UKC

I am thinking of relocating to Sheffield (or Chester). I currently live in West Sussex, and the prices are very high here, plus there are not many crags nearby. I have read a lot about Sheffield and aware that it is a very popular destination for climbers. How crowded the gyms get and what about the nearby crags? Here, in Sussex, gyms get super crowded recently, you often have to queue for routes and are surrounded by crowds constantly. I do not do well in crowded spaces and it is hard for me to avoid the busiest times as I have an office job, so I tend to climb less and less indoors nowadays. Sheffield has a lot more climbing centres than we do, so I am wondering if the crowd is well distributed there? Also, if Sheffield is too crowded, maybe Chester could be a good option? As for outdoors, I am hoping to climb in Froggatt, Roaches, NW, and also to do some sport climbing from time to time in one of the limestone crags of The Peak District. I would appreciate any advice.

Get yourself to New Mills. Rope Race as a local wall never gets crowded, plus you've got the Torrs as a (more or less) ever dry outdoor training venue too. You'll be at Froggatt, the Roaches and all the limestone around Buxton in no more than 40 minutes. North Wales in 1hr 45-ish on a clear run, depending where you're going, which is significantly faster than it is from Sheffield.

I'm originally from West Sussex and now live in Sheffield. 

We have 4 top class climbing walls (with a few others too). The walls are nowhere near as crowded as the London walls. Through the winter I tend ro climb at The Depot at 6am and there's usually only 3-4 others climbing. Even after work the walls aren't crazy. There's obviously outdoor climbing all year round and plenty of limestone routes/bouldering that says dry in the rain.

Tbh there's enough crags within 45 minutes of Sheffield to keep you busy for a lifetime. 🙂

Live in SW Sheffield and you'll be at Froggatt/Stanage/Burbage/Millstone/Gardoms etc etc between 10-15 minutes. Hard to beat that. A choice of 5 walls between 5-15 mins drive if that's your thing. 

Get out midweek and there's a good chance you'll have even popular crags to yourself, or  if there are others there it's not like you couldn't find a spot on your own. 

Moving to Sheffield and worrying about the indoor climbing is like going to the Alps and worrying about the bouldering.  But that's only my biased opinion having never taken either indoors or bouldering as serious as some do

Chester is a great *centre* for climbing but the local options are more limited. Within an hour plus you've got big chunks of North Wales, Peak, Lancashire, Shropshire in reach. I'm a big fan of the more local options - Helsby, Frodsham, Harmers, Trevor, Pot Hole, etc but if it were me I'd swap for Stanage, Burbage, and all the great more minor venues in a beat. 

Boardroom and Boulder Hut are both great walls and you shouldn't have to queue.

I was at the Climbingworks this afternoon, not crowded at all. The Depot is big enough not to get rammed, ditto Awesome Walls. The Climbing Hangar gets pretty busy in the evenings, but ok. Loads of crags within 20 mins and say The Roaches about 50 mins. Theres so much rock that even on a bank holiday you can have a crag to yourself once you know your way around. The city itself is great too. 
I lived in Coedpoeth near Chester/Wrexham once upon a time and really liked it, the local climbing on Clwyd Limestone was great, but a bit limited. I ended up driving into Snowdonia quite a lot which is no bad thing, but not as convenient as an evenings bouldering in Burbage after work.

I started using the Boardroom the day it opened, great wall and really nice people

If you want to relocate to Sheffield then it's the crowded housing market in the south and west of the city I'd be more worried about than the crowded walls/crags.

Hmm. Interesting latest climbs list.

What's your view on COVID?

Yes, that is indeed worrying! Thank you everyone for the helpful replies so far!!

Err, what are you on about?