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?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104752325#/

Is this enough garden?

Hansford square/ combe down is well connected by bus to the city centre. There are minubuses from there to both KES and Royal high (which I think is the best if you have girls).

Lots of lovely walks towards southern slopes. You can also bike to the two tunnels from there. No issues with parking.

The market seems to be a bit slow at the moment. If you can afford 1 million you should have plenty of choices once things get moving again.

I agree with @rattlemehearties

Unless you live right at the centre of town, the turists are great. They fund the city and keep all the restaurants in business. I only cross paths with them if I really want to.

Agree too tourists don’t bother me. Tourists are usually “nice” anyway families / couples / language students kept an eye on by their teachers. Bath doesn’t hold much interest for the lager lout type! Even the hen groups are quite posh. I saw a whole group all dressed as Mary poppins once!

I'm another one whose bedroom gets washed in the Rec floodlights every time they have a televised match on (which thankfully isn't too often).

I suspect that Pulteney Road house is on the market because the rugby club is/was very keen to redevelop the Rec (putting a new stadium and 600 space car park beneath it). I'd be more worried about the train noise there. I think it is closer to the convent than The Bird.

Have you tried looking at the availability of rentals? I think there is a sudden flurry of activity between July and August (but that is solely based on friends who'd moved to KES).

@Lua That one would be too small for us. We would like 4 bed plus study or 5 beds. I can't see us going for something under 2000 sq ft unless it had potential to extend.

@AppletonP Just had a thought
Fresh Ford is a lovely village just outside Bath if there's anything on the Market
Look for postcodes BA2 The south side of the city has some good areas
Avoid anywhere too near the centre
Pulteney road would be expensive to park, noisy and congested( a nightmare on match days( Rugby and cricket)
I lived in Combe Down

Sorry I've no idea how to link but I've found this on Rightmove

Zoopla

Dont forget that tourists also equals Stag and Hen weekends. Who wants inebriated people chucking their guts up in the front garden?

I have never seen a stag weekend here. There are hen groups but they tend to be older mid 30s. There just isn’t the nightlife to attract the younger party hard Chuck your guts up groups. Actually us 40 something mums are probably worse 😁 we like a night out!

@uncomfortablydumb53 That's a lovely house. Thank you. Any idea what the school run would be like?

Depending on traffic I'd say 20 minutes
It's a beautiful house in a " sought after" area on the edge of the countryside.
10 minutes to Bath city centre
If I can help in anyway please ask as I know every inch of south Bath

Coombe Down, Limpley Stoke / Winsley, Bradford on Avon are all lovely parts of Bath.
I believe Monkton Combe has younger children and goes up to senior. There is also Downside School a good 40 minutes from Bath that has a bus.
I'd personally prefer to be on the outskirts rather than right in the centre. I think all the student accommodation would bother me more than tourists!
I'm not sure I would want to live on any of the main routes in to town either - London Rd, Bear Flat, Wellsway are all a nightmare in rush hour! In fact, London Road is a nightmare any time of the day!

There is a minibus that goes up midford road and through bradford/north road that takes kids from the south side to KES, royal high and kingswood.

If you want to drive, it would take you less than 50 minutes at 7.50, and perhaps half an hour at 8.30....

Check out rainbow wood. Lovely walk and parkrun there.

We used to live just off landsdown road, I used to go to the royal high school and used to walk to school. It was great!

@1678bfj7

I would completely agree with your comments on Kingswood Prep and you also raise a good point on KES prep being on the west side.

That said I would rate Heywood prep and Beaudesert above KES prep. Both Heywood and BPS are equally good so it would be more an issue of where you live.

KES is certainly more academic than Kingswood but I personally feel Kingswood is a bit more rounded and a bit less "geeky" (will get criticised on this!) than KES.

In an ideal world I would probably go for Heywood/ BPS for prep, Kingswood or RHS for senior and KES for A levels. The change of schools would not be a problem as there are plenty of ex Heywood/ BPS children at Kingswood/ RHS and ex Kingswood senior doing A levels at KES.

@1dayatatime That's really useful info about the different preps. DS is currently at an all through school but in the prep and I really don't rate it that highly. I think it dines out on the reputation of the senior school quite hard.

