By common consent, the fifth Yorkshire Heritage Summit, held in Barnsley on March 25^th, was the best yet.

Over 60 delegates crowded into the lovely Old Arts School studio at Barnsley Civic to attend the morning’s Symposium and hear inspiring talks from three very distinguished speakers.

Dr Tegwyn Roberts, Heritage Development Manager for Wakefield Council, gave a highly entertaining account of how much had been achieved in nearby Barnsley’s Heritage Action Zones, by engaging with ordinary people – especially young people – using music, spoken and  written words and the visual arts, to connect people with their heritage and enable young people in particular to share stories from older generations.

It is no coincidence that Barnsley now also enjoys one of the best economic growth rates of any town in Yorkshire as people take pride in their town. Professor Richard Morris, author and historian, raised some challenging issues about how we decide what is meant by “Yorkshireness” and why we constantly re-define “heritage” as our perceptions change and society changes.

Finally, Yorkshire Wildlife CEO, Rachael Bice, gave insight into how nature reserves and wildlife habitat protection shapes who we are. As well as adapting to a rapidly changing climate, one of the challenges of our time – if we achieve greater nature recovery we will be to revive local knowledge and skills to enable us to learn to live with re-introduced species.

Left to right: Dr Tegwyn Roberts, Prof Richard Morris, Rachel Bice and Society volunteer Colin Speakman.

All three speakers then led a Plenary Session during which some challenging questions were raised by audience members, including how voluntary groups in our Region need to engage with wider communities, young people and, in rural areas, farming communities.

Complementing the Symposium, 37 mainly voluntary heritage and conservation groups filled the wonderful Assembly Theatre for the Exhibition in the afternoon where the public could enjoy displays and have a lively chat with a wide range of experts from local heritage organisations.

Opened officially by the 155th Mayor of Bransley, Cllr David Leech (and cosort), not only was this an opportunity for all groups to promote their work, attract new audiences and even new members, it was a chance to meet and make new friendships, share ideas and above all work together for wider conservation ideals and Yorkshire’s cultural identity.

The 2026 Yorkshire Heritage Summit in Barnsley will be a very hard act to follow in 2027, but The Yorkshire Society are already making plans to do so. The summit is the annual event that highlights the work of organisations concerned with the promotion or protection of any aspect of Yorkshire’s heritage.

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If you have any questions, please email heritage@theyorkshiresociety.org