where to live, work & ride in Avon, Gloucestershire or Wiltshire

A bit vauge i know!

Works not an issue for me.

For me & the Mrs (both the very wrong side of 30), 5 year old son & cat.

We’d consider: non city, outskirts of town, village with transport links.

Where’d you choose to be and why ❓

Cotswolds – North Bristol M4 M5 Jnct. Lived in all those areas. I rate North Bristol because easy reach of the best MTB in the country and easy motor way access. Easy to reach North Wales and Lakes.

Cmwcarn
Afan
Brecon
Quantocks
Dartmoor
Brechfa
Cotswolds – on road

Stroud area. Fits your bill. Great for kids. Train to London and easy access to motorways.

bath, riding straight out your door as well as the accessibility

some really nice places just outside of brizzle

Cheltenham, ‘cos it’s a nice town, Cotswolds is good to ride in (roady and MTB), easy to get up North, to Wales, that London, West Country…

Oh, and Avon doesn’t exist any more 🙂

Swindon

qwerty, have you ever considered Devon? 😉

Cheltenham, Cirencester, Marlborough

Swindon FFS I hope you were being ironic SY

Having said that, living 10 miles or so from Swindon means I can use the shops and services there but not actually have to live in the place. As its a poor area compared to the rest of Wiltshire prices for things tend to be a bit lower than the rest of the Thames valley

qwerty, have you ever considered Devon?

I know, I know – West Country are dragging their heels so in process of developing a plan B. Not sure if we’d actually do it as i feel the Shires would always be 2nd best (no offence to Shire folk). However if Devon was/is a no go then the Shires could be a good plan.

😐

BTW qwerty, I’ll pop your woolly nightcap through your mother-in-law’s front door on the way into Kingsbridge tomorrow morning (fnarr fnarr!)

Chew Magna in Somerset, just south of Bristol, Mendip hills to ride on, Wales not too far. Good access. Lovely place.

Biased here living in Chippenham, but there are a lot of advantages living here, in that it’s pretty central to lots of places. It’s on the mainline rail from London to Bristol, it’s on a number of major roads; A4, A420, A350, so Bath, Bristol, London, Cirencester, Cheltenham, Warminster, Swindon, etc are easy to get to, and the M4 is about three miles North, so Wales and the trail centres are easily reached. The Marlborough Downs are very easily reached and there’s a fair bit of riding around the local countryside as well.

although avon does not exist anymore, i live in Clevedon, just south of Bristol. Would reccommend, good transport links (motorway, Yatton station for direct trains to London etc)seaside, easy access to countryside.

Nice town, Clevedon.

CountZero – yep, I’m just round the corner from that.

Coleford forest of dean

Coleford! You can hear the banjos here in Bream!

mattsccm – Member
Coleford! You can hear the banjos here in Bream!

Why not head down to the bright lights of Lydney! One of your cousins will pour you a drink in the bar while you chat to your cousins and your sisters and your brothers. Who are also possibly your cousins. Etc. 😈

Marlborough’s a lovely town but jolly expensive! Can I suggest Painswick? Lovely little place, also a little dear, but some great riding and really nice community in the place.

What’s your budget? Old house? New? Pub? Other interests?

Bath. Or one of the fine surrounding villages. Everything you could want in the City. Great schools, primary and secondary.

Great riding on the doorstep (routes and company :D) plus Quantocks, Wales, Mendips, Salisbury Plane, Marlbourough Downs, Cotswolds etc etc all easy distance..

Churchill, Yatton or Wrington south of Brizzle would be high on my list. Agree with Clevedon, and nearby Portishead is OK too.

+1 for Bath, but can be expensive to buy or rent. cheaper in the villages.

cheers, for your opinions, keep ’em coming 🙂

Look at winterborne or frampton cottrell.
Nice quiet small communities with pleasant surroundings, minimal crime and proper pubs. Great access to the motorways (S wales, Devon etc) and ring road and still close enough to Bristol to ride in.

serious answer this time-

Cheltenham and surrounding area
Fab road and rail links.
Beautiful county
great road and mountain biking nearby.
reasonable shopping and nightlife/places to eat.
Nice place to bring up kids

-ves .
It has a leisure lakes
As GCHQ is there you won’t last long in the event of a nuclear war

its kinda been narrowed down a bit now as job offer in Cirencester, we’re thinking of looking within 3-5miles of Stroud. Any other recommendations or places to avoid?

we’re thinking of looking within 3-5miles of Stroud. Any other recommendations or places to avoid?

Stroud.

Cirencester’s nice though, good shops, pubs and restaurants, beautiful roadying and walking from your door, good MTBing not much further, good links to M4/M5, why not live there and walk/bike to work?

+1 – avoid Stroud

I used to think Stroud was a dump, but got a mate who lives there and I go up there drinking with him sometimes. A fair few small town meatheads about it’s true, but overall a nice town with some decent boozers and curry houses. I believe schools aren’t bad too.

My mate lives a 10 minute walk from the town centre, yet 5 mins in the opposite direction and you’re walking through farms and lovely countyside.

I reckon I could live there.

Stroud used to be a serious dump. It’s now made it up to dump (it’s all relative though, compared to most places it’s OK, nice even if you’re from Rotherham).

Tetbury is your best bet near to Ciren. Good riding. Nice town. No traffic problems.

Tetbury is a really nice little town. Just about the right sort of size. Some good pubs around there, the Daneway, and the Tunnel House at Tarlton, one each end of the Sapperton canal tunnel.