Relocation to commutable to Bristol with good schools!?

[Bexter25uk]

Ok I might be looking for a pink unicorn here but we want to move out of greater London to somewhere more rural but close to amenities and good schools. Hubby needs to be able to commute to Bristol 2 times a week.
I will have to start business from scratch that's ok.
We've looked at clevedon, chew magna, Bradford on avon, Trowbridge, frome. But we will hit on one thing but miss on another.
We have about £520k for a house and don't want to live in bath or in Bristol as trying to escape city living.
Does such a nirvana exist?
I should say secondary school is the key here.
Many thanks helpful people in my phone.

What were the hits and misses about the places on your list? Might help with suggestions!

Have you thought about South Wales?

Good point!
Hit - good secondary schools, affordable housing, commutable to Bristol by train ideally, slightly alternative vibe bit of a hippy at heart.
Miss - opposite of above 😂

No - sort of kept suckered to the east really. I'm not good on dual carriage way motorway driving so I probably wouldn't be able to get myself across the bridge driving wise easily is probably what went through my head at some.point

what about Tickenham in Clevedon? its only a 7 minute drive from nailsea (the closest town- so where all shops are and where nailsea secondary school is (rated good by ofsted)). this property is currently for sale to give you an idea of price. its a 20 minute drive to bristol. all the best x

Have you thought about Cheltenham or Stroud? Train links pretty good and lots of good secondaries and grammar schools in the area.

Stonehouse/Stroud has good schools and also the hippy vibe.

Do look at Chepstow/South Wales though. It's a very easy commute on the bus. The Wye Valley is gorgeous.

Train makes it more tricky. Chippenham has good secondaries but not rural. Could live in a village outside & have the option or driving into town & train.
Malmesbury is lovely & the secondary very good. Stroud is alternative with good schools but probably an hour in rush hour to Bristol. Trains from Cam & Dursley.

Multiple cross posts there but all saying the same!

Try places like Thornbury, Wotton under Edge and surrounding villages. Both are very close to Bristol and the motorways but more rural - especially the surrounding villages. Access to good schools in all of those.

Are you committed to the south west of Bristol? Have you considered further east - South Glos/Gloucestershire? Very rural, and its where the Cotswolds start. From Cirencester to Chipping Sodbury to Stroud, it's a lovely area. Prince Charles lives there, you know

Seems to be alot of suggestions for north of Bristol. It's not somewhere we have considered at all because of the commute really. I guess thinking about we wanted to keep south east because of family in Devon and friends in London, it would be a marginally easier commute?

Chippenham Malmesbury etc are north of Bristol but closer to London 11/4 hours on train. Where in Bristol will he need to be?

I grew up in the area to the north east of Bristol, OP. it really did combine the best of country living with city amenities. Being so close to the M4 and M5 makes it easy to get anywhere. My parents still live around there and have a caravan in south Devon as its such an easy zip down the M5. That whole area has great commuter links so you can easily widen your search area if you were worried about that.

Chippenham is east, not north, but the same thing applies!

Keynsham might be worth considering. It has good bus services and also has a railway station with train rides to Bristol Temple Meads or Bath Spa taking about 10 minutes.
It has 2 secondary schools. Broadlands and Wellsway.

Chippenham? Close to the M4, station on the line to London and Bristol.

Great schools and you’d get a lot of house for your money.

Agree with Sawyers on Stonehouse or Stroud - any hint of hippy-ness and Stroud will come up! But in the realm of the (super-selective) grammars in either of those.

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Backwell or Nailsea have outstanding secondary schools and have a train service into central Bristol.

Thank you for taking the time to comment everyone, I love the fact people are always so willing to help 😊
You've really given us food for thought looking a bit north of Bristol especially Stroud thank you