To move to Bath?

[AppletonP]

We've rather fallen in love with Bath but we haven't spent massive amounts of time there. Anyone care to share the downsides of Bath? The private schools don't seem to feature in the league tables. Is that because the state schools are very good?

Honestly if you're living in Trowbridge and commuting to Bath for school/work then you're doing it wrong. Sounds miserable.

Frome, Bradford on Avon, Freshford, Bathampton/Bathford or Box are the only places you'll really get a similar vibe to Bath. But they're definitely not Bath.

If you're open to more Cotswold style living then Tetbury and Malmsbury are good options. I'd also throw Stroud into the mix. It's a bit of a Marmite option with many people but I really liked it, lefty-liberal and with a fantastic farmers market.

Imo in Bath the naice areas that are not eye wateringly pricey are; Fairfield Park, Oldfield Park, Camden and Lower Weston.

It might be helpful to understand what kind of budget you'd be looking at to rent/buy.

As a total curve ball you may also want to look at Cheltenham, very similar architecture but with a more modern vibe. It has tourism issues but it's more seasonal in line with the races. Housing is more affordable.

I think I've been to Trowbridge twice in the past 30 years. I expect there are some nice bits but I wouldn't want to do that drive 4 times/day (that is a minimum of 2 hours out of your day).

The advantage of being in a touristy city is we have decent restaurants, pubs and theatre. Apart from the Christmas shed festival, i don't mind the streets being busy. National Trust land surrounds much of the city (and is a 5-15 minute walk away for a lot of Bathonians). The Victorian's and Georgians gave us big parks too.

In terms of parking I think most people near the city centre hardly ever use their cars (lots of local shops happily deliver). Some families don't even bother with one.

Children do entrance exams for KES. I am guessing that about 80% get in at yr3 and 60% in year 7, with some parents being given a "chat" in year 5 onwards if their child isn't keeping up.

Personally I don’t like Bath, tourists everywhere, expensive to park, crap supermarkets, awful pollution because it sits in a bowl surrounded by hills and choked up with traffic. It can take me over an hour to drive 5 miles if I catch it wrong 😡
Trowbridge is a dump, high crime rates and very scruffy, Bradford-on-Avon has dreadful traffic problems as only river crossing for miles around and now Bath has a congestion charge it can only get worse.
Personally I would look at Frome and south or southwest of Bath or north of the city and across the M4.

Hi! I live in Bath and it is a fantastic city, everything is walking distance and very green! I would recommend joining the mums in Bath Facebook group as they're a good source of knowledge in terms of areas to move to and schools. We've seen a steady drip of people from London recently so there's almost always someone asking!
If you want to live outside the city Freshford, Bradford on Avon, winsley are all nice as is corsham but worth thinking about traffic (the London road into Bath is absolutely hideous at times!). There is a clean air charge as mentioned above but this is just for commercial vehicles.
Culture wise it's very cafe heavy, the theatre is alright but for big productions you're not that far that you can't get the train to London and Bristol has a lot going on and is again trainable!
We are state educating our gang but I have heard great things about KES.

@floofycroissant I like Cheltenham and Stroud but I couldn't find a school I liked (do tell me if I missed one). We want a primarily day school that's selective.

Same with Tetbury and Malmesbury - all the private schools seem to be a long school run away if not boarding.

@AppletonP

Same with Tetbury and Malmesbury - all the private schools seem to be a long school run away if not boarding.

How old are you children? Nearest independent schools for primary would be Beaudesert (Dd attends) & Westonbirt (upto to 18yrs). Both offer a private service from the surrounding villages too.

Trowbridge is not a dump. It's a nice normal town full of normal families with decent facilities and where you can still buy a detached house for c.300k. However if you're the sort of person who researches school league tables and wants to filter out the riff-raff then it's probably a no. (Not OP, I mean in general).

I live in Bristol and find Bath a bit staid and conservative. And I don’t live in an edgy part of Bristol at all. It’s incredibly busy at Xmas and in the summer and transport is a pain. On the plus side it is very pretty and the countryside around it is nice. And you’re not far from Bristol

[quote uncomfortablydumb53]@Whammyyammy
A tad judgemental!
Bath has areas of deprivation so not perfect either[/quote]
Not judgemental at all, I recommended looking on the Trowbridge Facebook site to get a true feel. This week alone has been seen armed police in attendance.

www.wiltshire999s.co.uk/man-charged-with-eight-offences-following-armed-siege-in-trowbridge-police-say/

Hi originally from Wiltshire here but I did attend King Edwards in Bath so feel that I also have a stake in Bath! Lots of friends lived in Bath so feel I know the city reasonably.

Bath is a great place to live especially for young people. Its easy to walk around the city, it has good shops, the schools are good and there is a good range of stuff to do. Lots of nice parks and you can live a life not too afffected by the tourism. Its also reasonably well connected - its easy to get to Bristol by train and London is easy to do. If I didnt come from the area I would have definitely considered living there with my family but I think I would want to be within 2-3 ,miles of the city centre to benefit fully from city life.

