult.

The first night when they took us to Darfield, it was me and my mum and I was only fourteen, it was at night, we couldn’t see anything obviously, and we felt really scared because obviously there was nothing around yet... no one was there it was really quiet we didn’t have anybody, we didn’t know anybody, not any shops around us, it was quite scary. Obviously it was difficult for us.

We didn’t have the much things that we should have had, obviously we were far away from town, we didn’t know anybody. After months we found out about church, we found out about church to find friends...


When we found this church we found either Persian friends or English friends, any nationality... We felt really good. My mum says if you live somewhere for a long time, you get used to that place and that place becomes your home. We’re really happy and we feel really safe because we’ve found lots of friends Persian, English … We know Barnsley, especially Darfield, our home.

They spent a long time on their way to here, they see lots of stuff and they experience lots of different things on their way, on the journey, that when they get here or some place they still have to think about that and there’s still a lot of things going on in their mind … The only place that our mind is free and that we feel we found peace is here that we think about every experience less than before, and we’ve got peace in here.

House or Home

If you move from your country, it’s really difficult to get settled and get used to that place, it’s really difficult, you leave everything behind, you have nothing …. It’s just the unexpected thing, you didn’t expect to move either so you leave everything behind you have nothing, even your clothes, you have to leave everything behind, and take your life and move, so it’s difficult to get settled.

We will never be able to have the life that we used to have, here: the job, the house … obviously you have to learn languages, it takes a long, long time. You have to start everything from the bottom, from zero, so it’s obviously difficult to get to have the same life, to be the same you as you were before.


Song Lyrics and Verses — ‘In Your Shoes’

Barnsley LGBT Mind Group

Song 1

Verse

The home inside my heart Is going through strong emotion Where the journey did start I’m looking back to the horizon I shall go back to home More afraid and alone

Chorus

Now the time has come to let go Of the home where I became so strong Where I could find my space to grow Bare and worn now the shadows have gone

Song Lyr ic s and Verses – ‘In Your Shoes’ Barnsley LGBT Mind Group – 2121

Verse

This peace inside my mind Is going through a transition Where I’m hoping to find A hopeful life and a conclusion In my home I will dance Small moments of chance

Bridge

Soaked through the walls are indentations Audio and faces of my past No more Tears no more Confrontations Memories are always meant to last


Poems from — ‘In Your Shoes’

Barnsley LBGT Mind group

Home is the place you are safe Home is the place you are wanted Home is the place you are loved Home is the place you are strong

Poems from – ‘In Your Shoes’ Barnsley LGBT Mind Group – 2322

You tried to dance the modern dance Lost yourself in new romance But so did every other town They ripped you up and tore you down And now you’re just like everywhere Homogenic glass and square Multiplex and coffee shops Chain stores, phones, designer socks

You’re trying to be something you’re not lost your heart And you forgot To be yourself and be unique To be the brave one Take a leap Where people came from miles around To visit you and hear your sound

Casa Disco, Barnsley Town Andy’s records is closing down Japanese Whispers, Last bus home Pollyannas, stripped to the bone, Our Price became a joke Woolworths just before they broke Charlies Bar and Vinyl Tap Rest in peace, we turned our backs City Centre Sun gone down Shadows in this empty town The silence of the fading noise The low spark of the high heeled boys

Didn’t feel myself at home So I had to go and make my own Lose yourself as I step into me The voyage of discovery

So go out with your head held high Into this world we call life Don’t be scared Just be brave No one else can take your place

And my only escape The dancing nights The music plays, the flashing lights They took away but never gave back The silence of the endless track

The ghosts of dancefloors still remain So no more tears for you again


“I’m very happy at home!! Comfortable, secure at home. Good life and contented. Reading, T.V, get together with friends. Family is important.”

“I was born in Barnsley. Barnsley area is beautiful. Peace. Young boy- no television- go to cinema, game, party. Old Deaf Club was perfect.”

At Home:

Quotes and Stories —Barnsley Deaf Forum

“Home is peace…I love peace. I love watching movies. I love my art and I love my family and friends. So family to me is home.”

Quotes and Stor ies – Barnsley’s Deaf Forum – 2524

Our Deaf Community:

“It’s important, the deaf community. Everybody can use their own language to talk. When you’re with hearing people it’s completely different.”

“In the Deaf Club I had this confidence, I could relax, I could be myself. I could use my own language and understand people clearly, the jokes and everybody’s interests, their lives, what they’d been up to. We could talk about problems and issues. I used to go there every week at Broadway. First it was St Augustine’s, it was a church and then it closed down, and then we went to Broadway and that was for 20 years.”


Memories of St Augustine’s and the Deaf Community.

It started in 1953 and we were there to 1970. That’s where people met and it was based in Kingstone. Opposite to St Edward’s Church was St Augustine’s. So there were 2 churches opposite each other.

