Thinking of moving from epping London to Glastonbury with family

[Francis1983]

Hi everyone.

I need some advice.
I have been thinking of moving from epping London to Glastonbury for the last year.

i have always lived in London and Greater London my entire life but since having a baby I feel like I need a bigger place and more time with her. Currently I work full time 3 days in the office and 2 at home , my job is in fashion so it’s demanding.
I know having a child under 2 and working full time is demanding but I feel like I’m such a shit mum that is always burnt out from trying to keep up.
I have always wanted to get some chickens and a dog and just live a bit slower and have time for gardening and cooking and just not rushing about as much as I do now to pay bills.
I don’t use London like I once did and find I avoid it at weekends as I have to work in the Center in the week.
my partner actually lived in Axbridge for 5 years before we got together although is actually originally from Ghana.
his works head office is in Weston so he can more to that office from London. I would have to give up work or try freelancing.

we have community here my family and friends are near by but I don’t see them much in the week mainly my mum once a week the rest I see once a month if that.

I really like Glastonbury and spent a lot of time there when my partner lived in Somerset before we have the baby.
I like the alternative vibes.

if we sold our flat here we could buy a 3 bed house in Glastonbury with garden that would need work but it would be much bigger and I could get some chickens and a dog lol and our mortgage would be so much lower.

what my main worries are is would we be outsiders there are people welcoming especially to mixed families in Glastonbury. Here it’s not a problem at all, no one even cares but I have read people can be very unwelcoming in Somerset to foreigners lol.

then with my daughter she is so little now so I’m sure making friends and all that won’t be a issue in nursery etc but as she gets older and now are there things to do like play groups and things for older children .
here we have so much available to young people and children.

look forward to getting some advice.

thanks.

Glastonbury is very white. And insular. How about Bristol ?

Have you spent much time in Glastonbury? I'm very alternative in my beliefs and love to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. Bristol would be a better choice, loads more opportunities and it's now in the hands of the Greens so alternative in a slightly different way. Plus within easy reach of (tiny) Glastonbury when you need a New Age fix.

I’d consider Bristol or the outskirts .. I have friends in Glastonbury and live about 1.5 hours .. love to visit but I’d rather gauge my eyes out with skewers than live there .. aside from the New age aspect .. yes there are cool shops etc but there really isn’t much else , nearby Street has a bit more .. Including the shopping village outlet

I should add that I say this as someone very bohemian … like a lot of touristy places .. it’s great to visit but might not suit your needs to live there.. the novelty might wear off when it’s over run with tourists

For a start, Epping is in Essex, not London. This might sound picky but there is a very different vibe in Essex compared to east London.

A friend of mine moved from Essex to Glastonbury and she loves it. However, she’s retired and does not live in the town. If you want to move to the area I would look at some of the village which are lovely.

Funnily enough I live where you do but am from near Glastonbury.

I wouldn’t even consider it personally - it’s very ‘odd’ and insular. Maybe have a look at Bristol though or its outskirts.

I love the South West and can cope with some patchouli and nuttiness but Glastonbury is too much for me.

Absolutely stuffed with weirdos with really shoddy politics. Think Piers Corbyn. No thanks.

yes I know what you mean i actually live a couple stops on the tube down from epping and I’m still Essex . But I say London as I’m on the tube so still have that access to the Center.

Yes I looked at Bristol but it’s actually very expensive. I don’t have any idea on areas or surrounding villages that could be any good

From my experience the alternative, artsy places are the least tolerant of 'outsiders'.
Not quite what you are asking but to give a flavour of what I mean - I live near Hebden Bridge and the po-faced whingeing about hen and stag parties daring to turn up and pollute the rarefied air is very telling.

Glastonbury is fucking weird….no way would I want to live there

Have you thought about Frome?

I have heard bad things about Frome

Frome is lovely, there are nice villages around Glastonbury, Bruton, Evercreech, Shepton Mallet.

I love going to Glastonbury but I'm not sure I'd want to live there tbh.

Somerset is generally very white but it is slowly becoming more diverse I think.

