SE Bristol / Keynsham / maybe Bath - any thoughts?

[Puddy_Tat]

I have a job interview impending in this part of the world, and other than a day trip to Bath a few years back, and a couple of visits to Bristol city centre, I really don't know this part of the world.

I've had a peruse on the web and the area seems to be within my limits of affordable. Since the job is a fixed term contract, I'm probably going to end up renting and letting my current place out (OMG - will Urban shun me if I become a landlord?), since selling here isn't going to be easy, and not sure buying will be viable for what may only be a year or two - long term I really want to get back to SE London, but haven't got very far trying to find work in London.

I'm a single bloke and it's an average sort of job - so I'm not seeking absolutely cheapest possible, but not in the 'executive' league by any stretch of the imagination, and I'm not bothered about school catchment areas. I'm not yet sure whether I'll be expected to have my car at work or whether they encourage public transport use, so somewhere fairly close to the main bus route (A4 corridor) would probably suit best, hence thinking SE Bristol - Brislington - Keynsham - maybe as far as Bath (although not sure if the affordable bits of Bath are that side of town.)

From what I've found on the net, Keynsham looks fairly average - unexciting but adequate, and with good links to Bristol and Bath. Apart from the fact that there seems to be one BNP councillor on Keynsham Town Council (don't know if he got elected unopposed or what) I can't find any good reasons why not.

Any thoughts / suggestions / recommendations / ideas of where to steer clear of in this sort of patch? I may have time for a bit of a look round when I go for the interview. Any bright ideas welcome.

 

[jakethesnake]

Keynsham is one of the most soulless places I have ever stayed in. A true 'dormitory town'.

 

[marty21]

Keynsham and Saltford (also between Bath and Bristol) both have a reputation for being a bit dull and boring tbh -

 

[butchersapron]

It did produce both Marcus Trescothick and Bill Bailey though.

Is the job in bristol or bath? Or across the area?

 

[Geri]

Keynsham isn't *that* bad - it does have a nice pub, The Lock Keeper. My stepsister lives there with her BNP husband. They also have a festival in the summer.

Personally I'd go for Brislington/Totterdown if you need to be in that area, I would say it's better suited to the single person life.

 

[gentlegreen]

There's the Railway Path too if you cycle - but it's a bit hairy getting from it to Keynsham - though there's a shared pavement from Willsbridge.

 

[marty21]

used to go through Keynsham a lot on the bus to school, the one time i can remember getting off the bus there - we were caught by a teacher (Mr Dougal ) we were skipping games - we got the strap for that - never liked Keynsham after that - I associate it with pain

 

[fractionMan]

You'd be better off on the edge of bristol than in keynsham. I stay there with the boat sometimes and it's a pretty boring place. It does have a train station though.

 

[bi0boy]

If you go for the west side of Bath, south of the river is cheaper but avoid Twerton and Whiteway, Oldfield Park is much nicer and has a station.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Thanks for the thoughts so far.

Job will (as far as I know) be based at Keynsham but may involve some time at Bath (not to be confused with in the bath)

I don't do the two wheels thing.

I can cope with unexciting - I live (if you can call it that) somewhere fairly dull outside Reading now... And Keynsham itself is connected to Bristol and Bath if I'm in search of stuff, but sounds like SE Bristol may be a better bet...

 

[marty21]

Weston is alright (My Brother lives there) and you can get a bus direct to Keynsham from the Upper Bristol Rd (I think - haven't got that bus since 1983 tbf)

 

[fractionMan]

x39 goes down upper bristol road.

 

[StoneRoad]

I'll refrain from commenting - I used to live in this area as a kid......but that is *quite* a few years ago now, and on a visit back about three years ago, I barely recognised most of it!

 

[kalidarkone]

It is not that a big a deal to get to Keynsham from Bristol so do not let yourself feel restricted about where you live. You could rent in a really cheap cool area of Bristol that you like, rather then an area that you do not like that is really close to Keynsham.
The Train to Bath from Bristol takes 12 minutes. The Train from Templemeads (Bristol's main station) to Keynsham takes 6 minutes and there are quite a few areas that have train links to Templemeads, for example From East Bristol the Train takes 7 minutes and there are also some trains straight through to Bath.

 

[gentlegreen]

I worked at Frys for a year (my dad for 30) and there were direct buses from Hanham that must have started in town and the bus would have gone along Church road - so St. George / Redfield would have been covered.

Of course now that Frys has closed, there will be far fewer buses.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

The Train to Bath from Bristol takes 12 minutes. The Train from Templemeads (Bristol's main station) to Keynsham takes 6 minutes and there are quite a few areas that have train links to Templemeads, for example From East Bristol the Train takes 7 minutes and there are also some trains straight through to Bath.

Thanks - hadn't realised it was quite that short a journey from TM - certainly worth thinking about

You could rent in a really cheap cool area of Bristol that you like

while realising that such things are completely subjective, any suggestions?

(having booked train tickets in advance to do the journey for 30 rather than 105 quid, I'm not going to have time to look round much of Bristol next week. Obviously if I get the offer and say yes, then I'll need to spend more time on it...)

 

[ymu]

Zoopla is good for flat-hunting in areas you don't know much about.

Keynsham is a perfectly nice little town; good park, pubs and high street, a station and some lovely walks by the river.

If the job is in Keynsham, then there's probably not a lot of point considering anywhere else apart from Bristol - other sleepy commuter towns will offer the worst of both worlds and Bath is horrifically expensive.

Would you rather live in a city and commute to work, or live close to work and travel for entertainment?

