things to do in Chesterfield

New games quarter to open in Chesterfield town centre

21st September 2021

A brand-new leisure offering is set to open in Chesterfield, bringing a variety of new activities for residents and visitors to enjoy.

Chesterfield Games quarter is an exciting new development in Soresby Street in the Town Centre. The attraction is a collaboration of four Leisure and Gaming businesses, set to offer a variety of gaming genres all in one location.

Two new exciting businesses have chosen to move to the location due to the popularity of Chesterfield Escape Rooms since its opening earlier this year and Geeks Headquarters, which has grown in popularity for players of trading card games, board games, roleplaying games and miniature games.

Chesterfield VR – A Virtual Reality gaming centre and Chesterfield Games Zone (GMZN), a PC and gaming arcade will officially open their doors in November 2021, bringing a variety of fun activities for people of all ages.

Chesterfield Escape Rooms has also confirmed that due to an amazing response from the public, the attraction is set to expand further.

Games masters at the popular venue are in the process of creating an additional game in time for Christmas called “Santa’s Stuck up the Chimney,” with a fifth game set to launch in February 2022.

The Escape Rooms already offers three games for visitors, known as ‘The Governor,’ ‘Rob The Bank’ and ‘The Crazy Cat Lady.’

Nick Hogan, owner of Chesterfield Escape Rooms stated: “It’s a huge coup for the town to attract two new fledgling businesses to invest in the town centre and create something very unique, especially as all four owners live in the local area.

“We cant wait to get this opportunity, which shall serve the needs of all age groups, off the ground in late November.”

Chesterfield Escape Rooms supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 190 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

County Council announces bumper Autumn of adult education courses

31st August 2021

Learning opportunities are available for people across Chesterfield and Derbyshire, both online and face to face this autumn as part of Derbyshire County Council’s adult community education service.

During the pandemic many of the classes offered by the council’s adult community education service had to be moved online. This worked successfully in lots of subject areas so as the service gears up for the new term starting in September it will be offering a wide range of online courses as well as ones at its 16 centres spread across the county.

The online courses give students the flexibility to join in from their home or business and include ‘student paced’ ones that learners can do at any time in the advertised period.

Courses leading to qualifications and skills start from Monday 6 September with opportunities to join later in the year as well. These will be both online and face to face and include employability skills, maths and English GCSEs, digital skills, setting up your own business and environmental training.

There will be a week of free taster sessions of some of the learning for leisure courses from Monday 13 September. These are ideal for residents who may not be sure if a particular course is for them. There’s a choice of over 20 different subjects including:

boxing
music
foreign languages
creative writing
poetry
murder mystery evening – the Crich Creeper
social media for business
cookery
exercise – both gentle and more challenging

Then the wide range of learning for leisure courses, both online and face to face, get underway from Monday 20 September with day schools and one-off evening sessions later in the term. Languages, arts and crafts, healthy living, care for the environment, personal development and creative cookery are amongst the subjects on offer.

Those wanting to gain essential digital skills, improve their qualifications, change career, set up a business or learn to lip read will find courses to suit them as well. And there are family learning courses and provision for adults with learning disabilities and those wanting to improve their mental health.

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education Councillor Alex Dale said: “I’m delighted that our adult education service can now offer face to face classes as well as continuing with online learning.

“This blend of learning is widening the opportunities for more residents to get involved and means that we can offer even more subjects whether for leisure or to gain qualifications”.

Bookings are now open. Find the full details in the adult education course brochures.

Book a learning for leisure course

Booking details for the qualification and skills courses varies and specifics are given in that brochure. Course fees vary with some courses free of charge and concessions for those on certain benefits and Derbyshire Gold Card holders.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, Leisure, Love Chesterfield, Made in Chesterfield, UncategorisedTagged in Activities in Derbyshire, Adult education, chesterfield news, derbyshire county council, Eduction, learning, things to do in Chesterfield

Tapton Lock Festival set to bring the Chesterfield community together

30th July 2021

The charity behind Chesterfield’s Tapton Lock Festival says it is set to return this year, offering free family fun for residents and visitors.

Taking place along the banks of the Chesterfield canal on the weekend of Saturday 11^th and Sunday 12^th September, the event celebrates the great outdoors and the incredible wildlife on our doorstep in North Derbyshire.

This year’s festival, organised by Junction Arts will feature activities and entertainment, including a climbing wall and canoeing, art workshops and live performances.

Attendees will also be able to take a trip aboard the Chesterfield Canal Trust’s trip boat, John Varley II.

This year, organisers are welcoming back the captivating bubbleologist, while on Sunday, the event will host children’s puppet shows and performances by Bee Guides Bombus and Borage and their amazing Bee Cart.

Hosted in partnership with the Derbyshire County Council Countryside Service, this festival is the first large event that Junction Arts has been able to run since March 2020. Having worked hard to continue their support to care homes, schools and families at a distance, the team is back running events and workshops face-to-face again, offering people the opportunity to be creative and empowering lives.

Hannah Bowdler, Relationship Fundraiser for Junction Arts said: “This year, Junction Arts is on a mission to bring our communities back together safely, through its calendar of exciting events. They see how involvement in creative and social activities and interaction within our communities alleviates loneliness, anxiety and stress, and you are invited to benefit from this too!”

