We moved to Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire (just on border with S. Glos) this summer and we absolutely love it; we decided a year ago that it was the place for us (upped sticks from SE London) and are so happy with our choice so far. At the weekend it takes 30 mins to drive into Bristol city and my DH commutes to the outskirts of Bristol (without going quite into the centre) and his commute is less than 30 mins, friends who work in the city itself use various park and rides and I think their journeys are still under an hour - and probably more reliable than a Chepstow-Bristol commute given the bridge element.
We looked all around the houses as we knew we wanted to be back in the Bristol area as have family here and funnily enough we also discounted Clevedon - gorgeous place but something didn't quite fit for us and we felt a stronger sense of community in Wotton. We happened upon Wotton on here and also hearing from friends of friends who had settled here and raved about it (as I grew up in S. Glos). The schools (preschool, primary and secondary) are really fantastic and for a small town it packs a lot of punch: we have rolling hills and fields of sheep behind us but we are about 5 mins walk from a high street that has a fab small cinema, an open air pool in summer, a library, two small supermarkets, lots of independents like a butcher, several bakeries, deli, bookshop, outdoor gear shop, craft shops, several coffee shops, takeaways and pubs as well as an excellent steak restaurant. We actually walk more now at weekends than we did in London where our route to our local high street was bisected by the South Circular! Since we arrived there have been lots of events and more planned for the next few months (blues festival, arts and crafts trail, talent show, fireworks, Christmas evening on the high street, not to mention the huge community feeling and ongoing events at our eldest's primary school). The sense of community as a young family has been second to none and we have found making friends easy. I am expecting our third baby any minute and have been bowled over by genuine offers of help from people who didn't even know us 4/5 months ago, it really feels like people have time for you and go out of their way to be friendly and extend social invites! The children (6 and nearly 4) are thriving in their school/preschool and we have managed to get them easily into activities and clubs so they feel fully settled in.
In terms of ruralness - for me it's the perfect combination of real rural beauty (walks, woods, Cotswold Way, streams, fields, nature and animals are all minutes away from home) with walkable small town amenities. Take a look at the 'I love Wotton' page on FB for examples of the autumnal beauty of the last few weeks, some stunning pics. The housing stock is varied - lots of period homes but also 60s/70s semis and detached and more modern estates dotted around the place. Houses go really quickly and we got our home from posting a letter through doors -which I would recommend if you know what you'd like to find and don't want to rent first!
Also in terms of driving further afield, there is obviously copious amounts of countryside within minutes and the towns, cities and villages of Bath, Gloucester, Stroud, Nailsworth, Uley, North Nibley, Tetbury, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Dursley, Yate are all nearby and between 5-40 mins drive... some of which are beautiful and some are more practical but we do feel very well positioned for most things! In terms of family friendly activities, there are NT properties, Slimbridge, Westonbirt Arboretum, Cattle Country all within 10-20 mins drive.
As you can see from this monologue I rather like the place and we are hoping to convince some of our London friends to join us here!