Maria9

Please can someone help with info regarding Bitton, village between Bristol and Bath. Moving back to England and would like to know what that area os like? I previously lived in Southbourne, Bournemouth. Hoping this is roughly the equivalent of Southbourne. Please help!

BEVS

Hi there and welcome to BE.
I used to live in Southbourne before emigrating to New Zealand and was born in Bournemouth

I have moved your message into our UK forum.

BristolUK

I used to cycle out that way on the Bristol-Bath cycle path.

Fairly typical English country village. Pubs, cricket green etc.

You'd need transport, although the cycle path is a delight and will get you to Bristol and Bath (obviously) when the weather's nice.

I believe there are buses to Keynsham which has a proper High Street and Bath. High St in Bitton isn't really a "High St" as such.

I just took a streetview look at Southborne and it's quite different. Many more houses there. Bitton's population is half that of Southborne and that surprised me because Southborne looked like it should be about 6 times that of Bitton.

Verdant

I grew up close to Bitton. It's a pretty good place to live in my opinion as while being a village it's still very close to Bristol or Bath. The friends I had from that area and nearby Oldham Common were proper Bristolians - so expect a fair bit of twang.

It's probably easier to drive to Bath than into central Bristol from Bitton via A431 (and Kelston) in rush hour.

The cycle path is one of the best things about Bitton (and Saltford too!). A lot of people use it to commute to either town throughout the year. Although during the summer holidays its used by a lot of families. I love walking along it in the autumn or winter as it's quite peaceful and lots of birds about. The bit between Bitton and Bath is the best stretch as it's a lot more scenic. There's a couple of pubs with beer gardens along the route that makes it a fun trip - The Jollysailor near Saltford Mariner is a great place to have a pint and watch the barges tackle the lock.

Pollyana

High Street is about 4 shops, but there is a good chip shop, a post office, a reasonable pub and a doctor's surgery. Garden centre with a fantastic cafe.
Lots of other good pubs with great beer gardens in the vicinity.
Good primary school, also a couple of other good ones in neighbouring villages such as Warmley. Very active church community in Bitton and Warmley with choirs, meet-up groups etc.
Several large superstores within reasonable distance (eg Emersons Green), also a cinema complex at Longwell Green.
Reasonable bus service giving access to Keynsham, Bath and Bristol. Keynsham has supermarkets, banks, reasonable high street shops. Also has a railway station on the mainline between Bath ( and on to London) and Bristol (and onwards to south Wales).
Lots of lovely country walks - and as already mentioned the cycle path is great, goes for miles and is a lovely walk, being tarmac its good for kids, pushchairs etc too.
Avon Valley Country Park is nearby, great for kids with loads of animals and opportunities to get 'up close and personal' with goats etc. Also the Avon Valley railway is close by.

Lovely part of the country, and its home for me, whenever I get back to the UK. Family have lived in that corner of the world for nearly 30 years and have been very happy there, kids went to local schools etc. I shall probably end up retiring there in a few years.