*SOMERSET* - good for family life?

[MrsBates]

We are planning to move from London next spring and think Somerset is the place. A village near to Bath with a good primary school and lovely views. I am a London girl and slightly daunted about leaving the big city, so need to be near cultural life of Bath/Bristol. Decent schools and space for our three outdoorsy children outweigh bars and theatres these days... Any advice about moving to the area, recommended villages, friendly places, good schools etc? Many thanks...

we very nearly moved near bath 18 months ago...we would have been there now if it wasn't for a family illness...all sorted now and perhaps we're going to look into it again.

my sister lives in bath and we just fancied it...really nice city, googd for cultural/intellectual things as you say, but lovely countryside etc nearby and the west country proper on your door step...

bath proper is quite expensive, and city/suburban living there would be just as it is in any other city i suppose, so we were looking outside in the semi rural villages for a nice new family way of life.

we looked at villages to the east ...bathford, batheaston are just outside the city. proper countryside a bit further east is nice...box (funny name!)..and around are nice and only a few miles from the city.

we looked further south towards frome too...am sure there are some nice places round there...

not really sure about west of bath..towards bristol didn't appeal really, but again, would be good to get there for culture stuff.

we're still looking (half heartedly - thinking about moving to the coast now!), and have noticed slashed prices on rightmove from march when we last viewed a house down there (in atworth...again, quite nice)

keep us informed..might well end up there one day ourselves

There are loads - depends how much money you have, how near Bath you want to be and where you need to travel to/from for work. If you want somewhere bigger but not Bath, Frome ("froom") is nice and not too expensive.

I like lots of Somerset for day trips, don't know what it's like to live there, but Frome supposed to be nice.

Or how about North Wiltshire? Market towns like Chippenham or Corsham have relatively inexpensive housing (definitely compared to London!), are fairly rural (especially if you choose of the lovely villages nearby), have good schools (especially Chippenham) and great transport links (e.g. train from Chippenham to Bath is 15 mins, to Bristol 30 mins), so you still get your fix of shopping or culture or whatever.

bath is nice if you like golf clubs and oneupmanship

bristol is great if you like gun crime

don't have rose tinted glasses on!

Frome is lovely - we used to live there and is only a 20 minute drive to Bath. Other lovely villages on the outskirts of Bath are Limpley Stoke and Bradford-on-Avon (very beautiful and chocolate box village).

the schools in bristol are terrible

Think you're a bit cynical Enid! Bath is a great place to live near and visit often. I don't live there (couldn't afford to!) so can't comment on that, but I've never come across hordes of golfers or oneupmanship in Bath!

Bradford-on-Avon is lovely and has some great 'different' shops, but I don't know what it's like to live there. Traffic can be really bad around there though. Don't know about primary schools, but St Laurence (Lawrence?) secondary school has a good reputation. Wiltshire Music Centre is in Bradford and has loads of things going on for both children and adults.

Depending how rural, how near to a town and'family' facilities and activities, and how close to Bath you want to be, I would look at places including Bradford-on-Avon, Box, Corsham, Chippenham, Kingston St Michael, Lacock...

here's a relevant previous thread.... www.mumsnet.com/Talk/2750/543913

dp is from somerset and would love to relocate us to that neck of teh woods.

i have never felt so torn.i have all my roots/connections etc here in greater london,but the south west does have it's merits too.

we have done a little sccot around to check places out...frome is delicious on paper...but i have never seen such extremes ...such glaring extremes ..an obvious population of very poor people alongside hugely expensive shops selling luxury items and over priced shabby chic furniture...(state schools reflect the challenges of teaching that population)

the choc box thang made me want to vomit (i was preg and grumpy though)

we would be dependant on a car...

quite liked bath...

sorry to not actually add anything useful...just took the opportunity to have a liitle rant i think
x

Thanks for all the info - any more also appreciated. It's not my natural habitat, but a chocolate box has some appeal after years living in an old kebab wrapper. I've lived in St Andrews so golf clubs aren't a problem - after all I wouldn't be hanging out in them anyway - and oneupmanship - as Fred Dibnah said 'There's awkward buggers wherever you go' - is there a place free of snobbery of one kind or another?

Bradford on Avon is a nice place and has lots of incomers so you could make friends. Christchurch primary is good (o Bath side of town). I'm told the primary on the other side of town (Trowbridge) is not so good. But traffic does rather spoil the town. It has a train to Bath or to Waterloo (slow line) but they are always threatening to cut the direct trains to London on that line.

I used to live quite near Bath - maybe try Midsomer Norton/Radstock or Peasedown st John.

I would avoid Peasedown St John, ILs live there and say that it has really gone downhill (they have been there nearly 30 years). Full of hoodies on mopeds now

Just about to exchange on a house in Newbridge which is edge of Bath on the west side having moved from London - so hoping it is the right thing to do!

Chickened out of the village thing although tempted - I was brought up in a village and balked at getting into the car everytime I wanted to do anything with young children. Also dh commuting to Bristol and the traffic into Bristol is bad. Compromised on a nice suburb on edge of Bath where you can walk/bus into town, train/bus into Bristol and also walk into the countryside.

We live in Somerset. It is forty minutes to Bath or Bristol and 20 to Frome.

The schools are great Alot of The people are ex Londeners who still commute once or twice a week for work.

If you have lived in London thenI would be careful about moving to a village - we did and I hated it. Have now moved into a town and am much happier.

I also think Winchester/Salisbury are great places to look as they are nearer London

Kerala - we've just moved out of Newbridge. It's a fab place to live, Chelsea Road is brilliant and there are tons of families around there. Where (roughly) is the house - would you be near to Chelsea Road?

Yes very near Chelsea Road Pixel 5 mins walk. Its one of the roads off Newbridge Hill.

Hope you didnt move because you know a huge bypass is going to be built or the local school is being taken over by the Moonies or something... Due to exchange this week so not too late to back out!

lol no, we've moved counties for a whole bunch of family reasons, but were sad to leave where we were.

If anything I'd say Newbridge is probably on the up (relatively speaking) - unless there's something in the offing I don't know about! Chelsea Road definitely upped its ponce factor recently with the advent of the Horstmann Close flats and the trendy coffee shop.

You'll probably be quite close to where we were then, we were off Newbridge Hill too, on the longish road behind the flats.

Any other Newbridge tips gratefully received! Have a 2 year old and another due in November (sorry for hijack!)

Only popping in to say Enid is talking shit! Apparently Bath too posh and Bristol too rough, so not sure where her perfect middle ground is! Bristol does have mainly crap schools but there are some that are excellent. Bath is lovely and lots of gorgeous villages there too. As someone already said, Box is gorgeous. Also look at the Chew Valley near Bristol - beautiful, good schools, fairly pricey but I imagine if you're coming from London you've probably got quite a lot to spend on a house. If that's the case you don't need to venture as far out as Frome, and besides there are much nicer village locations out there instead of venturing to Frome

at Enid is talking shit!

Perhaps you just have a difference of opinion?

HTH

Nope, she's just talking shit

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Christ almighty

Kerala - the council are surprisingly efficient at providing info on stuff like toddler groups, childcare providers etc - if you email them and give your postcode they will email you back with info relevant to your area.
Family Info Service

Oh and if you're anywhere Evelyn Rd there's a handy shortcut (on foot) through to the maternity unit