Moving to Knowle

[littlemum2]

Hello,

We are planning on moving from London to Bristol later this year. Specially, we're thinking about moving to Knowle - it seems cheaper than north Bristol and a little more down to earth.

I'm a little concerned about the amount of stuff going on locally in Knowle. Having lived in London, I've been used to having every type of baby group on my doorstep. There also don't seem to be many shops at the top end of the Wells Road. Is there plenty to occupy the under 5's in Knowle?

Also, are there any other areas, perhaps further outside Bristol, which are good for young families? The Bristol school situation sseems to be equally stressful as London & I'm wondering if we lived further out would it be easier?

We just love Bristol, it's such a great city but it's such a big move for us. We just want to get it right. Any thoughts / suggestions would be so gratefully recieved.

I live in staple hill. There is a mix of different types of housing. There is a very good high street where you can buy most things.
It is very easy to walk to both fish-ponds and downend. There are a few different parks to try a library in both down end and Staple Hill.

There is a cycle Track that runs through from Bristol to bath which is lovely.There is a choice of 4 school which are all good and there are pre-schools and nurseries That seam easy to get into.

I have friends that live in Knowle and have had difficulty getting preschool and the school places at the local school.

There are music groups and a gym class that I can walk to.

It only takes about twenty min (non rush hour ) to drive into the centre or over to the mall.

Hope this helps

That sounds really good - thank you.

I'm really worried about schools (isn't every mum) but Bristol seems to echo the same London problems - not enough of them.

I really don't want to move to an area where I'm going to have exactly the same problem as here.

Thanks for your suggestion and anymore gratefully recieved.

I live in Knowle (Upper Knowle) and think it is a good area to live with plenty to do for under 5s.

There is Tiny tearaways soft play inside Broadwalk shoppiong centre which is a good soft play area. There are several parks - Redcatch Park, Perrets Park and Arnos vale Park which have all been updated wihin the past few years.

There are also loads of pre-schools and toddler groups - Sydenham Road under 5s runs both toddler sessions and a pre-school. There are others as well. If you are thinking about returning to work there are also good childminders available and 2 private nurseries.

There are several primary schools. The main ones being Hillcrest, Knowle Park Primary, West Town Lane primary which take local children. Competition for school places at reception level is better in this part of Bristol than in the North of the city. My daughter goes to Knowle Park primary which is one of the most improved schools in the area over the past few years and she is doing very well.

There is also a private primary school called Cleeve House if this is an option for you.

In Knowle you also have easy bus routes to the City centre and the main railway station (Temple Meads).

Hello - Knowle is a great place to live, has improved loads in the last few years and is full of young professional families. If you need nursery spaces I would try and sort those out now - there are 2 nurseries (Busy Bees and Courthouse) on the Wells Rd near the Broadwalk but they are usually booked up months in advance. To get a place at Hillcrest School you would need to live very near (I think the furthest distance away this yr was about 400m) but there are several other schools in the area - worth thinking about if you are looking at properties. As crazymum53 points out, access to the centre is good; however apart from charity shops Knowle is not brilliant for shopping - but it is only a bus ride to Cabot Circus etc. Some nice cafes/bars have opened recently too!

Local shops in Knowle have suffered in recent years - Tescos plans to build another Tesco Express store have affected the Broadwalk area but there are plenty of good shops in Totterdown including a toy shop, child friendly cafes and organique health food store.

There are also branches of the following supermarkets nearby: Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda.

The Imperial Park shopping development has a branch of Next and the Brislington shopping park on the Bath Road has Matalan and TKMaxx.

Hope this helps