Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

Malcolm.

LydiaJ wrote: »

The proper airport for Bristol is Lulsgate - which is indeed in a field in the middle of nowhere. However, if you are looking at Brentry, Stoke and Northville, then I wonder if you are hoping to be near Filton airport. I don't know much about what goes on there, except that it's where the UK bit of Airbus is based.

I'm afraid those aren't the parts of Bristol I know best. There are nice bits of Filton & Southmead, and Stoke Bishop is pleasant too. Horfield is a bit grittier and less suburban - if you end up going further in towards the centre you'd be better off in Westbury on Trym if you can afford it. Bradley Stoke is full of 1980s/90s housing, IIRC - I know in the 90s crash it had problems with NE as lots of people had overextended to buy new builds during the boom. It was referred to as "Sadly Broke". I don't know what it's like now.

If, on the other hand, you do actually want to be near Bristol International Airport at Lulsgate, then you need to decide whether you want to live in Bristol itself (in which case try Ashton or Bishopsworth, and definitely avoid Knowle and Bedminster). You'll still be quite a long way from the airport, though. Alternatively, go for one of the towns/villages along the A370 - Flax Bourton if you fancy somewhere tiny, Backwell for somewhere a little larger, Nailsea if you want a small town rather than a village, or Clevedon if you can cope with being a bit further from the airport but want better road links. All those are pleasant places to live if you don't mind being a little way out from the urban facilities of Bristol itself.

Tell us more about what constitutes a "nice area" in your opinion, and how close you want to be to which airport.

Disclaimer - I haven't lived in Bristol itself since the late 80s, although my parents are still there so I visit it frequently. I lived not that far from the International Airport for a few years in the early 00s. I don't live there any more, so my information may be somewhat out of date, and since I never bought a house anywhere near Bristol, I'm clueless about how the areas compare price-wise.

PS It's good to hear from you again Malcolm. Hang around if you can.

Yes, near Bristol Filton. I think this acts to demonstrate my lack of knowledge of the area - I hadn't known Bristol has two airports.

My wife and I both drive, I think we'd be willing to travel upto half an hour by car to the Stoke area. Good state schools and low crime are the key criteria. Oh and if the area is a little leafy green (i.e. trees) as apposed to a concrete jungle, it would be preferable. A local park and/or some shops within walking distance would also be a plus.

Thanks for the information. I'm going to bookmark it all for when we look. We'll likely rent in a chosen area first, to get a feel for which part we like best while searching for a future home.

PasturesNew

National Trust membership query ....

Now, I know you lot are mostly posh and so will have experience of being an NT member.

I have a need/desire to join (for moneysaving purposes) .... when you join is it from an exact date to an exact date, so you should join at the beginning of the month, or is it like tax discs where if you join on the 29th of the month you've "wasted" a whole month?

I guess, as it's the 4th, I should just bl00dy join - then the ticket would be here by the weekend and I could start using it.... I'll do that. But I'd still like to know.

Plz thx.

lostinrates

My Pops came over (he wanted to be helpful)and got given the hoover and a cup of coffee and asked to hoover upstairs. I wondered what was taking so long (he came at midday and got sent pretty much straight up). He's still on the first room. He's decided to do a thorough job, which is great, but you know tempus fugit and all that, he's hoovering the woodchip walls and he's right they do get dusty, and I haven't done them for a few weeks, in fact, maybe since around Christmas time, but I do them with a duster. He's doing them painstakingly slowly with the tiny upholstery attachment. I want to snatch the hoover back and finish myself quickly (I still have downstairs to hoover through) but don't want to hurt his feelings. He is doing a great job....but the wrong sort of job for today. (I did ask him to reach the corners with the hoover for spiderwebs which got him thinking).

Malcolm, I was thinking of the International airport! Bristol is a great little City, I like it very much.

Malcolm.

lostinrates wrote: »

Ha! Wanna come over for lunch if you do move here?

I know the airport side of Bristol and the areas south of there quite well...village, city or rural? Commute time/length? (its less congested of course if you don't move into the City, I could get from wilts/dorset/somerset border to the airport n 45 mins) Good value or chichi area?

I'm so very glad to know your are ok. You've been very missed and I now I'm not the only one to have thought of you a lot.

If I move there (it's unlikely to be until next year), I may just take you up on the kind lunch offer.

Good state schools is our priority (we have a toddler), with a balance between good area and value. e.g. probably not somewhere with homes as expensive as bath, however nothing on the cheap (for lack of a better word atm) chavvy end either.

I'll know far more after sitting down with the wife and worked out how much we're both able to afford and willing to spend.

Davesnave

The best thing about Bristol, apart from the obvious attractions of the city iitself, is that you can swing so many ways there, either into the Westcountry proper, the Cotswolds, The Forest of Dean and Wales. And of course Bath is next door.

