Where to live within an hour, hour and a half of Bristol (Clifton)

[whereonearth]

We really, really need to move!

DH works in Bristol but doesn't need to be every day; flexibility on timing of travel so traffic not a major concern. I work from home.

We have two children (6 and 3) and maybe a third one on the way...

Really struggling to find even a 'town' to start from because we're not currently local to the South West. We have explored Frome as an option before but the housing stock isn't quite what we are looking for and schools difficult to navigate.

We need a bigger house because we both work from home; so probably 5 beds. Preferably detached. But I'd like not to be so rural that our school run is taking place on a single track dirt road.

Our budget could stretch to up to a million. Please kind experts of Mumsnet, where do you think we should live? What lovely towns in the South West am I missing?

My Mum recently moved to Thornbury. It's awful, I wouldn't want to live there.

This. Nailsea and Backwell are where all the barristers, solicitors, surgeons and doctors live. Easy access to Backwell school (state) and private school in Clifton. Nailsea to Clifton is 15 mins across the bridge.

Another vote for Wells - its lovely has good schools and plenty of decent sized supermarkets. Its not far to Clarkes village for retail therapy. Main downside is that there is no station.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135994019

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86385858

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140038226

North into Gloucestershire you would do very well with that budget and it is wonderful I am biased though!

The Forest of Dean is lovely (I may be a little biased!) If you are in the north east area of the forest you have the option of using either bridge without it making much different to journey times to Clifton.

Oh my goodness so many suggestions and links, thank you all. It's going to take me a good rightmove session to try and get through these.

@Luz99 we actually looked in Ross-on-Wye, it is lovely but the two houses that we viewed felt incredibly rural because the roads were so bad, which put us off a bit. Maybe it's what we looked at, but I had visions of having to reverse down a single-lane road because of oncoming traffic and did not fancy it...

Why do people always say Keynsham?! It’s so depressing. There’s a reason the houses are cheaper there…

Also your kids don’t stay kids that long though you can’t imagine it now. Being a rural teen is utterly shit.

@Peaceandkindness

I work in nailsea, it's a bit run down these days. Nailsea school isn't great either Friday friends reports

@TheaBrandt personally I agree and the only reason I suggest it (or saltford) is it's bloody handy for Bristol but equally handy for Bath and you get more for your money . Personally if I was in the OPs position I would buy on edges of Bath or somewhere like Box/corsham or maybe Portishead 'if' she likes the vibe and doesn't mind a ton of new builds - personally I would rather have slightly less of a house, but a better lifestyle. (In my opinion)

Same. Just live in Bath. I’m from here Dh isn’t when we moved from London he’d get really excited about finding some cheap mansion on rightmove but had to tell him it was in a shit place…

@TheaBrandt re: rural teen - definitely agree, I think DH was in that situation himself to an extent. That's why ideally I'd like a 'town' where there is some degree of public transport available like a train etc.
Trowbridge and some places in Wiltshire seem quite a decent option since there is also a direct train into London?

@whereonearth Trowbridge is a bit grim though- I've seen worse but wouldn't want to spend that kind of money there.

Chippenham is kind of similar but a bit better and is on a better train line- town centre not amazing but only 12 mins into Bath or about 25 into Bristol- corsham is also nice, not on train but only 10 minutes to Chippenham for train and 20 minutes drive into Bath - very large villagey feel (small town) but lots of facilities. You get a nice place there for that- here's a couple of examples and below budget - nice 4 bedders around £500 to £700

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135587867

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132352913

@Crikeyalmighty we have visited Chippenham before, few years ago but had a nice amount of shops etc. We went to Trowbridge recently, didn't see tons of it but had a nice playground and some decent amenities (like a cinema). We did see some slightly hoodlum 'youths' but nothing we don't see where we live now! 😅

Do you know much about Yatton / Congresbury / Long Ashton / Severn Beach / Keynsham? Some have been mentioned previously in the thread, but I think all of these have 1. a train station 2. are within 20 minutes of Bristol Airport which is a plus since I have family abroad.

@Crikeyalmighty maybe it's not the best selection!

Yatton has grown hugely in the last few years but shops and infrastructure not kept up. Much nicer places to live

Congresbury has a really nice restaurant ... otherwise I'm not sure about living there, it's not very big, whereas long Ashton is essentially a suburb of Bristol so much better amenities within a short distance. That said any of the small towns and villages on the south side will work logistically, it's more down to if there's suitable housing for sale.

There's one in Clapton in gordano currently that I've been making eyes at (I don't need a big house!)

@whereonearth long Ashton is nice, quite upmarket, right side for you - not many shops- its a big village. Severn beach is truly awful- can't think why anyone mentioned that or any of those other places, they are all not pleasant- Chippenham and Trowbridge and keynsham are better. If you think Trowbridge was ok - then any of these should be fine but your best bet in my opinion is still Bath fringes - (probably somewhere like Weston) or Chippenham/corsham if you want something bigger for your budget. Frome or Bradford on Avon too . Bradford is gorgeous - I would have also said Portishead - but not if you want a train station handy

@gotomomo show me!

@Crikeyalmighty we drove through Bradford on Avon twice, absolutely gorgeous place, but both times traffic was truly horrific at random times of day. Going through there was an utter nightmare, can't imagine what it's like if you live there!

Here's the full article about Yatton. Even the article seems surprised it's rated so badly. Have a look at the quality of life score as it's very high. Yatton isn't the prettiest village, but it's set in beautiful country and has fantastic connections via the train. It's also a hop, skip and a jump from the coast and the M5. It's less chi chi than its neighbours but the prices reflect that.

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/yatton-named-one-worst-places-7011352

Have a look at the 'Vendors' comments' on the houses for sale in Yatton - all incredibly positive.

There's a very regular train from Yatton to Bristol Temple Meads where a train link leaves for Clifton every 30ish minutes.

Backwell is also worth a look.

Regarding the Chew Valley, it's very lovely but speaking as someone who has commuted from there to Clifton I'd say don't do it. Traffic is terrible.