Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 59 total)
  • Where to live in Bristol?
  • endurancenut
    Free Member

    I’m moving to the Bristol area in a few weeks time. I’m currently living in SW London, and have had enough of the smoke. I’m looking for an area that has good job opportunities, easy access to the countryside, and friendly people. Bristol fits the bill nicely.

    I don’t want to live in the city. Instead I’d like to be outside the city in a village/small town. I want peace and quiet. But it’s also got to be great for cycling. I’m mostly a roadie, but also do some MTB’ing and will definitely do more if there’s some good off-road routes close by. Cycling is my passion, and the rest of my life revolves around it.

    I haven’t got a job yet, but I’m working on that. So in addition, it’s got to be a cycle commutable distance from the city center and industry in Bristol. I work in IT and have a wealth of currently relevant experience so do not expect to take long finding a job. When I say commutable, I’d say a maximum of 10 miles each way.

    I will initially be renting, and will look to rent a small house – max budget is £1000 per month, which is what I’m currently paying for a tired 2 bed flat. I will look to buy as soon as I’ve found my feet in Bristol. I don’t have kids and so I’m not concerned with access to schools, etc.

    So where’s the best place for a cyclist to live outside the city?

    Daffy
    Full Member

    If you want a village and a commute less than 10 miles, it’ll really depend upon where you end up working. There’s a huge amount of industry in Filton (north Bristol) which is 6 miles from the centre; so 10 miles from the centre might not be 10 miles to Filton.

    I live in a village ENE of Bristol. I cycle about 15 miles, but it’s pretty hilly.

    Bath is really nice, and if you’re working in the centre, there’s a great cyclepath between the two.

    enigmas
    Free Member

    Thornbury sounds like it would fit the bill. Very quiet compared to bristol itself and there’s miles of countryside in 3 directions perfect for road riding. It’s also near to North Nibley/the cotswolds and only a short drive to the FoD or Wales.

    Cycling to the city centre every day would be a bit of a mission but the main industrial area, Filton, where Rolls Royce, the MoD and airbus all have a large presence is a nice distance away.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    wrecker
    Free Member

    I wouldn’t call Filton a village!
    There are some nice places around Long Ashton (depending how rich you are) close to ashton court for some XC trail centre type riding. Easy commute into the centre. Dundry? Same side (south) but quite close to hartcliffe….
    Bath is a bit further away than 10 miles but the ride to Briz is a nice flat bimble along the cyclepath.
    Places like Frampton Cotterell, Winterbourne, Pucklechurch might fit, but very limited riding from the door.

    I live in a village ENE of Bristol.

    I doubt I live very far from you.

    endurancenut
    Free Member

    Thanks Daffy/Enigmas. Sounds like you’re in agreement that North/East of the city is better than South for general access to jobs.

    I had a look at Thornbury on Street-view, and is does look nice. What areas north/east of the city should I avoid?

    nickjb
    Free Member

    As mentioned, Bristol is fairly spread out so being on the wrong side and having to cross it every day would be a pain. If you a writing living in the city because you’ve had enough of London then it might be worth e rethink as Bristol is not like London at all. Much more relaxed. It also very easy to get out to the countryside for a ride from some pretty central bits.

    If you do really want to be out of the city then maybe around Long Ashton. Very handy for the local trails, good road riding, easy to get into the city or out to the SW or Wales. TBH any side of Bristol is going to be OK. There’s a few pockets of roughness but nothing that bad.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    I wouldn’t call Filton a village!

    The new housing estate isn’t very villagey and its getting bigger. Filton Keynes!

    Daffy
    Full Member

    wrecker – Member
    I wouldn’t call Filton a village!

    Apologies, I wasn’t meaning to imply that Filton was a village, I was pointing out that where you work will define the 10 miles commute radius.

    Some of the villages south of Bristol are very nice, but if you need to get to the north, it’s A) Uphill and B)a real PITA if you need to use the car.

    Wrecker – I’m Dyrham, but moving Acton Turville way in the next few weeks.

    csb
    Full Member

    Are you sure you want rural levels of quiet? Parts of Bristol are quite tranquil without being dull. Around Ashley Down for example, allotments and cycle paths and easy access to town when needed.

    endurancenut
    Free Member

    There are some nice places around Long Ashton (depending how rich you are) close to ashton court for some XC trail centre type riding.