I can remember I was about 12. I was 12 the first time I went to St Augustine’s because there was a party for deaf children, so I was invited to go. And then at 16, when I left school I joined St Augustine’s as a member. I didn’t know what it meant at that time. It should have been called Barnsley Deaf Club but it wasn’t, it was called St Augustine’s. We used to play against hearing teams. We used to play cricket, we were known as St Augustine’s Cricket Club. If there were indoor games on an evening like snooker and darts we played in the local leagues. So if any hearing teams saw the name St Augustine’s, they would know it was the deaf team.

Quotes and Stor ies – Barnsley’s Deaf Forum – 2726

We met within the church. A lot of people went to that church, there might have been 80 deaf people there on a Saturday. On a Sunday we would be there again, maybe 50 deaf people went to the church every week. Then on a Wednesday night we would play snooker, darts. Hearing people came along and we would play in the local league and we really enjoyed ourselves. Once there was a Christmas party and the Mayor came. Then we were told that this had to close in 1970. We were told we had to close, and we didn’t know why. They said it was because they were going to build a new road so St Augustine’s Church was going to be pulled down, so we had to move and we moved to Broadway. We changed the name to Barnsley Deaf Club, so St Augustine’s finished.

However, I have to say that St Augustine’s Church was never pulled down. They just put it up for sale and its now been converted into a gym.

When we moved to Broadway the numbers started to drop. I don’t feel it’s the same now. It was a lot better at St Augustine’s. We had our own key, we could open up when we wanted. Deaf people worked there as cleaners, we had access to the church. The council covered the cost of gas and electricity. We were really happy there, but then we moved to Broadway and it got worse over the years.

Deaf Club, Access Challenges and the work of the Deaf Forum

I was born here in Barnsley and I have lived in Barnsley all my life. When I was about 7 or so I realised my parents were deaf. I didn’t know about the deaf club until my father took me to Kingstone Deaf Club and they were all adults using sign language. I was a child at that time and they all said “You are Deaf” and I shook hands with people. About 1960, I used to go regularly particularly on a Saturday night. I learnt to play billiards and darts and bingo. We had cinema. There was an old cinema projector there. I played dominos. Then I went back to school at Doncaster and I used to think about the Deaf Club in Barnsley. My father played snooker, darts and a variety of other deaf people I knew, too. I really enjoyed going with them. I would pick out the certain dates that I knew would be a good competition. I would then go to school and be really excited about going on a Friday night again.

The numbers dropped over the years. After 5 years it all changed. The Deaf Centre moved when I was about 15 to Broadway and we stopped all these competitions, these indoor games. We weren’t involved in the league and we only got to go to Broadway on a Saturday. We just played bingo and bingo and bingo. I wasn’t happy with that. Then at Broadway, Mr Chapman the old missioner there said that we would have to share a building with other disabled people there, but we didn’t like that. We just wanted to be deaf people together. He left and the numbers just got less, and less and less. Then I got married and never went to the Deaf Club after that.

Quotes and Stor ies – Barnsley’s Deaf Forum – 2928 HEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME

Quotes and Stor ies – Barnsley’s Deaf Forum – 3130 HEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME

When I got divorced I had to find out about where the Deaf Club was. They told me it was at the cricket club, so then we went to another establishment where deaf and hearing people were mixing together. Obviously the old members died off and we weren’t getting new members coming in. Then we tried to get a place in Honeywell and we eventually did. The numbers increased and the numbers dropped but hopefully in the future things will improve. We don’t know what will happen.

I grew up in Barnsley and I have been happy in Barnsley. Mixing with lots of older deaf people but all things have changed now. There is no access to services. I got involved in the forum and we are campaigning to the council to improve things and give us access to interpreters for us to go to the GPs and hospitals and things like that.

Problems at home for me, I don’t have access to a telephone. If I need something in an emergency I have problems. I used to have a fax machine but because English is not my first language I have difficulties writing things down so it’s difficult to use a fax machine. Nowadays, texting that is a bit of an improvement now, mobiles have helped deaf people communicate. And obviously deaf people need different doorbell systems as they can miss people coming to the house. So now we have new systems, pagers on the belt…so if we know that the council are going to visit us we can wear our pagers in the home and they connect to the doorbell. Before there used to be flashing lights, but now we have pagers which are better. The reason pagers are better is that you can be anywhere in the house, where if it’s a flashing light you have to be in the same room as the lights flash.

Small things are improving for deaf people over the years. Nowadays, things are better than they were before. I think deaf people suffered a lot in the past but I hope things will improve in the future. We used to rely on the missioner and social workers, we don’t have that now so we have to rely on interpreters but the problem with interpreters is that it can take 2-3 weeks to book an interpreter. But the Forum is helping us, we are getting access to interpreters and things are improving.

