Where is nice to live in Somerset?

[BobbySox71]

We live in Greater London and are now mortgage free, in next couple of years thinking of ‘escaping to the country’
DD 20 recently joined the Royal Navy Fleet Arm so could be based at Yeovilton.
DH has always been of the opinion buy the worse house in nicest street but we will have healthy ish budget and hope to help dd get on property ladder too.
I feel we have no need to stay in London area anymore, dh is semi retired and I work in a hospital. But an easy journey back to outer London to see other family is a must.
I’ll be bringing my horse with me and although we don’t want our own land decent nearby livery yards are to be considered.
Also open to neighbouring counties

My first thought is Frome. Gorgeous little town, lots of facilities and really nice area.

Second choice would be Sherborne.

You're not really budget limited but this will give some ideas.

Bruton.

To be near Yeovil I’d go through Sherborne, Bruton or any little villages in Dorset. You can drive up the a303 pretty easily - although it’s a terrible road!

Axbridge is nice and has a nice community feel to it and it's close to lovely walks on the Mendips. Hard to find a house there though because it's so popular. Last I heard they had finished building a new housing estate there so maybe there are more houses there now (I've not been there for a few years). Draycott nearby is lovely too but doesn't have a lot there in terms of shops or anything else, so you would have to go to Cheddar/Weston for most things I guess. Same with Axbridge, although they have/had a Co-op. Lol.

Omg that’s hilarious, I didn’t think Castle Cary would be so unfriendly. I’m more likely to be be seen in muddy wellies than stilettos 😂.

We love Dorset too especially around Swanage so being not too far from the coast is a bonus. We would ideally move to a village type location by the countryside, I would like to be near decent livery yards for my horse and nice bridleways

Do you need to be near a hospital for work? Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton is one of the largest.
You could look at West Somerset or Taunton Deane areas? The Quantocks or Blackdown Hills - lots of nice villages, stables, walks but still near the M5 & main train line to London.
We on the Somerset/Devon border & find it’s a great location to get to lots of places - beaches both in North Devon & East Devon/Dorset; woodlands, Exmoor & Dartmoor, cities like Exeter, Plymouth & Bristol aren’t far, even Cardiff is only 1.5hrs. Taunton train line gets to Paddington in under 2 hrs.

I work in admin in a hospital and part time so I could work anywhere within reason.

@BobbySox71 the villages around Yeovil are lovely and the military community in ilchester is strong. Places like Martock and anywhere around Ham Hill are lovely. We have country parks, theatre, 45 minutes to the beach in Dorset, an hour to Exeter or Bath, day trip possible on the train to London.

Yeovil is like most towns - some good bits and some bad but the bad really isn’t bad compared to other towns. I find people who moved here from other places think it’s fab, those who have only ever lived here think it’s shite. The choice of parks for kids and dog walks are great. Nice village pubs etc.

We only have Somerset nhs foundation trust which includes 2 acute hospitals, all the community hospitals and services, mental health and learning disabilities, and we have a bit of a hold on recruitment at the moment (but it won’t be forever… I hope). Feel free to pm me. We moved from Kent in 2004 and love the area. Dd1 is at school in Sherborne and that’s lovely too but does tend to be a bit snobby and forget they have poor people living there too (battled to get a Tesco refused but they were fine with Waitrose 😂).

There's a livery yard in Piddlehinton and the Piddles are considered desirable villages. I'd find them too isolated (we are not village people) but they are a quick run to Dorchester and Sherborne for supermarkets etc.

There are loads of lovely villages around Taunton which is on the fast GWR line to Paddington. If you go west of Taunton towards Minehead the connections are not as good. I agree Sherborne is a good shout. Yeovil itself isn't up to much. Dpends how quickly you need to be in London. Access to the A303 might be important. Honestly you're pretty spoilt for choice round these 'ere parts.

Crewkerne ticks all your boxes, livery available in lots of places nearby, just off a303 to yeovilton, train station in crewkerne and castle cary direct to London, lots of nhs jobs available depending your your profession.

The Polden villages are lovely. Quite a few livery yards round here including a track livery near Somerton.

It is cheaper to live in Somerset than Dorset so keep that in mind. Also worth taking into consideration that some villages don’t have brilliant broadband so if that’s a must for work from home etc check that out too. We live near Langport and this area is lovely but if you look on the levels DO check the flood maps as it can be a nightmare.
Castle Cary can be a disaster zone come Glastonbury time as it’s the station that gets used and Briton and its close surrounds can be brutally expensive. With choices of going up to London closer to the M5 rather than the 303 would be far better as someone that has spent many many hours going between Hertfordshire and Somerset for the last ten years.

Slap on some "Broadchurch" and get yourself down to West Bay.

lol we love the area around Swanage but dd is likely to be based at Yeovilton

@MissCherryCakeyBun
OooH, we're almost neighbours.

(sending a wave from a high point, across the Levels, with crap broadband)

It's less than an hour away. Straight north!

Waving from Middlezoy 🫣

If I go to the top of the hill near my house I can see your church tower. Maybe we can set up a chain of Mumsnet beacons.😂

Sounds like you need a chain of WiFi hotspots not beacons!

My friend lives in South Petherton - a gorgeous village with real community feel . They absolutely love it

If II go to the top of the hill near my house in Dunster I can get a mobile phone signal … sometimes

will join the beacon chain

We have super fast broadband & decent phone service in Wellington - but I get no phone signal in the village where my kids go to school - just up the road!