Of my friends from the Bath area loads lived up on Lansdown or in Weston - they walked to school or caught buses. Several also lived in Bathampton which is a quick journey in or Batheaston which is a slightly longer journey and can get congested. There were also lots in the Prior Park, Combe Down, Odd Down areas on the outskirts of the city. In terms of near places several people came from Freshford Box, Saltford, Keynsham etc which are all worth checking out

In terms of travel to King Edwards the area from which people come is pretty large: there are lots of coaches from places like Trowbridge, Frome, Bradford on Avon, Westbury (and villages in between) which serve KES and Royal High - taking people directly to school.

There is also train travel - I was one of the 30-40 KES and RHS pupils that got the train from Chipppenham every day. Its only a 10 minute journey and the train at 7:45ish meant I got to school for 8:20 ish.

Its a 1 mile or so walk from the train station to KES taking in Pulteney Bridge and Pulteney Street which is a glorious walk to school! There is also a bus.

Of my friends who caught the train several lived in villages such as Kington Langley, towns such as Malmesbury and Chippenham as well as various villages along the A4 to Calne etc. Check out these places for the Wiltshire rural life. These have the advantage of being better located for the A4 and M4 for travel for London if this is important and you get more for your money. But you probably will end up travelling to Bath for culture, hospitals, shops etc. Also small Wiltshie towns such as Trowbridge can feel a bit like backwaters if you're used to city life.

Public transport is not very comprehensive outside Bath and so you will probably find yourself doing quite a bit of driving for your children. Also not being in Bath meant that everything became more complicated when arranging to meet up with friends etc so I would recommend living closer to Bath if possible, and certainly on a bus/train route if you want your chilfdren to be indendent!

I miss Bath, but I actually hated living there. I found it very friendly though and so easy to make a variety of friends. Even visiting now, I'll bump into someone I know from my time there. I've never had that in any other place.
But the tourists. Good lord, the summers trying to just move through the city, finding some space to just walk the dog! The traffic was horrendous, and parking was awful.

And a lot of homeless people, I never felt a lot was done by the council to help them.

I was attacked by a homeless man who was either drunk or on drugs in daylight on the street. On a separate occasion, I tried to help a woman (who was a known homeless drug user) who was being attacked by another drunk/drugged up man. Again, daylight lots of people just walking past.

We have a dog who needs lots of walks and space. Where did you find that was good to walk the dog @roadpebble ?

@Whammyyammy That man's from Yeovil! He was arrested at an address in Trowbridge. Big deal.

Is Bristol Grammar selective? I think they bus kids in from a fairly wide catchment.

Cheltenham is a grammar school area, I believe, and I was under the impression that Cheltenham College had a pretty good reputation?

I love living here, mostly because it's so well situated to visit other places and the shops are great. The city has lots of amenities, culture and there are some beautiful parks and buildings (obviously). The tourists though!!

I would have suggested living on the outskirts, but they've just introduced a clean air area in the centre of town and I'm sure that it's pushing congestion and pollution to the less fancy bits of town. As always, it's the less well off that suffer.

I think Bristol more suited to younger people and I would be tempted to move there if I was 30 years younger. It's got a more varied demographic and is "cooler" than Bath. I think Bath has better schools though.

@felineflutter

Anyone mentioned the radon yet?

We live on top of a radon area. Somehow we've survived.

@AppletonP we lived in a flat without a garden, we mostly walked on the Royal crescent through to Victoria Park, as that was close for us. Really great at night and winter months as no one was there, but hot days in the summer you'd think the crescent was a beach for sunbathers 😂
There's a few lovely places to walk if you're happy to take a little drive, but for the everyday walks that's where we went. You see the same dog owners/walkers around though, which is nice for socialising/chat/dogs to play.

My dogs a medium size, needs a lot of running or at least a very long walk a day! Tennis ball and Victoria park worked well.

I live in Bradford on Avon- I love it and wouldn’t move anywhere else now. It’s so pretty and the surrounding countryside is beautiful, plus only a short distance from
Bath/Bristol. Traffic is a problem though.

Corsham is lovely- we lived there for a time and loved it- only issue was no train station.

Avoid Trowbridge

That was an incredibly helpful post @sophde - thank you!

I live near Bath. I love going there for shopping, bars and restaurants but wouldn’t want to live there.

I have colleagues whose children are at private school in Bath, they get the train in. (Seniors).

I prefer living nearby as I have the best of both worlds. Small town, rural, beautiful walks and runs from my front door, easy access to the M4 and A4, good schools, decent shopping for most things and a ten minute train ride to Bath and a little longer to Bristol. Plenty going on in my little town, without the hassle of the tourists and traffic!

@Sidge Chippenham? Give me a hint 😬. I can't see any towns with a station between the M4 and A4.