I recently went to the Police station and talked about hate crime and we were given the information through an interpreter. So we want people to be aware that we want access to things, subtitles, we want access to interpreters. Things are improving.


I was born in Barnsley...

I was born in Barnsley. My parents and all my family, they are all hearing. I’m actually the only one who is deaf…

I am trying to encourage myself, to get into the deaf community. A lot of deaf people have said that they have heard about a shortage of deaf people in the community and there aren’t as many of us around anymore. I had a partner, who had ushers. It hit me a lot, I learnt a lot of things and it made me realise I want to help people…I missed out on meeting deaf people or getting together socially… I was a family person, I never wanted to get involved in the politics or the arguments surrounding deaf life… It’s quite difficult though cos you don’t really know what access you can get in Barnsley.

– 3332 Quotes and Stor ies – Barnsley’s Deaf Forum

I was born hearing...

I then saved my money and bought my first car. I passed my driving test first time. I used to drive to work. Hearing people would be surprised. “He is deaf- deaf people can’t drive.” They would see me driving home in my car and they would have to sit or stand in the rain waiting for a bus and the buses were always late, but they thought it was brilliant for me to use the car to get home. Hearing people tried to pass their test but they were failing and they couldn’t understand how I had passed my test. And I would say that I would feel the engine through the clutch and the brake and the accelerator. I would feel the engine and the vibrations and that is how I passed.

I was born hearing and then at the age of 5 I fell down the stairs and banged my head and it made me become deaf. I went to Doncaster Residential School for Deaf Children from the 1950s to 1981. I left school in 1981. My first job was working in the Town Hall. I was an apprentice painter and decorator. The first time I came into the Town Hall they provided me with a cup of tea, then they taught me how to paint. They offered me an apprenticeship and I did that for 5 years. I passed the apprenticeship- so I have worked here at the Town Hall many times. I have worked at Cannon Hall as well and I’ve done a number of schools too. I worked for the Council for 40 years. I retired when I was 55.

In 1962 I joined St Augustine’s Deaf Club. We met deaf people there. We played indoor games like darts, snooker, cards. We were in the local leagues playing local hearing teams. We also played other Deaf centres like Leeds and Sheffield, so we were in a number of leagues. We also had a football team. We had table-tennis teams and a cricket team. I enjoyed playing with my deaf friends.

My family all finger spell. I feel Barnsley, Worsbrough Common, I used to live there- that is home for me.

34 – 35

It was a strange place for me- I didn’t know anybody. My neighbours were very good to me…Our neighbour was a friend of my husband’s mother and she would come round and advise me what to do. Advise me about going to work because I was stuck at home with nothing to do. I went to the Deaf Club at St Augustine’s and I met the social worker there. The social worker told me to come into the office, at Town End office. My husband would go to work everyday so I went in there to look for a job. It was difficult to get a job in those days. Then at home, I walked down the hill. There was a bakery at the bottom of the hill, it was called Potts. Because I used to work as a baker before I got married and I liked doing that work I went in and asked for

I was born in Wales...

a job. The boss said “Ok”. He said “Yes, you start Monday.” So I was quite excited about starting on a Monday. It was a full time job and I would walk, starting off at Kendray at 7 0’clock in the morning after my husband had gone to work. Walk down the hill and the people in the place were very good to me. They didn’t know sign language though and we didn’t have access to interpreters in those days so I had to learn to lip read my colleagues. Someone told me what to do and I really enjoyed working there for 2 years. After 2 years I got pregnant and I left. I had a baby girl so I had to stay at home again with my baby. Again the neighbours were very good to me and then I met deaf friends the same sort of age as me and they were all pregnant or had young babies so we’d go out for walks together.

I was born in Wales. Then I met my husband in 1965 at a British Deaf Association holiday in North Wales. I married him in 1966 and I came to live in Barnsley.

HEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME A place to be me.

A place to be me.

Home is… being with my family, my people, there is love, there is my home, where I am most content.

Home is… a suitcase full of precious things, a comfortable coat, a snuggly blanket.

Home is… where I feel most listened to, being myself in that moment, singing and jiving and aaaahhhhhh.

Home is… jangling keys, the fumble on the doorstep. Bellowing laughter, the blasting TV, a whistling kettle. A barking hello, forever waiting for me.

Going home is despair, always a chance of loneliness, head down on the pillow, heartache, hard times.

Home is… caring and being cared for. Taking off my legs and eyelashes, loosing the pretence. Being myself completely, I can be free.

Home is… where I am, a place to be me.

HEAR MY VOICE – THIS IS MY HOME 36 Haikus – Barnsley and My Home – 37

With thanks to

St George’s Church Iranian Community, ‘In Your Shoes’ Barnsley LGBT Mind Group, My Barnsley Too and Wednesday’s Voice and Barnsley Deaf Forum.

hear my voice – this is my home€¦ · p.20 song lyrics and verses, ... and ghazal inspired...

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