Commuting from Bath to London - any experiences?

[LittlePickleHead]

Hi all.
DH and I have started to seriously consider leaving London and moving back to the West Country where we are both from, closer to family. Bath is seeming the number one choice due to great schools, proximity to ace city and gorgeous countryside, and just all round general loveliness.
Whilst there are jobs in DH's line of work in Bristol, it would very much be a case of waiting for the opportunity to arise.
I am wondering whether a good way to make the transition wold be for DH keep his job, to work from home two days a week and make the commute to London on the other three days. We could then initially rent a place in Bath and buy a property once DH had managed to secure local work.
I'm aware of the time (4 hour daily commute) and cost implications of this, but I think as a short term strategy until the right Bristol job came up we could try and make it work.
Has anyone (or anyone's partner) tried doing this, and how does it work in reality?
I suppose we are both really apprehensive about taking the plunge, so I'm hoping this might make it a little less scary!

Hello! I am the Editor for Bath. I will twit your thread and hopefully someone will get back to you! Good luck :)

Hi there

Rosie (wife), Lola (2 years old) and I moved from SW17 to BA1 at the beginning of November. We are now 3 months into an initial 7 months rental to suss out Bath. We now have a very good idea re areas and the +/- points. Currently in Richmond Lane and likely to head to Larkhall for another 6-12 month rental.

Rosie has been able to port her business to Bath (Garden Designer) and I head to London by early train or M4 once a week for an overnight trip either side of compressed client meetings. The train is £87.50 single for a peak hours walk up and as low as £25.00 for advanced booking. A combination of M4 and fast train into Waterloo is also an option. I have just set up a lift sharing group to make the drive easier :)

Bath is a lovely to look at and the vast majority of people very friendly. There is quite a lot going on (ish) and we are both slowly making friends locally. Lola and I cycle everywhere which is much faster than dri

If you have any specific questions please post or mail
Roger :)

Thanks for your input Roger! After my initial research I have been quite drawn to the Weston/Newbridge area, do you have any thoughts or knowledge of the area?

Also, how do you manage your overnight stay; do you have friends/family to stay with? I suppose my main concern is this plan either involves a lot of cost (around £750 per month for an annual season ticket with tube travel) or me not seeing DH for two nights a week which might be fine, but we are due our second DC this year and so I do worry about feeling lonely.

Im thinking of commuting from london to bath? is that crazy?
Is there anything like a monthly train pass?
Thanks!

Hi

I live in a village outside Bath and have commuted to London for 15 years. I catch the train from Chippenham as the parking is better.

You can get monthly or annual season tickets and if you're going up at least 3 times a week, its a lot cheaper.

Another wheeze that people use tokeep the costs down is to get a season ticket from Bath to Didcot and one from Didcot to London - it's hundereds of pounds cheaper that way (you just have to ensure you are on a train that stops at Didcot).

When you are working out the cost of your commute, don't forget to factor in the cost of parking and the underground/buses once you get to London.

Message me if you want toknow anything else.

I can second Goosey's recommendation to catch the train from Chippenham, although if you're central enough you could walk to either Bath Spa or Oldfield Park stations.

I resent travelling to and from Chippenham as it means I miss the lovely bit of the journey as you approach Bath Spa

I used to work 2 or 3 days/week in London for many years. I live an easy walk from the train station but (perhaps I was getting old and cynical) found that I was having to allow a few minutes more than the "2 hours door to door" I'd expected in the mid-nineties. It was doable if you didn't work long hours (but quite tiring). There is something very depressing about sitting on the platform staring up at the moon in the morning!

The Didcot wheeze is very useful for a day-trip when you aren't sure what time you will finish meetings. Even if you travel at peak time, the "Didcot to Bath" bit is an off-peak single. You just have to make sure you are on a train that actually stops at Didcot (as opposed to sailing straight past).

When my husband was working up in London for a couple of years he either stayed with family (plenty of people also rent rooms Monday-Thursday too) and tried to work from home on a Friday or rented a flat.

Commuting to London from Bath is very common. Depending where in London you have to go will indicate whether it is better to drive or train. If driving live on the North side of Bath. If going by train, live in Widcombe or Bear Flat so you can nip to the station easily - and then when/if a job arises in Bristol it will help your commute that way.

Commuting to London from Bath is very common. Depending where in London you have to go will indicate whether it is better to drive or train. If driving live on the North side of Bath. If going by train, live in Widcombe or Bear Flat so you can nip to the station easily - and then when/if a job arises in Bristol it will help your commute that way.