Moving to bath

[Imnewhere21]

Hi All, we are two Mums with two girls (2 and 4) and will be moving to Bath from London. Any ideas on neighbourhoods that are more gay friendly or at least diverse? We are considering Bristol too although I have heard the traffic is horrendous and my job will be outside of Bath to the East so not ideal i.e. too far to walk from Bath Spa station... Any suggestions are welcome as moving to a smaller city is making me nervous as we don't want to end up in a very samey conservative location. We are excited however as it seems like a great place to raise a family.

If you want honesty, Bath is not the most diverse place. It is, however, a very tolerant place and I doubt you would encounter any hostility in most areas.

Areas to avoid: Whiteway, Twerton, Snow Hill. Not because they aren't diverse but there is some anti social behaviour.

Widcombe is probably the perfect area for you but it can be quite pricey. Riverside is convenient. Oldfield Park too but it is mostly student accomodation in that area. Other nice areas: Larkhall, Bathampton, Batheaston, Bathford, Fairfield Park, Combe Down but all of these aren't walking distance from town (well 25+ minutes for most of them).

Ohhh and Bear Flat would be a good shout too :)

Thanks incywincyspiders! Yeah sadly I don't think we can afford Widcome or Bear Flat. Oldfield park seems to have some nice houses that we can afford, but worried about the student population, do you think would be noisy? Definitely considering the others, but worried they might feel too villagey.

I mean not noisy at the moment cos of Lockdown and half of them aren't here 😂 I lived really near Oldfield Park for a little bit and it could be nosy but not as noisy as I thought it was going to be. Oldfield also has plenty of amenities and still in walking distancr to town. I know Batheaston/Bathampton very well and they are both lovely villages. Batheaston probably more lively than Bathampton but Bathampton you have the canal and the school is very good also. Although all of these are villages, it's literally a 5-10 minute drive town :) Bathampton is probably a 50 minute walk along the canal to town.

I am from Bath but I lived in London for 6 years (North West but moved back to Bath afterwards) so I understand your concerns about being somewhere that is quieter after living somewhere lively. The good thing about Bath is that it's so small, anywhere you choose to live, town is so close. So even thought you might end up in a village, it doesn't mean that you won't get that city feel :)

I live 20 minutes outside of Bath now and Bath still feels on my doorstep :)

@incywincyspiders thanks for that re Oldfield Park. I don't mind being near students, but not sure if I would want to live right next door so we will consider. Location and houses seem great though so will explore a bit more. Will def consider Batheaston and Bathampton. Thanks for the encouragement too re moving to Bath. Love the idea of a town + countryside being so accessible. Getting excited! Do you know if there are any local LGBT/family group or activities?

I actually don't, I'm really sorry! I am sure there is but I can't personally recommend any.

Bathampton is my home village ❤️ My family are all there and I grew up there so hope you like it when you check it out ☺️

hi, I know it's been a while - just wanted to say if you're still thinking about Bath, check out the Norland College - I'm pretty sure they run playgroups for lgbt parents, it's a college for nannies. you might need to contact them directly as I can't find it on google! Oldfield isn't noisy; it's a real mix, you will see students out and about but definitely lots of families about too due to the many schools in the area! There's a great local community with nice high street - library, book shop, 2 eco refill shops, cafes and restaurants. Bath isn't too conservative; it's a very tolerant and accepting place, but I would say the hardest issue you might face as a lgbt couple would be not finding a lot of people like you. It's definitely safe though! batheaston is a bit villagey but makes up for it as it's so close to the countryside, same for bathampton - although both have a really nice 20 min ish flat bike ride into town along the canal!