Villages/towns around Bristol and Bath

[Maltesermad]

Hi, I just wondered if anyone had any ideas. I'm currently living in the south east but recently divorced and need to move to a cheaper area next summer. I'm thinking potentially somewhere within an hour of Bristol or Bath, but I don't know if I'm being realistic given my budget.

I will have £300k and I need 3 bedrooms (I have dc). Does anyone know of any good areas (nice town or rural area with cheap house prices - or is this the holy grail?!)

My dc are teens and one would need to go to a 6th form college but the other one is at university.

I would also consider other areas of Somerset but I like Bristol and Bath for the actual cities themselves and also they would be fairly central for us to visit family and friends from there.

Any ideas would be grateful received!

And a massive problem with substance abuse.

Yatton station is four miles from Clevedon and has direct trains to Bristol, Bath and London.

I wanted to recommend Chippenham as well, good links to Bath and Bristol and easy to travel. Loads to do around the area and nice schools etc.

What about Frome?

I lived in several parts of wiltshire. Born and bred. My favorite were Warminster has amazing parks next to longeat, centre parks, with loads of outdoor activities. Devises, Salisbury. I loved these places and have fond memories.
Worst places are Frome, Trowbridge, Bath, Bristol! Awful to commute to also. 🤮

🤮 Awful town. Awful services. Awful entertainment options and nothing to do centrally. Awful.

Frome’s lovely! Though I agree on Trowbridge!!!

@Momononoyoooo sadly I agree , in its favour it does have some lovely housing though , is quite cheap and it’s 6 minutes on train to Bradford on Avon !! AndOPs budget ain’t big - if I had to live in a grim bit of Bristol ( and for that budget and size it will be) would honestly prefer Trowbridge or Chippenham -

I don’t know if Clevedin might have something in budget? It’s really lovely.

I agree. It’s such a lovely little town.

We looked at loads of houses in Chippenham when we had a similar house buying brief and budget to the OP - we wanted a good school our teen could walk to, and easy access to public transport to Bath and Bristol. But in the end we moved over the bridge to Penarth - lovely seaside town, ten minutes on the train to Cardiff.

Reading this (old) thread with interest as I am in the same position... @Maltesermad did you make the move? If so, where did you decide to go?

Penarth is absolutely lovely, Keynsham is a good shout, Stroud is to be avoided, it’s very middle aged and teens really struggle there.

you might like Frome. I live there , it’s lovely, but maybe a bit dull for teens.

Oh this is an old thread and I’d already commented!

Do NOT do this. Traffic and healthcare are terrible.

I've lived there and disagree with this, some traffic yes, but not enough to rule it out and the healthcare in Wales is generally better than in the Bristol outskirts. I'd consider looking at South Wales or even the nicer areas of the Forest of Dean, lots of options that would suit your budget. If you want to be closer to Bristol, then maybe Frampton Cotterell/Yate type of area.

There are some 3 bed properties in Bath on Rightmove for 300k - I wouldn't count Bath out.

Trowbridge?

Could I ask what are your favourite things about Frome? Also if there are any downsides. Just asking as I live in Bristol and have been thinking about Frome as a possibility for downsizing in a couple of years- I've heard good things about it, but I don't know anyone who actually lives there

Peasdown-st-John. 20 minutes to the centre of Bath ( or 10 to the P&R) with good bus links.

I grew up in Bruton. Allegedly now a celebrity hot-spot, so I don't know about house prices. I went to sixth form at Sexey's school there. If i was to return to Somerset i would probably go for Street or Glastonbury. I worked in Street for a while and i LOVE Glastonbury.

