Shepton Mallet - could it really be that bad?!!

[lizzieloo]

Swindon is in Wiltshire. Map says otherwise

That's debatable as it goes, something to do with unitary authorities

 

[High Voltage]

Thanks so much for the posts, love this site! Yes I read that too Lizzieloo which made me hopeful there'd be a sense of enthusiasm about the town and not 'dying on its arse' like keybored says. I can tolerate hippies as I'm a bit of one myself but you'd never know, well I guess my definition is vegetarian diet, healthy lifestyle etc (minus the drugs). Skyscraper the reason for the possible move there is basically I'm in need of a quality furnished rental as this might just be for a year or two to see how I feel living back in England. I just need to be somewhere away from the cities in a quiet area but close enough to them as well and not too far north....so I'm googling rentals and if the perfect rental comes up then I consider the area. We've had plenty of trips to UK (but never SM) so son knows what to expect and would love the adventure. It might just be different living there than visiting... but the colder climate is a MAJOR pull for me and a cold Christmas, Spring flowers, a gentle Summer where you don't get fried alive (apart from this year!), Autumn colors etc.

Are there any areas/estates to stay away from when renting?
Are there good parks with good equipment for the bigger kids (ie, flying fox, bigger rope frames etc)?
Any primary schools to steer clear of?

As posted previously - we ( izz and me) live in Shepton and have done for the last 10-15 years

We choose to live here it split our work commutes (at the time)

People move to live in Shepton because it's cheaper than East and West Harptree and a LOT cheaper than living in Bath

Frome, as a town, is nicer, but it is WAY more expensive than Shepton and Shepton is a 15-20 minute drive away

The High Street in Shepton is dying - ever since the totally inappropriately sized Tesco and associated "business park" opened up - the Tesco here is HUGE

We've also got an Aldi, which for the size of the town is pretty big

As for other shops . . . basically, we go to Wells (3-4 miles away) for our shopping or on-line

Wells has another Tesco (not as big) - a Lidl - a Waitrose and a quite large Morrisons and from a supermarket PoV that's about it (so no ASDA, thank goodness)

The High Street in Wells is still not too "corporate" - there's a SubWay that's always EMPTY and yet 30 yards away there's an independent cafe (Andres) that's rammed - if you don't get in there early on a Saturday morning (or book a table) you're probably going to be out of luck

There are 2 markets a week (one on Saturday and one on Wednesday) the Wednesday one is more food biased and is pretty good for lots of "nice" stuff . . . it's not cheap but you are supporting local suppliers

There's a good bus service between Shepton and Wells - (luckily, we're only about a 2-3 minute walk from a bus stop, yet choose to drive rather than catch the bus because it's cheaper to drive than catch the bus - something like £2-3 each EACH Way for the bus) but they do run "about" every 20-30 minutes - parking in Wells is £1.60 for 2 hours . . . there's very little on-street parking

What else - jobs - well the local cider / baby cham site (Showerings) was recently bought by the bastards who own Magners for, I think, rights to brew Strongbow(?) then they shut the mill down - it's since been bought and is still producing (Brothers Cider) but on a MUCH smaller scale - they were a BIG employer in Shepton

As for other jobs - there's going to be Tesco and other shop / pub / bar / restaurant type work - but it's going to be minimum pay

I'm in print and I have to drive to Bristol to get a barely half decent paying job (izz also drives to Bristol for her job (civil service)

We genuinely love it here - we're in our late 50's and the pace of life really suits us - I have the odd night out in Bristol where I stay with a friend when I need to let off steam

There's one Indian restaurant (which really does blow hot and cold . . . currently blowing cold)
2 Chinese resturants (we only ever use one and that's recently changed hands and is just about OK
2 pizza houses (one independent and a Dominos)
And a kebab / chicken / burger / Fish and chips take away which is at best average
And one proper fish and chip shop / restaurant

As for schools - don't know - we've not got kids - but there are schools in Wells that are supposedly excellent - could find out more if you come here as I know people who have kids

There's obviously more - ask away or PM

As for estates to avoid - there's one estate with, supposedly a "drug problem" - but if there is a problem it's pretty minor - I've walked around there and driven around there and whilst not oozing money from every pore - it's not exactly on the bones of its arse either - certainly nothing like as run down as, I'd imagine, "proper" city estates are

 

[izz]

Does seem curiously random Fifibee - what made you think of it ? There are hundreds of small towns in the southwest that would fit your needs, why Shepton ? As for part time work, not sure how feasible that is, I think most people do commute.

 

[stavros]

Frome, to me, is synonymous with the best record shop in Somerset, Raves from the Grave. Many an hour I spent in there waiting for trains back to Taunton.

 

[keybored]

That's debatable as it goes, something to do with unitary authorities

I never knew that! Sure enough, if you Google map Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire their borders all skirt around Swindon.

No one wants Swindon

 

[Riklet]

Frome can be a cool place and considering you just want to rent for a bit and enjoy life for a year it could be good. It's a more young, happening, alternative kinda town, not much crime or rough parts or sketchiness, fair few local businesses cafes restaurants and markets too. Also a fantastic music scene compared to any other small town in the south west. Guaranteed better food than the depressing take-away options in most small towns too.

And expensive!! Some people would find it unbelievably shit twee insufferable and full of that kind of trendy Bristol right-on up itself-ness too. It's community yoghurt weaving land. An example being transport - Frome has terrible transport links, so for all the eco frothing, most want a car to work or get to anywhere else. Which is also terrible. Then again, I know lots of peeps my age from Frome who love it and basically never leave anyway.

Shepton I dont know hardly at all, looked pretty dead driving through a few weeks ago tho. Still, OP, if youre planning this exciting change for a year-long 10 degree drop in weather, it's worth exploring properly and being honest with yourself about what you really want and like. It's a big move to make for a 9 year old although that said, I wouldnt worry about finding good schools. There are good schools all over the south west, even if you kid will experience severe culture shock!

I would rent somewhere temporarily for a few weeks while you explore the area by car and decide if Shepton, Wells, Frome, Radstock, Cheddar etc or even further south into Dorset/Devon appeal. All of these places have cool things going on and (gurt) lush countryside nearby but you need to be exploring with a bit of sunshine before you pick somewhere to rent. The prices vary a fair bit too but generally the closer to Bath the more expensive, pretty tough if you ever want to buy.

As for work - work online (maybe in Australia?) and youll be much happier, even if only part time.You will be shocked at how bad salaries are here. And even if you land a well-paid job in Bris youll spend 2 hours a day driving rather than seeing your kid or exploring the countryside so avoid if possible.

 

[lizzieloo]

Someone ought to mention if you do move to Frome don't call it Frome, call it Froom.

 

[Riklet]

Made me think of this thread

Stop tryin to trick the OP though, it's pronounced Frohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmehhh

 

[lizzieloo]

I'm afraid that photo would completely put me off Frome, get the sentiment but the hard hats...

 

[keybored]

Some people would find it unbelievably shit twee insufferable and full of that kind of trendy Bristol right-on up itself-ness too. It's community yoghurt weaving land

This.

The only thing Frome is good for is the odd messy night out at 23 Bath Street or Cheese & Grain. Oh and fairly cheap diesel at Asda.

 

[Geri]

Also, Frome is full of Assadists.