Moving to Bristol

[rubin2018]

Hello everyone. Hubby has just got a job in Bristol so we need to relocate. I don’t know the area at all but want to live outside The main city so he commutes in as I prefer a more rural/village feel. I have 2 boys aged 5 and 7 so any advice on primary schools would be good too.
I’ve heard good things about Thornbury and the Cotswolds but feeling a little lost.
Hoping some of you can help me.
Thank you so much
Katie xx

Given where he is going to be working I would suggest Yate . It has a railway station that has direct trains to Bristol (as do Nailsea and Keynsham).
Another place to consider would be South Wales eg Chepstow or the Forest of Dean, now that there's no tolls on the Severn bridges.

I agree that the traffic in Bristol is horrendous. So you either need to be pretty central, or somewhere with a rail link.

Just a word of warning on the trains, although the roads are hideous, the trains are routinely cancelled, regularly delayed and always too small. Follow the planned train on the live arrivals/departures for a while before you commit to an option! Likewise the roads, the ring road A4174 is fine June - Sept, then it gradually gets worse and worse through to March. So don’t be lulled by journey times.

Pmsl at the thought of Weston Super Mare. How about Bradford on Avon?

Chipping Sodbury is nice but the secondaries aren’t brilliant. Thorn bury is nice & schools good. Wooton under edge and villages around are lovely & KLB is very good secondary. Lots of options.

Sorry, that was terribly mangled. What I meant was; WSM is worth a look if you fancy living by the sea, and it's on the brink of major gentrification, so would be a good investment

I live in Weston-s-Mare and wouldn't say it would be a good investment.Our council doesn't seem interested in providing amenities,just more housing.

Personally I'd suggest Keynsham area.

If he's working in bs37, why not around there? That's not Bristol, that's where people who commute to Bristol live . Although I'd say Sodbury side rather than Yate which is a 'practical' centre. Between Wickwar and kingswood is nice and in the KLB catchment for secondary.

If you want to be a bit more further up, not Dursley itself but Uley, nympsfield etc are nice. Again Dursley is the admin centre and a bit down at heel. Never Cam.

Maybe Tetbury? I always have a soft spot. Or Nailsworth. Thornbury is nice too.

If he's in BS37 you won't really hit Bristol traffic. You will definitely need to drive and may probably need 2 cars.

Your children will probably end up drinking cider on the Rec and snogging boys from the rugby club as there is nothing else to do. I recommend this and recall my youth with fondness.

I commute to the Stoke Gifford area from Gloucester and it's okay by train (but expensive) and I haven't found the drive too bad though the M32/ring road is always bad. I can start early and leave early though so that helps. Central Bristol would be worse.

I like Bristol though and would consider moving nearer.

So near Woodlands golf club that is in Bradley Stoke? You definitely need to be north then. He won’t need to cross the Bristol rush hour traffic and can use the A38 back to Bradley Stoke if he wants to avoid the motorway.

There are some nice towns and villages nearby. I would recommend looking at Thornbury but around Berkeley and Dursley. You are near to WWT Slimbridge which is lovely to visit.

*Thornbury and

Thank you. This is great.
I will take a look now.

OP said she wanted a rural village, so don’t think Yate, WSM, Keynsham etc really fit that description.

If I was you I would come to the area for a visit and have a drive around and look at some villages, see what you get a good feel for. If he’s commuting to BS37 I’d look at places like Tormarton, Dyrham, Doynton, Hawksbury Upton, Pucklechurch, Wick, etc.

I don’t think it can be BS37 as this is nowhere near Woodlands golf club. That’s BS32.

If you didn’t want North or East I would recommend Long Ashton. You can cycle to the centre in 15 mins and there is a park and ride. It is lovely and has good schools. Chew Valley also nice.

Wick, Marshfield and Pucklechurch, villages around there, are easy from the M4 so good for commuting back to Surrey but your DH would have to drive to a train station in rush hour. Probably Keynsham station which is about 20 mins with no traffic. There are closer villages I would personally pick over these around Keynsham, like Saltford, a larger village but pretty in bits which has really good schools and easy drive to Bath. Andy from Cbeebies used to live there! There are lots of little villages around Keynsham.

S Glos, I know someone who commutes from Dursley. But it were me I would avoid anything that involves going from M5 to M4 if I wanted to often easily get back to Surrey. I often drive back west from east, and am always glad when I turn off at Junction 18!

If I were moving back here, with someone commuting to Bristol, with your budget, and I wanted a rural feel, I would pick somewhere like Saltford, or possibly somewhere on the Trainline through Bath and Bristol like Bradford on avon.

Having said all the above, Stroud is v popular now and has a station!

I'd move to marshfield just for the ice cream.

Yes I did get the postcode wrong! It’s BS32
Sorry!!!! Too much going on in my head. So north of Bristol to avoid traffic etc.
Hubby will have free parking at work as it’s on an industrial estate so will probably drive in. Although thank you for all the advice on trains etc.

Does anyone live in any villages commutable to BS32 and know of traffic etc? We are going to go research the area next weekend once we’ve got a shorter list of places to visit as the boys will have to come and don’t want them being too bored as we look about.
Think we might have to rent first but the school needs to remain the same as can’t put boys through that more than once.
Thank you everyone for all your help xx

In that case OP I would look at the villages between Thornbury and Stroud. Or somewhere off the A38. Nice villages around there. Not my area so I can’t recommend one. (I was almost brought up in North Nibley though).

I would also consider Chepstow from there. Lots commute to Bristol.

Ahh, I know where you mean now. From memory, Trench Lane, where Woodlands is, is a rat-run from Thornbury and Yate, so gets quite busy. Having said that, the traffic was mostly free-flowing whenever I used it. Don't use the A38 to the Aztec West roundabout at rush hour - it's horrendous!

House-wise, I'd look at Thornbury, Alveston, Olveston, plus all the villages northbound on the A38. Wotton-under-Edge is still an option for the commute. East ways, I'd look at Rangeworthy, Iron Acton, Old Sodbury.

The golf club is right on the fringes of Bradley Stoke - a huge housing estate - but I wouldn't want to live there, too big for me.

The traffic from the villages north & east is fine will be an easy drive from anywhere round there!