Generally the largest of the meets on the Eastern side of the Pennines, Sheffield usually attracts around 30 to 60 furs.

The Next Meet! - Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th June 2010

The Plan

Saturday 26th June:

11am - Meet up in the main "lobby" area of Sheffield (Midland) railway station, near the main departure boards. If you can see the tram tracks, you're on the wrong side of the station, so cross back over the footbridge to find us.

11:30am - Head to our venue for the day. Once again, this will be the Old Queen's Head next to the Interchange.

4pm - We depart from the venue, usually splitting into several groups for food, cinema and a stroll to the Peace Gardens (assuming the weather's nice!)

6pm - End of the day's activities, with folks going their separate ways to Hotels, home, etc.

Sunday 27th June:

Noon - Meet up outside Sheffield (Church of England) Cathedral, by Cathedral tram stop.

1pm - Head to the café in the Millennium Galleries/Winter Gardens for tea, cake, and other such goodies.

2pm(ish) - Head to the Peace Gardens to relax, and decide what to do from there. Groups generally split off to go to Meadowhall, the cinema, or just potter around town.

NB: The whole of Sheffield City Centre inside the Ring Road is an "Alcohol Restriction Zone". If you have an open container of alcohol in public, you're liable to have it confiscated and could earn yourself a fine of up to £500.

Hotel Recommendations

• Ibis Sheffield
• Premier Inn Sheffield (City Centre)
• Novotel Sheffield
• Mercure St Paul's Hotel and Spa Sheffield
• Etap Hotel Sheffield Arena
• Sheffield Central Travelodge
• Holiday Inn Sheffield

Tourist Information

Sheffield Tourist Information (+44 (0)114 221 1900)

Parking Recommendations

• Sheffield Railway Station Multi-Storey (£12.00 per day)
• Arundel Gate NCP Multi-Storey (£10.00 for over 12 hours)
• Sidney Street NCP Surface Car Park (£6.50 for 4 to 24 hours)

Public Transport

If you're planning on travelling around Sheffield by public transport during your stay (e.g. to Meadowhall or Valley Centertainment), you will probably find it cheaper to purchase a day ticket.

Each of the bus companies has their own ticket, and Travel South Yorkshire sell a few multimodal, multi-operator tickets as well.

Choices are as follows:

• FirstDay: £4.00 - Valid on all First South Yorkshire bus services
• Stagecoach Sheffield Bus and Tram Dayrider: £3.00 - Valid on all Stagecoach Sheffield bus and Supertram services
• Stagecoach Explorer: £5.00 - Valid on all Stagecoach Sheffield, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire buses, and Supertram.
• South Yorkshire Day Tripper: £5.50 - Valid on all buses, trains and trams in South Yorkshire after 0930 Monday to Friday, and all day at weekends

The Day Tripper is worth getting if you're planning on going to Meadowhall, as it's just 5 to 7 minutes by train from Sheffield to Meadowhall (with around 8 trains per hour on Saturdays and 4 on Sundays), compared to 20 minutes on the tram.

PlusBus:

For anyone travelling to the meet by train from further afield, ask for a PlusBus add-on with your rail ticket.

Priced at £3.50 (£2.35 for Railcard holders), this gives a day's unlimited travel on most bus services in South Yorkshire, as well as on Stagecoach Supertram.

If you book your ticket through the QJump website, you should be offered the opportunity to purchase the PlusBus add-on whilst making your booking.

PlusBus tickets are not available if you're starting your journey within South Yorkshire.

NB: There's a special offer on PlusBus throughout June 2010. If you book your train tickets through any of the websites listed below you can add PlusBus for either end of your journey (except for Blackpool, Maidenhead, Newbury, Newport (South Wales), Reading and Swindon) for the princely sum of £1 per day, which is quite a saving

The participating websites are as follows:

• Arriva Trains Wales
• Chiltern Railways
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Trains
• First Capital Connect
• First Great Western
• National Express East Anglia
• QJump
• ScotRail
• South West Trains
• The Trainline.com
• TransPennine Express
• Virgin Trains

FreeBee:

Sheffield now has its own FREE City Centre bus link. Called FreeBee, it runs every 7 minutes from 7am to 7pm Mondays to Fridays, and from 8am to 7pm on Saturdays, linking a number of City Centre locations.

The route nominally starts from Stand B4 at Sheffield Interchange, then calls at Flat Street, Castle Street (for the Markets), Arundel Gate, Norfolk Street (For the Winter Gardens), Pinstone Street (for the Town Hall and City Hall), Furnival Gate, Charter Row, Fitzwilliam Gate (for the Moor), Eyre Street, Furnival Street, Paternoster Row (for Sheffield Midland station) and back to the Interchange.