A BBC Four documentary on Barry Hines’ book, A Kestrel for a Knave, is set to air next week featuring TV star Greg Davies.

The actor, 51, famous for his role in the E4 comedy series The Inbetweeners, came to Barnsley last month to interview Ronnie Steele, Richard Hines and Milly Johnson for the upcoming documentary, Greg Davies: Looking for Kes.

The documentary will see Greg, who is also an ex-English teacher, go in search of the book’s enduring appeal, travelling to Barnsley, where the book was set and where Ken Loach’s adaptation of the book, Kes, was filmed.

It will also see Greg meet a number of Barry Hines’s friends and family, visit places where Barry used to socialise and visit the site where Barry Hines’ brother Richard, found his own Kestrel.

The programme will air at 9pm tonight.

ELDERLY residents are facing a ‘25-minute walk’ from the nearest bus stop to their home following a bus service change which means half a village has no busses serving it.

Great Houghton residents were hit with service changes in August, following a public consultation. The 219 and 219a services were changed in a move Stagecoach said was to ‘improve punctuality’.

Coun Dorothy Higginbottom, along with members of the Great Houghton Reading Room, gathered to discuss the changes three months on and they believe the service is ‘inadequate’.

“The service is erratic and five journeys have been cut in the afternoon,” said Dorothy.

We feel as if we have been abandoned. There is one bus now that heads to Doncaster. You have to get two busses to Wombwell and three busses if you want to go to Cortonwood.

“The bus only services half the village, if you live at the top you have to walk around 25 minutes just get to the bus stop and you’re lucky if it turns up on time. If you’re returning with shopping in your hand, you’ve a long way to go.

“The service is isolating the elderly especially because they can’t get out and about. It’s also making things difficult for people in the village who have young families and need to use busses never mind disabled people.

“The X19 bus doesn’t stop in Great Houghton so you’d face a long walk if you get off at the stop at the top of Doncaster Road. 

“The bus should be there to serve people and not for profit. The places that pay more should make for the people that don’t.” 

During the Reading Room group meeting, residents suggested that the issue could be fixed if the 219 and 219a services were swapped, which would mean the whole village would be served and there would be opportunity for people to go into Doncaster.

John Young, commercial director at Stagecoach Yorkshire said: “A consultation was held during the summer proposing changes to buses 219 and 219a, encouraging customers and local people to provide feedback on the proposed changes.

“The services link a number of communities between Barnsley, Goldthorpe and Doncaster. 107 responses were received. Around 13,000 customers travel on the service every week.

“The changes to the 219/219a service came in from August 31 and were necessary in order to improve punctuality caused by worsening traffic congestion and to protect the long term future of the local bus network.

“Great Houghton is still served by two buses per hour during Monday to Saturday daytime. One covers the full extent of the village while the other turns at the Miners Welfare.

“Following the consultation, the proposals were amended so that all morning peak buses in both directions serve the full extent of Great Houghton to cater for commuters and to ensure access to education and training.

“We do have to address punctuality concerns and match supply and demand more closely, especially as less people are catching the bus due to lifestyle changes. All users of the service will benefit from improved punctuality and many people now have a more direct journey as a result of the changes.”

A POLICE community support officer (PCSO) from Barnsley has been awarded for going ‘above and beyond’ to ensure the deaf members of his community feel supported and have confidence in their police force.

PCSO Tom Berry, who is described as being ‘incredibly enthusiastic’ and performing at a level ‘far beyond his short length of service’, is part of the Barnsley South East Neighbourhood Team and covers the Dearne area of Barnsley.

After hearing that members of the local deaf community lacked confidence and understanding of the police, which would leave crimes unreported, Tom set out to change this.

The officer set up meetings with a local deaf group Deafinitions to understand the issues they face and how he could resolve them.

With communication barriers, he created an educational presentation that raised awareness on how to report crimes and the SMS text service available for those who cannot call 999.

To commend his actions, Tom won the award for PSCO of the Year for his actions at the district’s awards, held at the Town Hall last Wednesday.

Chief Superintendent Scott Green who presented PC Berry with his award said: “PC Berry was awarded this award in recognition of the excellent work he has carried out to protect the vulnerable members of his community.

“He should be proud of his efforts and achievements; he is a worthy recipient of this award.”