    I’m rich in terms of life experience and outlook (that’s what I keep telling myself). I currently live in Weybridge, which is one of the most expensive locations in the country, and I’m a Weybridge pauper as I haven’t got a Ferrari.

    endurancenut
    Free Member

    Are you sure you want rural levels of quiet? Parts of Bristol are quite tranquil without being dull. Around Ashley Down for example, allotments and cycle paths and easy access to town when needed.

    I just had a look at Ashley Down and the 1st thing I saw was HMP Bristol! You sure it’s tranquil?

    Edric64
    Free Member

    Between Bishopston and St Werburghs is ok .The Gloucester Road is good for pubs and is multicultural

    nickjb
    Free Member

    I just had a look at Ashley Down and the 1st thing I saw was HMP Bristol! You sure it’s tranquil?

    The prison isn’t in Ashley Down and TBH even if you lived next door you wouldn’t know it was there. I’m in Ashley Down and it really suits me. Doesn’t feel like its in the city but I can ride into the centre in 10 mins or on the motorway and on my out in 5 mins. Can’t hear a single bit of urban noise at the moment and all I can see from the window is trees. In 2 mins the peace will be ‘shattered’ by the church bells.

    endurancenut
    Free Member

    Nickjb, you make Ashley Down sounds perfect. I’ll check it out.

    endurancenut
    Free Member

    What’s the Gloucester Road (A38) like for cycling/commuting, north of the city? Is it relatively safe?

    citybs13
    Free Member

    The first thing you will notice is compared to where your coming from all bristol is tranquil , I think around long Ashton will suit you best , Ashton court/ Leigh woods / 50 arch all 5 mins away , the mendips 15mins drive , FOD 50mins , some great road riding around the chew valley and a commute to the other side of the city ( Filton ) is 30/35mins if you had to , city centre 15mins , biggest draw back local transport is shocking

    Moses
    Full Member

    Don’t fret too much about your 1st move here, but get somewhere within the city. That way the commute to work won’t be too long wherever it is, and you’ll have time to sort out your preferred location for later.
    Lots of peeps from here live in Bedminster / Southville for the easy access to Aston COurt (10 mins) and the centre (also 10 mins) plus open roads to the south / Mendips etc.

    I wouldn’t say Ashley Down is perfect, but certainly near the prison is pretty good, since it’s close to Horfield Common, with allotments to the north.

    What’s the Gloucester Road (A38) like for cycling/commuting, north of the city? Is it relatively safe?

    Yes, it’s relatively safe. Cycling is faster than buses & cars, & weaving sort-of accepted. QUite a lot of enforced bus/cycle lane to make life easier.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    What’s the Gloucester Road (A38) like for cycling/commuting, north of the city?

    In the city lots of people do it. It is a main cycle route into the centre.

    Out of the city (past Filton) its fast, flat and straight. It is fairly wide but cars go fast along it and there’s enough idiots out there that would make me avoid it. Again it is popular with cyclists but there have been a few incidents.

    Nickjb, you make Ashley Down sounds perfect. I’ll check it out

    We like it. There are loads of similar pockets of niceness all with their own feel all around the city.

    ianpv
    Free Member

    The thing about Bristol is that the centre (around the harbor/temple meads) isn’t really anything like the geographical centre of the conurbation – it’s to the SW, with very little development west of the Avon. There is a lot of moderately high tech industry to the north of the centre, but if you worked in the centre you could live south of Bristol. The road riding south is much better than to the north IMO (although getting to Severn bridge is a bit harder from the south) – the mendips are right there, or the levels if you want flat rides.

    Commuting on the a38 wouldn’t be my cup of tea. I live south of the river now (used to live in Ashley down, which was fine) and like it – but I work at the uni and my wife commutes to the south.

    moonboy
    Free Member

    The morning commute is ‘interesting.’ Not London levels of madness but certainly if you are planning a Gloucester rd 8am ride by then it’s good to be fully awake and ready for traffic / pedestrians / buses!

    I do Horfield to the centre everyday by bike and it’s fine. (Not today, manflu, bus STW)

    Really depends if your IT job is centre or out at Aztec / with the engineery stuff in the North.

    Been here 5 years. Love it. Tonnes of riding everywhere, beaches and surf a bit further away.

    Worth checking out:

    Westbuy on Trym
    Long Ashton
    Failand
    Cotham / cold harbour road / Ashley down
    Shirehampton (some parts dodgy)

    Been on the road bike out by thornbury way and seems nice too, don’t know it that well

    Clifton is filled with lots of students and cliftonites. Nice to visit, wouldn’t (can’t afford) the premium to live there.