I wouldnt live there its got a weird vibe

What bad things have you heard about Frome? I haven’t been there for a while but always thought it had a good atmosphere and there’s lots going on. I live near Glastonbury and although I have friends there who love it, I agree with most of the previous posters who say they wouldn’t want to live there.

Living in Glastonbury would be a complete PITA. Have you driven the a303 or whatever it is? Bristol? Frome?

Frome is lovely, there are nice villages around Glastonbury, Bruton, Evercreech, Shepton Mallet.

These are very different places.
Frome - lovely. Lots of ex-Londoners, house prices quite high now relatively.
Bruton - Small, expensive. Celebrities live there.
Shepton Mallet - much cheaper, for a reason.

OP if your partner’s office would be in Weston I would look at somewhere less of a pain to commute to it ie in North Somerset. Clevedon is nice. There are lots of nice little towns and villages. Bristol is easy to access along the motorway. Unless you mean another Weston.

Guys. The op wants to live in Glastonbury. Believe it or not, plenty of people do live there and plenty of people are very happy. So if the op wants to live there please respect her opinion fgs! Despite the fact that 99% of mumsnetters wouldn’t like it, Glastonbury does have things going for it, and if you like all the woo-ey vibe stuff that goes with the territory then that’s ok. Glastonbury has good shops, both practical and ‘interesting’, it has reasonable public transport (for the SW anyway which is generally crap these days in that respect), it is surrounded by beautiful countryside, and it benefits from sound schools all with ofsted ratings of Good. Very importantly, it has reasonable house prices so all suggesting Frome or Bruton are clearly living in an alternative universe to the OP in terms of financials. Typical Mumsnet eh 🤦‍♀️ it never fails.

Anyway, the important question that the OP has actually asked is regarding tolerance to diversity. And that op I’m afraid I can’t answer. It’s true it seems that very few people of colour live in Somerset towns and villages but that doesn’t mean that people are hostile. Telling the op to move to Bristol (again - insane house prices, a right pain to commute to Weston, schools postcode lottery etc and not what the OP wants at all) is rather like telling her to get back in her box and to move to where all the POC people live. It’s a chicken and egg thing. Personally I’ve only known two or three POC in my rural village in the time I’ve lived here but from what I’ve seen they’ve been totally accepted. But I’ve no idea what their own experiences have been.

Good luck op.

Another recommendation for Frome. Friends of mine moved there from Walsthamstow a few years ago and love it. I suppose they would be considered ‘alternative’ too.

Also OP, surely your partner is the one to judge RE his experience of living in Axbridge. I would hazard a guess and say that Glasto nowadays is a lot more open-minded than Axbridge was many years ago. So how did he find Axbridge? If he’s keen to move back to the SW then surely it was OK?

One thing I would agree is that Glastonbury is a good 40mins from WSM with no public transport. But it’s closer than Frome or Bruton which are an hour away.

Also just to add I was bought up in rural Somerset and I loved it until I reached teens and then was so bored and couldn’t wait to get out. That said that was a very long time ago and I go back to visit my dad and I absolutely love it. My sister, like you, also loves Glastonbury and would probably choose to live there when she eventually moves back to retire.

Sorry last one - what’s the budget OP?

We moved to Somerset around 10 years ago, not Glastonbury but not far away. It's an extremely friendly place to live (we moved from Bristol) but unless you are in/near some of the bigger towns it's a pain to get anywhere. We live 45 mins drive min from a train station for example. There's no Ubers here, taxis usually have to be booked in advance and buses are infrequent (once an hour or less). You have to drive to be able to travel around.

For working in Weston, I'd look at Clevedon or Portishead.

Glastonbury is pretty whacky, crystals and men in weird robes on weekends at least for the tourists. If it's Weston super mars his office is at I'd move closer to Bristol which is far more cosmopolitan, out on the coast where I am it's still fairly white but we have some mixed race and other ethnicities, you wouldn't be alone and people are mostly ex city folk anyway. I'm a 30 minute drive to WSM and 25 mins to Bristol city centre, when train (if) in 2026 there will be a 15 minute journey into Bristol.