Bristol Travel Forum

Hi we are a family of 5 moving to the Bristol arriving in April 2007.

There are a few questions.

Does anyone know of:

1) A safe caravan park
2) Caravan parks that have what I understand to be permanent dwellings that can be rented I understand for about 150pounds a week.
3) Any civil engineering or construction companies in the Bristol area.
4) Cottages available on short term rent, I think this is usually done on a weekly basis.
5) Good primary schools for the children to attend.

Regards


Lawrence

Caravan/mobile home parks with permanent residents are not particularly common here (they do exist, but are mainly for retired people and settled travellers). Holiday caravan parks are far more common, but are likely to be some way from the city and cost more per week than you suggest.

Short term rental is usually done on a 6-month contract; holiday cottages are rented by the week, and will not be cheap. Your best bet would be to contact some Bristol estate agents to see what properties they have available to rent. Google 'Bristol houses rent' and you will get plenty of links.

There are a variety of online sites advertising jobs in the industries you mention, such as http://www.jobsinconstruction.co.uk/

A warning about schools: you cannot just choose the one you want your children to go to, you can only state a preference. Different areas have different rules, but usually a place will be made available for your children in the school whose 'catchment area' you live in. However, if that school is full you may not be given a place. Equally, schools outside your 'catchment area'. may be full, and may not have to take 'out-of-catchment' children even if they are not. When you know exactly where you will be living contact the local authority education department who will tell you which schools are available. This link will give you info: http://www.bristol-cyps.org.uk/mce/mce.html The Ofsted inspection reports for all schools can be accessed on http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/

Thanks for that Leics.

So how does one best ensure you get a reasonable public school for your children?


Cheery

L

Wait until you know where exactly you will be living, contact the local authority to find out what schools are available (within walking distance, presumably), look at the school's Ofsted inspection reports online using the link I gave, then arrange a visit to each of them. You can find out far, far more by visiting a school than by reading any number of reports so I recommend that you take the time to do so (but remember that there may not be places available in the schools of your choice).

Feel free to email me with any questions about education.

Unfortunately the price of accommodation is affected by the quality of local schools (and other facilities) as leics has suggested. Bristol is not the cheapest place to live, being in the "M4 corridor" and desirable for people who are tired of London house prices/cost of living. So as a rough guide, the lower the quality of your accommodation the less you will be able to expect from the local schools.

There is a lot of construction work currently happening in the city. Cowlins are a large Bristol firm that have been trading for over a century and have their fingers in lots of pies!

There is a caravan park right in the middle of Bristol City Centre:

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/Planning+your+trip/UK+Trips/Site+Search+and+Book/Club+Sites/Site+Detail.htm?csid=BALTIC+WHARF&site=BALTIC+WHARF&region=-1&county=-1

That site is for holiday caravans only (the type one tows behind one's own car), so does not have any static caravans.