    Overall Bristol thumbs up, just invest in decent security for your kit!

    ianpv
    Free Member

    Ps, living near the prison is fine!

    redthunder
    Free Member
    egb81
    Free Member

    Depends on your budget really. Long Ashton is nice but pricey, close enough to the city to easily commute, close to most MTB trails and the Weston Road that runs through it is very well used by roadies heading out towards the Mendips, though it has a ridiculous number of potholes.

    If you’ve got a shed load of money you could go somewhere a little further afield like Chew Magna, Wrington, Langford. Pretty, chocolate box villages with 4×4 driving torys and old people living there.

    Southville is the city option. Very close to the centre but really still really quiet and close to the MTB and good road riding also.

    On the not quite so expensive but a bit bland family friendly front, there’s Keynsham and Saltford (good schools if you have kids), which are commuter towns to the east about half way to Bath. They’re pretty dull though and if you want a few beers in Bristol you’ll get fleeced on the bus or worse a taxi. Good road riding from there though, loads of quiet, winding, undulating roads.

    There are a few places to avoid in Bristol: Southmead, Knowle West, Hartcliffe, Henbury, Lawrence Weston, Lawrence Hill (not an awful place, just designed and laid out by a moron with a total disregard for taste and common sense). More affordable but still quite nice areas are Redfield, bits of St George, Easton, bits of Whitehall, bits of Bedminster, Knowle, Totterdown. I don’t like North Bristol so I’m ignoring that all together.

    If I could chose and afford it, I’d live in Southville or Long Ashton. I actually live in Redfield, which is nice in a slightly shabby, up and coming, very diverse kinda way but a bit of a pain for road and mtb.

    uponthedowns
    Free Member

    Cycling is my passion, and the rest of my life revolves around it.

    In that case you’re in the wrong country. May I suggest Annecy in S E France

    northernerindevon
    Full Member

    I don’t have much in the way of advice on where to live – our lass & I are living in Knowle at the moment as she works out in the sticks to the south of the city & I work away from home so doesn’t matter to me where we live really – but I will say, that having been living in Bristol since January, we love it! It’s friendly, easy going, some great local riding, well located to get to other great riding (Brecon Beacons, Black Mountains, Mendips, Quantocks, Exmoor…) & the cider’s marvellous.

    You’ll love it.

    Philby
    Full Member

    Parts of Bristol have a villagey feel – Clifton (expensive and a bit pretentious IMO) and Westbury-on-Trym.

    Also worth a look is Redland (where I live), Westbury Park, Henleaze and St Andrews.

    There’s lots of great road riding to the north of the city into Gloucestershire and over the Severn Bridge into Wales and the Forest of Dean.

    If you live in one of north / north west areas or south central areas such as Southville you will have easier access to both the delights of the Mendips / Chew Valley in the South and the road riding to the North of the city.

    Mintman
    Free Member

    Another vote for Coalpit Heath, Frampton Cotterell, Winterboure here.

    Probably on the edge of your 10 mile limit but there’s a cycle path that runs into town which might suit.

    I don’t find there’s much mtb riding from the door in this area but plenty of road riding, I tend to go to South Wales for my mtb thrills and along the M4 corridor (north and south of) for nice road riding.

    zero-cool
    Free Member

    South Gloucestershire is good. Somewhere around Yate or Chipping Sodbury means you can just ride out the door and be hitting the hills of the Cotswolds. Yet it’s still easy to commute to Bristol and Yate has a train station for access to London, Brum and Bristol.
    There’s also riding at Nirth Nibley for your DH fix
    Tom KP

    TooTall
    Free Member

    Get somewhere for a 6 month rent that is quite central / urban. Spend your time then getting to know the city and the area, THEN decide where you want to live full-time.
    I loved living in Bristol. I lived on the edge but would have loved to have lived closer in, as the access to everything by bike was splendid.

    beargotsoul
    Full Member

    I would go South of Bristol have lived both sides and getting into Bristol from the North is a nightmare. Try around Yatton, Wrington, Congresbury, Mendips etc accessible easily and countryside all around, but Bristol only a easy quiet 10 mile commute depending on the route you take.

    andytherocketeer
    Full Member

    Used to live in Stoke Gifford.

    Was handy for Filton (used to work on the Airbus site). Was also handy for Bristol Parkway (used to go up to London/LHR on business quite a bit).

    But living *right* next to the railway was noisy. Probably no noise from the Filton airport now though (think they dug it up?).