Festival organisers are asking local people to become a sponsor of the Tapton Lock Festival, by donating what they can to help bring our communities back together safely. For more information, visit: www.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/TaptonLockFestival2021

Junction Arts supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Featured, Home, Leisure, Love Chesterfield, Summer, Uncategorised, VisitingTagged in activities, charity, chesterfield canal trust, chesterfield events, Family entertainment chesterfield, Junction arts, outdorr events chesterfield, Tapton lock festival, things to do in Chesterfield

Chesterfield families are encouraged to get moving as council backs local smartphone game

20th July 2021

A new family-friendly game that aims to get people exploring Chesterfield – on foot or by pushbike – is being backed as part of a Chesterfield Borough Council project.

TagTap JTH (Join The Hunt) is a free exploration-based game created by local family man Peter Hunt after he and his family enjoyed playing the popular Beat The Street game which ran in Chesterfield last year.

Inspired by its ability encourage people to get out and about across the borough, the council has now joined forces with the creator to back the smartphone-based game as part of its Year of Outdoors project.

It means from the 17 July there are 350 points around the borough to check into, including in many of the fantastic parks and green spaces – expanding the game from its initial testing in New and Old Whittington.

Councillor Jill Mannion-Brunt, cabinet member for health and wellbeing said: “We’re really excited to be working with Tag Tap to help bring this game to Chesterfield. It’s great to see local people innovating new ideas and it ties in really well with our Year of Outdoors project, which encourages people to explore the great things we have on our doorstep.

“We hope this game will help encourage everyone to get out this summer and explore our beautiful borough – it’s a fantastic way to keep little ones entertained during the school holidays, but is also really fun to explore on your own.”

Peter Hunt, the creator of TagTap JTH explained: “I initially thought of TagTap JTH during lockdown as a fun way for my kids to get active but also with the element of a clue or question to find the next location as a sneaky way to incorporate a bit of education. After setting up a small game in the New and Old Whittington areas and inviting others to have a go it really took on a life of its own. We have only had extremely positive feedback and everyone that plays it absolutely loves it.

“We have expended the game to cover the whole of the chesterfield borough area with well over 350 tags, we hope this will give everyone young and old a chance to have a go at the game and to get active especially after the terrible 18 months we have had to endure. Our main objective is to get people out being active in a fun way, so lets do it together, get competing and winning some prizes. Best of all it’s free.”

The game has starting locations around the borough which you can find listed in the app. Simply head to one of these TagTaps then with the app open on your phone, tap the point and you’ll be given clues to find the next location, solve the clues and hunt out the next point.

There is a leaderboard of players and participants will need to find as many points as possible to be named the TagTap Champion.

The game will run all year but the championship will be time limited meaning hunters will need to be quick to work their way up the leaderboard. There will also be a competition amongst schools later this year.

Find out more about TagTap JTH and download the apps for free to start playing by visiting: https://tagtap.co.uk/

Chesterfield’s Year of Outdoors encourages residents and visitors to explore Chesterfield’s parks and open spaces by providing a range of free or low cost ideas and activities to get involved in. Find out more on the council’s website: www.chesterfield.gov.uk/year-of-outdoors

Find out more about all the great local events taking place across Chesterfield this Summer at: https://www.chesterfield.co.uk/summer/

Posted in About Chesterfield, Featured, Home, Leisure, Love Chesterfield, Summer, Uncategorised, VisitingTagged in Activities in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, chesterfield borough council, exercise, Health and wellbeing, Summer in Chesterfield, Tagtap, things to do in Chesterfield

Chesterfield residents can have their say on major new cycling and walking route

8th March 2021

Derbyshire County Council has published ambitious plans for an east-west walking and cycling route for Chesterfield and local people are being asked for their views.The government has awarded the authority just over £1.6 million to create a new route for cyclists and those on foot.

The route will go from the A619 junction with Holymoor Road, along Chatsworth Road and the existing Hipper Valley Trail, through Queen’s Park, and to the hospital by using Crow Lane and Wetlands Lane.

The plans for the route include improving existing sections by widening and resurfacing, to provide enough space for all users and allow for better social distancing.

Councillor Simon Spencer, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: “This new route will help many people to walk or cycle into the town centre, to the railway station and the hospital.

“We’ve already seen a huge increase in the number of cyclists in the town centre and this route will help to take more traffic off the roads, which can only be a good thing for everyone.

“We can’t use this money for anything else, nor can we use it anywhere else in the county, so I’d urge everyone who lives locally to have a look at the plans and let us have their views.”

The consultation closes on 25 March 2021 and you can take part here.

Chesterfield and North Derbyshire already has a number of cycling routes, catered towards all ages and abilities. We’ve put together a list of 10 great routes in our area for you to take on… Find out more and get on your bike today!

And for those who are new to cycling or unsure on how to get started, we’ve put together a guide to show you how easy and convenient cycling in Chesterfield and North Derbyshire can be. It’s a great way to improve your own health and the health of our local environment!

Posted in About Chesterfield, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, Leisure, Uncategorised, VisitingTagged in Chesterfield, chesterfield news, Cycling, derbyshire county council, exercise in chesterfield, things to do in Chesterfield, visiting chesterfield, Walking