Make sure you factor in the cost of a commuter ticket when looking at rents. AFAIK that line is becoming increasingly popular because so many people are getting priced out of Bath so I doubt it's cheap for the distance covered.

 

[kalidarkone]

Thanks - hadn't realised it was quite that short a journey from TM - certainly worth thinking about



while realising that such things are completely subjective, any suggestions?

(having booked train tickets in advance to do the journey for 30 rather than 105 quid, I'm not going to have time to look round much of Bristol next week. Obviously if I get the offer and say yes, then I'll need to spend more time on it...)

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/moving-to-bristol.289434/

I'm biased towards Easton/Eastville cos I have lived here for 17 years and love it! Its one of the most multicultural areas of the city, close to the centre-good transport links to other parts of the city and the rents are relatively low. Lots of music, art and sport going on and is friendly.

Happy to give you a tour if you want one!

As Geri said there is also south of the river, Totterdown,Southville, Bedminster, Brislington. I should take a look at the above thread....

 

[mattie]

Might find it tricky getting to Keynsham from anything too far off the Bath-Bristol axis in Bristol.

I think Easton has a pub with fully-functional cricket nets during the summer, which sort of shows how awesome it is. It's only just past the bus terminal in Bristol, so remains doable, but getting into the south can be a bit trickier.


I say this as it can be a pain getting home to bath from the Comedy Box in Bedminster - sorry, Southville - as the bus orientations aren't quite aligned for such a purpose. At least with Brislington they X39 will go through that way, although not sure I ever really liked the look of it compared to other parts of Bristol.

As a further point, the big estates in the east through north - basically, Emerson's Green around to Bradley Stoke - are pretty soulless. There's also the problem that the main north Bristol train station (Parkway) doesn't always go the Keysnham/Bath route - there's two ways through/round Bristol - so it can be a pain getting from north Bristol to Keynsham if the trains aren't playing ball.

 

[ymu]

Good point!

OP, if you're a long-time Londoner you might not realise how spectacularly shit public transport is elsewhere. When we were looking, we used transport direct to work out journey times to useful places.

 

[Thora]

Yep, you are best off either within walking distance of Temple Meads or within walking distance of a station that connects to TM. You can do the journey from Bedminster or Easton (Stapleton Road station) changing at TM in about 20-40 minutes depending on how quick the connection is.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I ventured south-west today, and the interview seemed to go well - may know more later in the week.

Zoopla is good for flat-hunting in areas you don't know much about.

Keynsham is a perfectly nice little town; good park, pubs and high street, a station and some lovely walks by the river.

Thanks - have already played with Rightmove etc.

Had a bit of a mooch round Keynsham - nothing that exciting (but having said that I live somewhere there's a thumping big supermarket and about 4 other shops, and that's a bus ride from Reading.

My natural disinclination to get up of a morning makes me lean towards living as near work as possible and travelling a bit for evenings out and such (within reason)

Happy to give you a tour if you want one!

As Geri said there is also south of the river, Totterdown,Southville, Bedminster, Brislington. I should take a look at the above thread....

I did have a quick look at Brislington (since I was on booked trains, I didn't have time to go too far) - initial impression was that there's a bloody big retail park and a few very dispirited small shops. Have I missed something?

Might find it tricky getting to Keynsham from anything too far off the Bath-Bristol axis in Bristol.

Thanks - and the X 39 runs along the by-pass through Keynsham and doesn't actually stop anywhere helpful.

Yep, you are best off either within walking distance of Temple Meads or within walking distance of a station that connects to TM. You can do the journey from Bedminster or Easton (Stapleton Road station) changing at TM in about 20-40 minutes depending on how quick the connection is.

Certainly worth more thought, but the train is a bit infrequent - hourly service much of the day, and that makes it a bit awkward for those 'can you stay a few minutes and finish this' moments at work

Good point!

OP, if you're a long-time Londoner you might not realise how spectacularly shit public transport is elsewhere. When we were looking, we used transport direct to work out journey times to useful places.

it's fairly shit out here in the murkier reaches of Berkshire, thanks. But I know what you mean.

 

[mattie]

I ventured south-west today, and the interview seemed to go well - may know more later in the week.


Thanks - and the X 39 runs along the by-pass through Keynsham and doesn't actually stop anywhere helpful.

Glad to hear interview went well

I think the 338 goes through the centre of Keynsham - I've got it back to Bath before and it certainly goes all round the bloody houses.

 

[Idaho]

I go to Keynsham quite a bit. Wouldn't want to live there myself. Brislington is worse though. Why move to a city just to experience the very worst elements of city life?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Brislington is worse though. Why move to a city just to experience the very worst elements of city life?

I knew nothing at all about it in advance, other than that they used to make buses there - looking on the map, it seemed convenient... (I'm not a fan of long commutes!)

 

[Idaho]

I'm sure, when you are an old man, looking back upon your life, it will be the convienience of the mundane that will stand out most

 

[Geri]

The top end of Brislington is rather soulless, the bottom bit is nice.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I has been offered the job - subject to the usual references and stuff

(in view of a past health problem which I have been up-front about, there's always the chance some computer in HR will say no, so I'm not at the stage of signing up for anything yet)

 

[fractionMan]

would you like to hire a boat to live on? I'm thinking of moving ashore for a while.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

would you like to hire a boat to live on? I'm thinking of moving ashore for a while.

If the weather forecast is anything to go by, you may want to take the boat with you...



I'm not sure that life afloat would suit me, but thanks for the suggestion