Chesterfield

From Hitchwiki

Chesterfield is a historic market town and local government district in Derbyshire, a county in England. The town is known for its Crooked Spire and traditional market. The town lies 30 miles north of Derby, and 12 miles south of Sheffield. The town is linked to the M1 motorway by junctions 30 (used primarily by northbound traffic via A619) and 29 (used primarily by southbound traffic via A617). The town is not fantastic for hitching out of (it's difficult to find a safe place for a car to stop on a major road within the town, and the road to the M1 is not suitable for walking along - the nearest lay-by is 1.5 miles), and not worth getting in to, unless you are hitch-hiking from Sheffield to Derby.

Hitchhiking out

South towards London/Leicester/Nottingham

When hitching south via M1 there is no legal way to get to junction 29 on foot, so the only solution is to hitch directly from town - by the traffic lights of the A61/A617 roundabout. It is useful to have a clear sign saying "M1 South". To get to the roundabout, ask for directions to the Ibis hotel. When you get to the hotel, walk past the bus stop and under the bridge to reach the A61/A617 roundabout. You can either hitch from here (picking up traffic from A617 which comes from Eastern and Southern parts of the town), or cross the A61 north of the roundabout and stand by the traffic lights there, picking up the traffic from North Chesterfield and South Sheffield. Beware, this could get very muddy in the rain.

Public transport

The 727 Express Bus Service operates between Chesterfield town centre and Sheffield city centre, also calling at Norton Roundabout, where A61 and A6102 (used by a lot of people going from Southern parts of Sheffield and North Chesterfield to Meadowhall Shopping Centre, M1 J34) intersect. The fare is currently (December 2007) £3.70 single. If you can produce a student ID and politely ask driver for a "half single", it will cost you half as much.