Driving to Halifax (from Sheffield way)

[Gazzab]

Hi - I might soon be driving to Halifax on a daily basis. I live out near Baslow in North Derbyshire. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas for a good route?

I tend to go to Derwent (so as to avoid going via Sheffield) and then cross country to Langsett (eg Mortimer Road etc)then A616 to Huddersfield and then onto Halifax. The slow bit seems to be through Huddersfield and then into Halifax.

Just wondering if anyone knows any good routes by any chance?

thanks
Gary

[sparkyhx]

thats a bh of a journey.

possible alternatives

glossop, tintwistle holmefirth, hudds hx
may be ultimately less hard work and stressfull to do M1 M62.

why the trip to Hx?

[Gazzab]

Its only 43 miles each way but a right royal pain. Thanks for the ideas I will take a look.
I currently commute to The City of London (OK not eveyr day!) and so Halifax will be better (I think!). I am an interim and am working with a banking client.

[sparkyhx]

Gazzab said:

Its only 43 miles each way but a right royal pain. Thanks for the ideas I will take a look.
I currently commute to The City of London (OK not eveyr day!) and so Halifax will be better (I think!). I am an interim and am working with a banking client.

HBOS/LBG then - use the Flexible working hours to your advantage and go for a late/early start to miss the traffic.

What are you doing there? I used to work at HBOS until the end of last year when I got out on VR. I'm glad to be gone, the place is a hell hole now according to all my old colleagues, Lloyds are systematically ripping the heart and sole out of the place, its really quite sad.

I still think Motorway will be ultimately the easiest option especilly during the winter

Edited by sparkyhx on Wednesday 27th January 13:22

[m60ddy]

Thats a really tricky commute.

The Strines is as bumpy as, you could quite easily kill your car suspension or your back depending on what your driving? also more people drive this road than you think so keep a good eye out for traffic especially round the blind corners and in the valley bottoms. During winter would be a very interesting trip.

Haven't driven the Snake for a while but the last time I did it had been re surfaced. Tis a great drive when clear but think alot of people use it hence always being mentioned in the morning traffic news. Cannot help but think Glossop would be a bottle neck, then you have to drive up the Woodhead pass which is also a busy commuter road.

What I do know is that once you hit Holmfirth it quickly builds up.

1) Traffic lights in Holmfirth can be busy, (If travelling the Strines straight to point 2)
2) Traffic lights at Honley gets busy
3) X Roads at Armitage Bridge gets busy
4) Lights at Lockwood get busy
5) Lights at Huddersfield ring road gets busy and all the way round to the Halifax turn off
6) Generally slow progress all the way to the M62 Junction
7) At the bottom of Elland By Pass builds up and is slow going all the way in to the middle of Halifax.

I live in Holmfirth and use to commute all over the north to different sites on a daily basis using all the above mentioned roads. You won't know the best route till you have tried them.

Good Luck

[oliverjthomas]

Yep, nightmare of a journey at this end. I live a mile from the bottom of the Elland by-pass and avoid it like the plague when it's rush hour. If you have any chance of flexi time, take it and you won't spend an hour to an hour and a half of your day standing still.

[Gazzab]

I have driven it a few times and it's taken ages. Made the mistake of taking the cerbera once and actually beached it on a 90 deg hairpin that was a very steep hill in the wet! No fun.

[m60ddy]

Gazzab said:

I have driven it a few times and it's taken ages. Made the mistake of taking the cerbera once and actually beached it on a 90 deg hairpin that was a very steep hill in the wet! No fun.

If this was on the Strines I bet I know which corner it was, closer to Langsett I would guess may be the last pull out of the valley bottom heading to langsett.

Edited by m60ddy on Wednesday 27th January 22:26

[Gazzab]

That's the one. I had smoke coming from the tyres. I had to reverse back and then take the right hand lane and hope nothing was coming the other way!

[sparkyhx]

just motorway it - all the other routes especially in winter have 'accident' written all over them. When you are doing such a journey so often, the odds reduce dramatically that ice, leaves, sheep, fallen trees, other obstructions, water, bad drivers etc will bite you

[Gazzab]

sparkyhx said:

just motorway it - all the other routes especially in winter have 'accident' written all over them. When you are doing such a journey so often, the odds reduce dramatically that ice, leaves, sheep, fallen trees, other obstructions, water, bad drivers etc will bite you

Think you're right albeit my commuting car is a Discovery 3 and so it should deal reasonably well. Problem then is I have to get from near Baslow to the motorway which means a bit of a ball ache.

[GreatGranny]

Less of a hassle using the M1 but it would mean going through Sheffield to access the M1. Thats a bh unless you go very early. Then you hit the M1 which is a bh going north anytime after 7.30am and then its onto the M62 west which is a bh as well.....

What about car part way then train?

[Gazzab]

I was going to look at trains too. Not sure where the trains go to from Halifax.

[Dan_1981]

stty journey to have to do.

I'd opt for the motorway though.

I was regularly doing M1 jct 34 to M62 Jct 20 until recently - its not to bad along the 62 West bound, and the M1 isn't too much of a night mare.

The cross country roads don't cut much off the times - i did try going through hollmefirth but you end up standing in traffic more than you do on the motorway.

[sparkyhx]

Gazzab said:

I was going to look at trains too. Not sure where the trains go to from Halifax.

trains go to leeds or wakefield, or Manchester

[Gazzab]

Train will take ages. Driving it is. Current x country route and try and miss Huddersfield somehow or motorway but join before Sheffield somehow (without going south to Chesterfield).

[Dan_1981]

Gazzab said:

Train will take ages. Driving it is. Current x country route and try and miss Huddersfield somehow or motorway but join before Sheffield somehow (without going south to Chesterfield).

That only leaves you with junctions 29a, which is Bolsover, 30 which is Barlborough, 31 Aston, 32 is the M18 and 33 is Sheffield.

29 & 30 are pretty much Chesterfield anyway and you'd have to come as far south as chesterfield to get to either of them pretty much.

Not sure how you'd get to 31 and 33 is Sheffield.

Not a drive i'd relish.

[piemachine]

Oh, how I envy you...

(no really..)

I once commuted from Stocksbridge (near strines) to Cheadle (Staffordshire) when I worked for JCB. I did the commute for three years and can honestly say that it was utterly fekkin fantastic. This journey is especially fun if you have a crap car you cant give a toss for. I went trough 2 cars in this time: 1-litre Pug 106, mondeo 1.8 (both LPG & suffering from poor performance from old gas technology) both cars succumbed to the wear & tear of the b-road bone shaker route (apart from the 106 which went through 3-foot of water during the nasty floods 2008 (mortimer road where the bridge almost got swept away)

Seriously though, forget the motorway, step into a nail of a car, give it the boot. enjoy life, smile lots.

Cheadle-brierlow bar (B5053)
Millers dale - Brough (B6049)
A6013 - Ladybower
Mortimer Road - Langsett

53 miles - 1h 10 min

Thanks for tolerating the "i remember when" rant, I'd better take off the rose tinted specs, they've got all steamed up....