Please bear in mind I’m nearly 60 and don’t have kids, so the things I like you might not. Also my knowledge of the schools may not be great except to say currently there’s a 3 tier system but they’re considering moving it to a 2 tier.

there’s a good sense of community with plenty going on. There’s lots of groups and activities. There’s an annual Frome Festival in July -kind of like Edinburgh but on a smaller scale but lots of music, theatre, foodie events, book events, kids events etc. there’s also an annual Kindness Festival and also stuff like Christmas lights switch on, a parade, Pride March etc. plus random eccentric things like ‘cobble wobble’ (cycling up Catherine Hill, a steep cobbled hill); a Pancake Race (with knitted pancakes) and ‘Running up That (Catherine) Hill’ -a Flash Mob of loads of people dressed up as Kate Bush .

-lots of independent shops and restaurants
-March-December on the first Sunday is the independent market which takes over the whole town, part foodie, part vintage, part arts and crafts
-good venues like the Cheese and Grain, Merlin Theatre, Rook Lane Chapel
-appears to be very child friendly (I’m not an expert but my friend with a small child likes it)
-dog friendly if you like dogs!
although it’s a town there’s lovely countryside and villages nearby

disadvantages-
public transport not great-I came from London and I miss TfL! There are services to London by train but often you have to change at westbury
its not particularly ethnically diverse, again something I noticed coming from London
it’s probably not great for older teens or young adults. There’s one nightclub called the Tunnels. The last bus from Bath leaves Bath at about 11ish, ok for the pub maybe but not great for clubs etc (again in comparison to night buses/tubes in London.
the shopping is good but there’s a lack of chain stores and ‘normal’ shops eg the only chain clothing shops are Peacocks, Fatface and the supermarkets (Sainsbury’s/Asda) or a limited stock or click & collect in M&S food hall and there isn’t a single shoe shop in the whole town. Not even somewhere like Foot Locker. You need to go to Bath or Trowbridge for that.
Most people go outside Frome to work. I’m a mental health nurse and there’s very few vacancies in that field. I work in the RUH in Bath. Many people work in Bath or maybe Bristol.

on the whole though I am happy there and glad I moved there but there are disadvantages.

Paulton, a very large village.

My father in law is 86 and moved there 18 months ago - I was amazed he picked somewhere funky but he wanted a detached bungalow and was priced out in Bath and BOA- we live in Bath so it’s handy enough without being on my doorstep ( 22 mins drive) - what he really likes similar to you is the community aspect, he goes to the over 65 lunch club twice a week ( nice lunch and a bar too plus quiz and trips out) the fact there’s always something going on or coming up - he finds it ‘cheery’ - we went on Sunday to the complex by the rail station and had superb sandwiches with a DJ playing smooth jazz - all very lovely and quality stuff too - unlike Bath it does have some useful shed places too like B&M, The Range, B&Q , and he’s managed to find good services too, lady who does his ironing, good gas fitters, outside painters etc - seems quite easy to get ‘trades’ - he also has had really good experiences at the very modern medical centre 2 minutes walk away which also has a small 8 to 8 emergency type facility plus a cottage hospital - I think Fromes advantage is big enough to have ‘stuff’ - small enough to get around easily and know people - to be honest I can imagine it’s a bit deadly with teens depending on the teen , but good for families with young kids and slightly older people wanting a decent house for ‘relatively’ sensible amounts, a bit of funk , nice cafes and bakeries, a few nice bars and restaurants and lots of stuff like yoga, poetry groups, make your own bracelet etc ! Shopping very crap for clothes or shoes etc ( people go to Bath ) but has all the supermarkets with exception of Waitrose - I like it, I could live there-

They’re about to build thousands of new homes all over various bits of green space around Frome which will totally change the vibe of the town and put pressure on schools and other services. People here already find it nearly impossible to find a nursery space for their children (I’ve seen people talking about it on our local Facebook page). It’s a nice town but I don’t think it will stay that way unfortunately.

I suggest looking around Worcester - not too far from that area and much cheaper. Beautiful countryside, friendly people, can be in London in a couple of hours.
It’s not especially ethnically diverse (saw some posters have flagged this as a disadvantage of other places) but you can easily get to Birmingham which is.