Edit. I'm not sure that equivalent homes in Bath are that much more expensive now.

PasturesNew

Done it, went through quidco too. £37 for the year. £3/month .... that'll pay for itself.

Re the ticket coming by the weekend though - they send an email with temporary card details, so I guess that's a printable temporary membership card.... which'd be great if I had a printer The actual member pack takes 3 weeks... THREE WEEKS I SAY!! Outrageous.

Worst case scenario though, I could maybe use the library computer to print it out.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

My Pops came over (he wanted to be helpful)and got given the hoover and a cup of coffee and asked to hoover upstairs. I wondered what was taking so long (he came at midday and got sent pretty much straight up). He's still on the first room. He's decided to do a thorough job, which is great, but you know tempus fugit and all that, he's hoovering the woodchip walls and he's right they do get dusty, and I haven't done them for a few weeks, in fact, maybe since around Christmas time, but I do them with a duster. He's doing them painstakingly slowly with the tiny upholstery attachment. I want to snatch the hoover back and finish myself quickly (I still have downstairs to hoover through) but don't want to hurt his feelings. He is doing a great job....but the wrong sort of job for today. (I did ask him to reach the corners with the hoover for spiderwebs which got him thinking).

Malcolm, I was thinking of the International airport! Bristol is a great little City, I like it very much.

Aww bless. How fabulously OCD of him; I'd do that.

If it were me though, I'd be up there with 2-3 vaguely damp J-cloths wiping it over.

Malcolm.

Davesnave wrote: »

Looking at the locations he suggested, I'm sure Malcolm meant Filton airfield, not Lulsgate.

With Bristol, it depends a lot on whether you'll want schooling, and what kind. There used to be some seriously duff state schools, but I dare say there have been improvements since my knowledge was current. There are nice enclaves in North Bristol and the surrounds, if you also manage to avoid the motorway noise and major thoroughfares. I say 'enclaves' because many areas like, for example, Frenchay, contain a huge variety of property, from the affordable to the distinctly posh.

Of course I'm not ruling out that Malcolm may be posh, but if he's MSE, he'll want value!

Yes Filton airport. The international airport appears to be so far out in a field, it wasn't visible when simple me used google maps to browse possible locations.

I think I'm more plain spoken than posh, however I'm reliably told I sound very posh when drunk, I think I over compensate for the area I grew up.

Value yes. A 3 or 4 bed house with garden in a nice place to bring up a family would be good. An enclave is fine. I only ever walk a couple of miles at most from the house, all the other journeys are usually by car.

PasturesNew

I only knew about Bristol Airport in a field... I didn't know there was another one.

There are no flights to/from Filton http://www.bristolfilton.co.uk/based_operators/
Flights are all to/from the field in the middle of nowhere: http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/flight-information.aspx

When you said "near the airport", I assumed you were keen to take flights on a regular basis for some reason ....

Check out Clark's Shopping Village in Street. http://www.clarksvillage.co.uk/

Big shopping areas for Bristol are http://www.cabotcircus.com/website/ in town and to the north there's http://www.mallcribbs.com/

For "fun" stuff, check out http://www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk/ - youtube it and see their promo video http://www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk/carnival_videos/2011-promotional.php - around 5th November. It's free.

lemonjelly

Lot to catch up with from me here too....

Malcolm! Wahey! Glad you are well fella. You have been missed.

Pobby, best wishes to you too mate! Keep that chin up. Regarding taking a case against the former employers. I know exactly why you want to do it. I see people all the time who want to do similar stuff. Remember that principles can cost though. You may want justice, but at what price?

I'm not saying don't do it. There can be benefits - not leaving something unfinished for example. However, please do consider whether your health would be better served by walking away & sticking 2 fingers up at them. Deep down you know you're the better person.

PN, there is stellar advice on here for you. I have spent time for a person with the big c. We were lucky, it was caught early. The person still took risks. As a carer, it was hard work. Making sure that stuff is steralised, cleaning, dealing with their tiredness/lethargy. Because of the type of can... I was woken up in the night a lot too. You just deal with it I suppose.

It is also about thinking about the things that can bring some happiness. As a carer, on 5 november I drove my friend up to the top of a hill to watch fireworks over the city. I prepared a flask & some snacks. I didn't say where we were going. I knew they couldn't have gone to a crowded place, or even stood up for long. But didn't want them to miss out. We had a great view, and to be fair, lots of tears too. It was well worth it though.

Viva, made I larf with your telly story.

I really must do a book update - it has been a while.

On the subject of books - congrats to you lir! Way to go! Now you & foundinrates are published!

Played bowls again this weekend. To be fair, played well, discovered a bit of form. Team lost though!

I need to go seed shopping & plant some stuff as a matter of urgency.

I'm supposed to start with the census wednesday!