I would think Beaudesert and KES are far enough apart that there wouldn't be much cross over. Surely that's a huge school run into Bath from up that way? From what I can find KES only run a bus service from south of Bath not North? Heywood prep looks interesting but how are the fees so low? Do they have much for space/facilities?

@AppletonP

I couldn't agree with you more that there are many "all through" schools where the prep school dines out on the reputation of the senior school (Kingswood is an example of this IMO). I realise that "all through" is an an easier option for many parents but personally I would prefer to select whichever school best suits the individual child.

You are also right that there is little cross over between BPS and KES senior as it is simply too far and involves going through Bath in rush hour (not recommended 😩). But there is cross over between BPS and
Kingswood Senior and then from Kingswood Senior to KES as there is a linking bus.

As for Heywood vs BPS it's a bit like comparing apples and bananas and I factored in the price difference. Yes BPS has a lot more space and more facilities and could be seen as "better" but it is a lot more expensive. There ere are some seriously wealthy parents at BPS and I guess it's nearest like for like comparison is Dragons in Oxford. But if you can afford it and the location works then you really won't go far wrong with it.

Heywood offers really good value for money and I think it is better than the Bath preps that are more expensive (but of course cheaper than BPS). Heywood is owned by the Wishford Trust who basically buy struggling preps ( and more recently Westonbirt) and turn them around with high quality staff. The former head at Heywood was stellar and the best prep head I have ever met and by all accounts was paid accordingly well 🤑. He is now at another Wishford school. The aim is to create good "affordable" private education without the bells and whistles of course the risk is that once the school starts to get heavily oversubscribed then the fees willl gradually increase !

So I guess it comes down to where you choose to live , city living in Bath vs surrounding towns / villages/ countryside and your budget for prep schools.

Lastly for all girls schools St Mary's Calne is excellent but expensive and RHS Bath not quite as strong though still an excellent school but alot cheaper and good value for money - a bit like the Heywood v BPS comparison I guess.

It's not hugely diverse. Very middle class green Welly brigade.

BPS reminds me of St. Hugh's in Oxfordshire. It used to be quite a nice country prep under the old head but it really hasn't gone well under the new head. There are some seriously disgruntled staff and a few of the real gems have left or are leaving. The preprep is also very weak and the head doesn't appear to realise it's part of the school. Nursery staff are lovely and warm but then it's a bumpy few years after that as you navigate some frosty and not particularly competent teachers in the preprep. I'd need to be convinced BPS wasn't more of the same where they are trading off glossy brochures and facilities more than quality of teachers.

Over priced housing, nightmare parking, horrendous traffic (especially on home rugby days), because of tourists restaurants and pubs charge at least 25% more than they ought to.

Highly recommend Oldfield park - we moved here from east dulwich London and it really reminds me of east dulwich before it got super expensive. Everyone talks about students but we are completely unaware of them and constantly talk about how quiet and peaceful it is - the best bit is that we walk into town all the time - in fact we walk everywhere. Pre-COVID it was incredibly convenient for both train stations - bath spa and Oldfield park. If you are working in Bristol - commuting - it’s a very quick train ride. We aren’t far from the bear park shops - and lovely bear cafe - but also love moorland road with great local shops. We also have been really happy with local state school options - and are hoping kids will go to Ralph Allen. One of the best things is that you can drive to the countryside within 10 minutes and there are loads of gorgeous country pubs, lovely walks and gorgeous farm shops. Really love being in bath after London.

There are some lovely houses in Chippenham. With a good budget for your house try St Mary's Street which is gorgeous, a short walk to the station and you'll get much more for your money than you would in Bath. Chippenham is a nice market town with a strong community and easy walks to glorious countryside. We moved here from SW London and enjoy the amazing countryside, community and country pubs etc. The Bath private schools are now arranging school buses from Chippenham. There's also St Mary's for girls close by in Calne which is one of the best schools in the country. Most people don't have a clue about the prettier areas of Chippenham best to visit and make your own mind up. Chippenham is fast into London, easy to get to Bath and few tourists. It's great.