Hopefully moving to Taunton area

[booksarefun]

Hi. First poster here. We're just going on the market next week, hoping to move to the Taunton area to be nearer family. ATM we're in Cornwall (DH is Cornish and I've been down here over 40 years) so it will be a big wrench but we're now pretty isolated down here. We know the South West well but not so much the rural areas. We have a budget of approx £300k and aren't fussy about the type of house (although detached would be the dream) but we love gardening and so that's a big want. Ideally we'd like to be nearer a large town with a rail station, hence Taunton ticks a lot of boxes. I just wonder if any of you lovely mumsnet users can recommend anywhere that might be suitable. I have looked at previous threads on the topic (mentions made of Trull for example) but the posters often want advice on schools and we're past that now. If anyone has any local knowledge that would be amazing. Many thanks.

I would rather live in a nearby village like Bishops Lydeard than Taunton, although I think the north part of town is meant to be nicer. I'm not keen on the town itself

Hello! I am Cornish and used to live in Taunton and would love to move back. (A lot of people are moving out of Cornwall now!)

We have held back from our move until possibly / hopefully the trains improve. At the moment it's 2 hours from London but I can confirm the trains are packed and last week I booked a seat. Turned out they had overbooked so the seat was booked twice. I had to stand in a crowded carriage all the way to London. It was awful. But then we WFH and need to get to London so it's a huge issue for us.

All that aside, I recommend Galmington. It's very nice and quiet too.

I'm very jealous. The Quantocks are a very special place to me. I can't wait to move back!

People turn their noses up at Taunton. But honestly - it's pretty posh compared to the likes of St Austell, Camborne, Redruth, Penzance and Newquay 😂

Good luck x

Don't forget that once the A30 is finished, getting back to Cornwall will be an absolute breeze.

It's not far away at all! 😊

Thanks StevieFlick, sorry to hear about your miserable rail trip. The Taunton area is ideal for us for visiting family so fingers crossed we find somewhere within our budget. We're really looking forward to exploring the Quantocks and the coasts aren't too far away are they. Galmington is on our list of preferred places to live so it's good to hear a vote in its favour. Onen hag oll ☺️

Thanks happycamperr. Yes, I think the surrounding villages will be our best best bet as we really want as best a garden as we can afford. We're up in the area in Tuesday and will be visiting Bishops Lydeard. ☺️

I grew up in Bishops Lydeard and family are still there. It's definitely expanded a lot since I was there but it does have lots of facilities in walking distance that my parents have found invaluable. Sadly, Taunton is definitely a town in decline (like many others I suppose)

Would you not consider Tiverton just to expand your options too - You do have Tiverton Parkway station which is the next station along from Taunton and less than a 30 min drive on the M5.
You are also closer to the coastline than you are with Taunton?

Tiverton Parkway you do have direct services into the main stations too both North and South.

Tiverton Parkway is a fair distance from the town and the town itself is not v appealing (numerous threads on here to back me up on that). Whatever the downsides to Taunton are, I'd say it has a lot more going for it than Tiverton.

Taunton is closer to Tiverton to the coast (about 16 miles vs 22) and the train station is around 7 to 8 miles out of the town. Stoke St Mary is a nice village just outside Taunton.

Wellington will hopefully have a new train station in a few years.
Comet trowel has a lot of new houses going up. Trull, Pitminster, Blagdon are nice.
Do you want to be in walking distance from the train station?

Thanks purpletulips1. Stoke St Mary does look nice and is on our list ☺️

Hi ApurpleSquirrel. It doesn't have to be walking distance to the train station. I think with having our £300k budget and wanting a decent garden, we'll have to make compromises ☺️

In that case, definitely look further afield to the small villages on the outskirts. Public transport isn't great but a lot will depend on how much you want to use it vs a car. Some villages won't have any, others will have some.
I'd recommend looking at Comeytrowe, Galmington, Trull, Blagdon, Corfe, Wellington, West Buckland, Bradford on Tone, Oake, Bishops Lydeard, Cotford St Luke - all in east reach of Taunton.
Plus if you go for one between Taunton & Wellington you have easy access to the M5 via Wellington.

@APurpleSquirrel thank you so much - that's really helpful. Wellington is definitely worth a look.

Tbh I'm biased - I live in Wellington & love it. It's not as big as Taunton, but has some nice shops, a very nice community feel, close to M5, A303/A38 & North Devon Link road. You can get to the coast in 40mins; Exeter is 30mins, Bristol & Plymouth in under an hour; Cardiff 1.5hrs. You can be across into Cornwall in just over an hour. Trains from Taunton or Tiverton to London etc.

@booksarefun how did your visit go? Did you find any areas you liked?

We're headed off on Friday - minor delay as estate agent was taking photos today and is coming back tomorrow. Wellington looks a lovely place and we'll be stopping off there as part of our road trip. We're having to take our 13 year old collie so will mostly be driving through places as his legs aren't great. We've booked a dog sitter to explore in more depth in 2 weeks, where we can walk around in more depth. I have been to Taunton before but neither of us know the surrounding villages well. Thanks for taking an interest 😊