We are about to relocate from Harrogate to the South West (Bath)? Advice needed!

[jampickles]

Hi,
My husband has been offered a job in South West and we are going to move initial thoughts are to Bath as on paper in looks a bit like Harrogate ( where we currently live) but I haven't been to South West for over 20 years and never to Bath.
My husband needs to travel to South Wales and Cornwall so I am not sure if that makes some part of town a bad idea due to traffic?

My main reasons for looking at Bath are that these are the things I like about where I live now and I reckon this is possible in Bath too???:

1. Restaurants and good shopping in walking distance?
2. Pretty town
3. Good schools
4. Easy access to lovely countryside? What do you think? Which schools are good / which should I avoid? ( our eldest is due to start school in September) so we have already missed the cut off date and I have been sent an application with LATE ADMISSION stamped in red all over it- sending me into a slight panic!!! Claire

I would say try to stay north of town to make M4 access do-able. If you're south of town, it's more complicated, and your dh might end up in traffic quite a lot. Lansdowne is good, I think, but not hugely knowledgeable as I live rurally.

Shopping and restaurants are good, that's true. Can be expensive though. Cribbs Causeway is a big shopping centre just off the M5, which has a massive John Lewis and M&S, and anything you can't get in Bath, you can get there.

Schools are fine, mostly. My dd is at a village school. Widcombe and Batheaston (or is it Bathampton - can't remember) have good reputations and Ofsteds, but it really depends what you are looking for from a school. Our school has quite a holistic approach to teaching and that doesn't tick as many ofsted boxes as some of the others, but I think it's good.

Easy access to lovely countryside - absolutely. The Limpley Stoke valley is stunning.

I think you need to come down for a weekend...

Hi Lalaa,

Thanks for advice. You are right that I need to come down - we are booked into a B&B in Bath on 13th Dec for a look round and are meeting friends of my DH who moved to Bath about 1 year ago. Apparently they don't like it and want to move to Bristol!!???

I'll need to sign a tenancy agreements a couple of weeks after visit so am trying to do online research to help me make most of visit.
I don't think we can afford Lansdown - our house budget is likely to be about £300000 to £330,000 (so long as the value of our place doesn't drop anymore than already!!!!).

Where should we consider in Bath city for good roads to Cornwall and Wales that is a bit cheaper than Landsdown?

Does anyone know how long it takes to get across town for the motorways?(from say, Bear Flat?)

Claire

Just be warned that property prices in Bath are very very expensive.

And driving/traffic is a nightmare.

Town centre is always heaving with tourists, foreign students and shoppers.

But apart from that, it's lovely.

Bath is lovely, it has everything you're after. I'm in Bristol which I also love and there are some really great areas in Bristol.

Driving and traffic is not a nightmare compared with Bristol or London ime. You get to know your way around, which short cuts to take at what times, etc. And use public transport on a Sat.

Bristol is more diverse but secondary schools have a dire reputation. It's a proper big city, with prosperous areas and disadvantaged areas. Bath isn't really very diverse in those terms.

Bear Flat to the motorway - probably about 25 mins, is my guess. It's 15 mins from the roundabout with the turn off to Bath on the A46. I've got a friend in Bear Flat - she likes it. She's had a bit of a nightmare finding a school place, but if you're prepared to drive your kids to school you shouldn't have a problem.

Also, as far as getting to Cornwall is concerned, you can go cross country to Cheddar from Bath (rather than going up to the M4) and get on the M5 at about Junc 22. From there to Plymouth is about 2 hours 15 ish.