    Depends where you’re gonna be working really. Wouldn’t particularly want to cross Bristol twice daily for work, although living on the southern side (sort of) would be better for MTBing from the door.

    wrecker
    Free Member

    Wrecker – I’m Dyrham, but moving Acton Turville way in the next few weeks.

    Lovely. Both are really nice villages. Why the move?

    Southville is a way for people to describe bedminster because they think they’re too posh to live there.
    St George, easton and Whitehall are in north bristol.
    Considering the OP has stated a preference for villages, there are an awful lot of very urban suggestions.

    smartboy
    Free Member

    Pensford might be an option for you as it is the first ‘proper’ village you reach if you head south along the A37. 6 or 7 mile cycle into the centre of Bristol, plus loads of nice road rides around the Chew Valley area and MTB rides around the Mendips.
    Has a few pubs, a shop and a cafe. Also surrounding smaller villages of Woolard, Huntstrete (sp?) Compton Dando, Stanton Drew. Then you have Chew Magna which seems to be the ‘centre’ of the Chew Valley with lots of amenities.
    No idea of rental costs of these places though!

    TooTall
    Free Member

    Considering the OP has stated a preference for villages, there are an awful lot of very urban suggestions.

    My logic for my answer is:

    The OP doesn’t know Bristol and is looking at it through the eyes of SW London. Bristol doesn’t feel like a big city most of the time.
    The OP doesn’t know where he will be working. He works in IT. That could see him anywhere from say the airport in the South to Patchway / Filton in the North to Avonmouth in the West to Yate in the NE / East Keynsham in the SE. He could well end up on the wrong side of the city if he looks for his perfect village now.
    Put him in Pucklechurch and he gets a job in Ashton Gate? He’ll hate his life.
    So. Rent fairly central for 6 months, find work, explore the city and it’s surrounding villages, THEN decide where to live. Then move there.

    wrecker
    Free Member

    Fair points tootall, but I expect that the OP has left london before and knows what a village is.
    For instance, bedminster and totterdown do not have a village feel to them regardless of your yardstick. Long Ashton, clifton; yes definitely. Easton, st George? Not a chance.
    I’d do wholly agree that the OP needs to know where they will be working before committing to a house purchase.

    Earl
    Free Member

    Southville has been voted one of the best places in UK to be single….(or was that stay single???) Rent there for a while – its a good place – very close to the local trails – within your budget. Move when you find a place better.

    Ben_H
    Full Member

    I’m originally from Wales and my wife is from SW London, so Bristol fits the bill very well as a compromise.

    Coming from London, I’d urge you to look at the south and south west sides of Bristol – the main attractions being that you can live very close to the greenery and city centre, live a bike-based life and have some great MTB (AC and Leigh Woods) and road riding on your doorstep. Don’t write-off living in the city itself; it’s very different from London.

    We moved from Clifton to Southville in 2006 and to a larger house in Southville again in 2010. We could not be happier! 🙂

    ell_tell
    Free Member

    Had to do a double take of your forum name then OP 8)

    We’ve recently moved to Bristol from Cardiff and am loving it so far. Obviously don’t know the city as well as some others on here but my friend (who is a roadie) lives out in Failand and it seems a great location for him for easy access to road riding. He lived in Long Ashton before.

    One option to consider is what we did, and get a short term let (no deposit, bond, agency fee etc) just to get us in the area (or over the bridge) before deciding where best to live. One advantage that way is you should have a decent idea where your job will be and what commute you may have.

    Currently living in Clifton and work nearby so very handy, but doesn’t fulfil your ‘village’ criteria, even though there is a Clifton Village.

    eightyeight
    Free Member

    Somewhere around Yate or Chipping Sodbury means you can just ride out the door and be hitting the hills of the Cotswolds

    Being a born and bred Chipping Sod I wouldn’t call it a village. Yate and Sodbury sort of merge together to form a massive suburban sprawl; it even has a capital, they call it ‘Tesco’.

    I joke (sort of). It’s c.17 miles to Bristol so a bit far out, but the riding is not too bad – up into Horton, Hawkbury, Westonbirt etc.

    Having lived all over Bristol my advice would be to move somewhere cheap but relatively central – Southville maybe (I know, completely contrary to what the OP said), take a short 3 month lease and get your bearings a bit. Ride out on the weekend and establish a circumference and then go from there.

    Good luck!

    deluded
    Free Member

    I’ve always found traveling in and out of Bristol from the northern extremities a real fag.

    Have a look at North Somerset – Nailsea, Clevedon, Portishead areas.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 59 total)

The topic ‘Where to live in Bristol?’ is closed to new replies.