Afternoon,

Anyone on here commute from Sheffield to Manchester daily? Starting a job in Manc in a month and the other half and I are looking at our options. She'll be working in Buxton with a couple of days a week in Chesterfirld/Bakewell/Matlock. We had been considering living in Manc (see this thread) until she found out how often she would be over Sheffield way. So, it's looking likely that I'll be commuting to Manc every day on the train.

Tell me it's not so bad. I don't think I'll mind commuting on the train as I don't see it as a waste of time (unlike driving).

Also, what areas of Sheffield would you recommend for living that aren't too far from the station? We have a pretty good idea already as the other half has lived in Sheffield for nearly 3 years.

Cheers in advance,
Jon

Where are you working in Manchester? City centre? If so, and you can get from your house to Sheffield station relatively easily it shouldn't be too bad. A guy at our office did it the other way for years, he lived in Manchester city centre, walked to Picadilly, train to Sheffield then tram to Sheff uni.

As you probably know, studentish areas to west of city centre but not too far out would suit, or maybe hillsborough and tram straight to station. Or, Dore / Totley is further out but has a station (though you may find you have to get train back into town and out again to arrive at work in time).

Obviously west side of Sheffield is best for mtb… (edge of peak).

I'll be working on Whitworth St. – 5 mins from Picadilly.

Yeah, west would be great for MTB. My girlfriend currently lives in Hillsborough near Malin Bridge tram stop. I'm always surprised at how quickly we're away from the city and in the peaks from there. I had considered that side of town but the tram would add an extra 20-30 mins to my travel time. I'd rather be at the station in 5-10 mins on a bike 😉

Really looking forward to having decent MTB only a few minutes away rather than an hour+ on the train or in a car (currently I live in York – flat as a pancake).

It might be a bit of a dull place to live, but what about Buxton? Trains to Manchester so it's about the same time to work for you. If she drives, it's dead easy to get to Bakewell & Matlock from there, and Chesterfield is a bit of hassle, but in Sheffield she'd have a worse drive than that 3 days a week to Buxton, then Bakewell is a hassle too, and Matlock is no easier?

It is a bit of an old people place I think, but there's gotta be a load of good riding near it?

Joe

sheffield is ace:) no where is really that far from the station on the way (it's pretty much all downhill to the station!). unless you go for the hillsborough option, it will all be uphill on the way back 🙂

i know people who commute both ways. the train is about 50mins on a fast one, 1hr15 on a slow one. Plenty of thinking time and catching up on emails seems to be the general opinion.

joemarshall – We had a drive out to Manc via Buxton on Saturday to scout some ares suggested on my previous post about living in Manc. Apart from the palces inside the M60, we couldn't see ourselves living in any of them. Yes, the riding would be ace from Buxton but I really don't want to live there. My GF isn't keen either as she'd be too close to her patients (she's a psychologist)!

cp – Yes, Sheffield is ace, both for it's closeness to the peaks for MTBing, its other sporting options (Sheffield Volleyball Club in particular) and everything that's going on there. I had noticed that everywhere was uphill from the station. I don't mind grinding away on my way home. I'll have a thesis to finish off on the train so I'd definitely be kept busy!

I can certainly recommend the bike/train commute. I now work in Rugby and live in Stoke. Driving would be a nightmare, in fact if I'd had to drive I don't think I'd have taken the job even though I was on the Rock n Roll.

Now though it's a 10 to 20 min ride to station in AM, down bank. and a 15 to 40 min ride home at night.

Last year I was working in Cannock/Brownhills area which meant I had to drive so I never rode my bike in the week at all. Even though it was half the distance that Rugby is I'm only out of the house about 75 mins longer and about that is just down to poor timing of finishing work and train home.

Trains have only let me down twice in 4 months, which I think is remarkable. Ok maybe not good but going on the horror stories you hear about train travel I would have expected a major upset at least once in a fortnight, so I feel I am well ahead of the curve! And I have had decent monetary compensation for both incidents.

I find I can snooze, listen to music, read and I even now chat to some fellow travellers. (TBH I get on better with people on the train than people at my new job!)

Hope it works out as good for you.

Cheers for that response. Great to hear that it's not all doom and gloom on the trains!

I agree that driving is totally out of the question. I wouldn't dream of doing that to myself!

Having a big hill to ride up everyday can't be a bad for me…except maybe in winter when it can get a little icy in Sheffield.