Somerset - nice areas to live?

jennifernil

We have friends in Yeovil. Looked OK to us, but they hate it and say it is full of "chavs"!!

Exeter area is nice.

Davesnave

timbo58 wrote: »

To one of the 1st responders: agree Swindon can be a bit rough, however it isn't Somerset and never will be: it's barely Wiltshire!

From my limited experience I got the impression that even the worst areas of the county are nice when compared with places like Swindon (for example).

You can rest easy in your bed. The poster acknowledges Swindon is not in Somerset.

Jenny.W

agrinnall wrote: »

Thanks for the extra info. It might help to know where your husbank needs to fly to, in case some airports serve the destination(s) better than others.

I've used Autoroute to draw a 100 mile radius around Guildford, which should let you get to see family with a couple of hours travel on a good day. That covers pretty much the whole of southern England with the exception of Cornwall and much of Devon. To the west I would say Somerset or Wiltshire might be best, and going further north from there, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire or Warwickshire. The counties adjacent to London may not be quiet enough for you, and the other south coast counties (Dorset, Hampshire) might be too expensive, so looking north of London you could consider Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire, although having to travel round the M25 may put you off.

So there's a pretty wide choice available to you, which to me suggests that to narrow it down you still need to firm up your selection criteria, including budget, house requirements, type of location, access to facilities such as shops, culture, etc., etc.

My husband needs to get to Glasgow so I think that's why we thought Somerset and Gloucestershire would be better options due to the airports.

Thanks for doing your autoroute , I'm not too keen on Northants, Cambs as it will involve the M25 but I may now consider Worcs.

I will need to find a part-time job so would this rule out any particular areas.

We don't need to worry about schools.

I like walking my dogs so as I said, access to good walks without having to get in the car would be desirable.

Our budget would be about £250-270K. We don't want to live in a town, so semi-rural would probably be best.

would prefer a house with character, not a new build or newish style as that's what we're in now.

Access to facilities - I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere, for example I've seen some houses which appear to be on B roads with no surrounding pathways so that wouldn't do.

We just feel that where we live now, its too busy, too built up and now feel it's time to move to a quieter area where we could drive (or walk) to local shops

Jenny.W

Stockie wrote: »

I'm in Frome and it's good round here, Shepton Mallet & Wells area are nice and easy to get to Bristol Airport up the A37, you might want to look at BANES area too like Midsomer Norton/Radstock but it gets pricier the closer you get to bath.
I'd personally avoid Glastonbury as it's s bit "weird". Street is a good area thou.
Avoid the Somerset levels if you don't like swimming, and North west Somerset if you don't like heavy traffic in the Summer.
Can't really comment on South Somerset other than Yeovil area which doesn't seem to bad.

that's interesting as I was told to avoid Shepton Mallet, I think I read it on an older post on this forum...

Davesnave

Jenny.W wrote: »

that's interesting as I was told to avoid Shepton Mallet, I think I read it on an older post on this forum...

That's because it's the poor relation to Wells, about 6 miles away. However, many surrounding villages there are very desirable. e.g. Mells, Oakhill, Chewton Mendip.

The majority of country and semi-rural places are on roads without footpaths. If footpaths are important to you, then you need to be somewhere that has access to lots of them, such as a common, woodland or NT land with public access. Examples of this might be Rodborough and other commons near Stroud, or many villages in the Forest of Dean. The Forest of Dean would involve your husband using the Severn Bridge, but in the general scheme of things that's a detail.

Ellie007

Hi,

I am from the Yeovil area originally (and am not a chav ).

I would not suggest Yeovil itself, although I like it enough. But it is still a big town (by Somerset standards anyway!). But there are some very nice villages along that stretch of the A303 - Marston Magna, Queen Camel, Ash, Bower Hinton, South Petherton, East and West Coker, The Chinnocks, Montacute and so-on and so-forth. Most are pretty, hamstone-built friendly villages with basic amenities, and good links to trunk roads.

I would move back in a heartbeat (both for the area and the good value houses, at least compared to where I live!)

Itismehonest

If your husband needs to fly regularly then I'd look at the villages around Exeter even though that takes in Devon & not just Somerset.
The South West isn't renowned for easy travel - either it's summer traffic jams or out of season flooding/snow/roadworks. This year it was both together for the summer;)
The alternative is go nearer to Bristol but which city you are close to is down to personal choice. I much prefer Exeter.

Louise.H

I live in Yeovil (South Somerset) and my partners parents live in Williton (West Somerset). Like others have said I would not suggest Yeovil itself, it is very good for amenities so seeing as your budget is what it is you may like one of the surrounding villages - not Martock as it has quite a few antisocial problems. West Somerset is lovely aside from Bridgewater or Highbridge - both run down and lots of crime, far worse than Yeovil in my opinion. If you go to Williton or nearby you would be 30 minutes from all the amenities in Taunton and just over an hour from either Bristol or Exeter airports.

Jenny.W

well after gathering info on desirable areas to live, I've been checking the environmental agency website and it appears they are all in or near flood areas?

Does the website indicate the risk or actual floods?

I feel like Somerset is out of the equation now because all the areas are blue

Davesnave

Jenny.W wrote: »

well after gathering info on desirable areas to live, I've been checking the environmental agency website and it appears they are all in or near flood areas?

Does the website indicate the risk or actual floods?

I feel like Somerset is out of the equation now because all the areas are blue

All the areas are not blue. If they were, Somerset wouldn't be such a desirable county, but there are certainly many places to avoid, as already discussed.

Even within the blue areas on the EA map there will be places that never flood, and which aren't cut off by flooding.

For example, I live within two miles of a river which has flooded spectacularly several times this winter, and 1/4 mile from another which is equally fickle on a smaller scale. It would still take rainfall of truly Biblical proportions to flood my house, and even in the worst flooding for decades, just before Christmas, I was not cut off.

I think you are interpreting the map too harshly. Try running it on other counties and compare.