Give me a lovely village or town in Somerset or nearby

[anyideasonthis]

Please tell me your secret (or not so secret) gems of places!! We're moving house, 2 young dc, and want to live in a village or near smallish town with a fun, friendly vibe. Arty and down to earth too if that's not too much to ask. We have always lived in places with not much sense of community, and would love to have that.

Bruton

Pucklechurch. Really nice place, and a fabulous name to boot!!

Dulverton, Milverton, Wiveliscombe - all lovely rural small towns/villages with arty vibes and sense of community.

I think Frome from what you have said.

I live in the area many people are suggesting. I’d say Frome. Loads going on, very arty but easy to get into countryside and ok transport links.

OP -the whole of Somerset is "a bit old fashioned and traditional" but with the confusing plot twist of people constantly having affairs. I grew up there and even though I like Bristol it feels like a big town rather than a city to me now.

Frome seems to fit what you've said so far - it's on the edge so you can get out a bit quicker.

Lots of stuff I love about Somerset but being a teenager there does take it's toll.

Porlock or the villages around it. Lovely little town, big Tesco a few miles away in Minehead and so friendly and laid-back.

Frome is brilliant - very arty and with a strong community feel. Lots going on! Commutable to Bristol & Bath and also pretty accessible to London via Westbury. BUT house prices have gone up a lot in recent years, which is fuelling a bit of a divide between incomers and long-term residents, many of whom are frustrated about not being able to get on the property ladder. Shepton Mallet is much cheaper, but that's due to the lack of jobs and the desert that is the high street. I've always liked Castle Cary, but there's not an awful lot there (although it does have a mainline station). Stay away from Glastonbury unless you like a really alternative lifestyle and don't mind running into digeridoo players every time you walk down the high street.

Portishead nearing Bristol is lovely

Bradford on Avon is very local to me
Lovely old town with nice pubs and shops.. Antique and quaint ye olde tea shoppe kind of place new developments of houses on the outshirts where it leads to Trowbridge which has lots of supermarkets including Lidl and Aldi Bath is of course lovely for shopping 12 miles from Bristol It's a lovely part of the country

I did wonder what the house prices would be like in Frome these days - apparently Taunton is seeing people commute to London a few days a week which has pushed up house prices. This is entirely on the word of friends Mum who recently sold up though so I don't know common this is.

If you're also looking at Gloucestershire, you could consider at Stroud and surrounding villages. Very artsy, lots to do, lots for children, and some decent schools.

Also not too far from Bristol and Cheltenham.

Agree with @MaudesMum re Frome. House prices have skyrocketed in the last 10yrs to the point where those born and bred have been priced out. There is a definite 'them and us' vibe!!Plenty of artisanal stuff if that's your thing and a lot of restaurants. The cinema is great and it's easy to get to Bath. Also a Steiner school. Primary provision is good but choices very limited after yr 4.

Just don’t move to Midsummer Norton, far too many murders!

Dulverton
Axminster

@Slatternsdelight I want to know why not Wells either?! I'm local

Imo Bruton gorgeous but too far from anything useful.

I'd echo Frome, Bradford-on-Avon (upon?) and the Chew Valley.

I'm surprised to see so many people mention Dulverton! Pp who have mentioned Dulvy - have you lived there? I grew up in Dulverton and hated it - although we moved from north london and found it really small minded and not welcoming at all. When we had friends visit locals were openly racist towards them as they weren't white. There was very much a hostile vibe too about "out of towners moving here, pushing up house prices."
Also, there is nothing to do for children whatsoever and a real lack of ambition due to lack of opportunities. OP please don't do it to your kids! Also, having gone to school in Minehead, (it was my catchment school despite being 20 miles away from dulverton) don't move there either. Speaking from experience, as a teenager there's nothing to do except drugs

Pingu Yes! Everyone was shagging everyone else where I grew up! Brother and sister in laws, cousins were fucking each others wives/husbands! maybe it's the lack of anything else to, erm, do?

Commutable to Bristol? Try Clevedon or Backwell. In s. Gloucs Thornbury is reckoned to be nice.

Agree re Stroud or Glastonbury if you want a hippy vibe.

Haha @thehalloumiati yes we’re both from deepest darkest Somerset and the drug taking was rife in my school too (and the private schools in Taunton). There’s definitely an unpleasant side to rural life but I’m sure you can have a nice time if you can afford it and when kids are little. But yeah Minehead - not somewhere I’d choose to live though Porlock is dead nice.

@thehalloumiati my grandmother was from Somerset and she always used to blame the cider for everyone being randy all the time! At my great uncles funeral my dad discovered he had quite a few cousins in the village that he hadn’t previously known about!

Do you mean

1. Somerset ?
2. North Somerset ?
3. Bath and North East Somerset ?