We want to make it really easy for you to have a holiday that is both sustainable and enjoyable. The decisions we take when running our holiday cottage business, aim to preserve resources, protect the environment, and provide you with everything you need to reduce your impact on this beautiful part of Wales.
Getting around
We provide an electric charging point so you can conveniently recharge your car for free during your holiday.
We also encourage our guests to explore the area by foot and bike, and provide racks where you can lock your bikes. The towpath is a lovely way of reaching viewpoints, cafes and canalside pubs, while the bustling town of Abergavenny is just a 20-minute stroll away. If you fancy taking to the water, why not borrow our canoe (and all the safety gear) and see the countryside from a different point of view?
Reducing energy use
We do all the cottage laundry on-site, and dry the items outside when there’s fair weather or inside our warm boiler room.
Energy-saving light bulbs and rechargeable batteries are used throughout our cottages, and we always buy energy-efficient appliances. Our cottages are very well-insulated and the heating thermostats enable you to easily control your energy use.
We have deliberately chosen not to use outdoor lights with motion sensors because they would be activated constantly by the abundant nocturnal wildlife. Instead, there are outdoor lights which you can turn on and off when needed. For a softer light, we provide hurricane lanterns with candles in them which you can carry outside. They also won’t ruin your night vision when you’re stargazing!
Saving water
Our showers have low flow aerators and there are water-saving devices in the toilet cisterns. Outside, we have a series of small tanks built into the terracing behind Wharfinger’s Cottage which collects rainwater as it runs off the mountain. This provides us with plenty of water for use in the gardens.
Reusing and recycling
You don’t need to bring maps and walking routes with you; in each cottage there are Ordnance Survey maps 12 and 13 and walking guides for you to borrow. There’s also a planisphere and a copy of ‘Stories in the Stars: An Atlas of Constellations’ by Susanna Hislop so you can explore the night sky.
We make recycling easy by providing different coloured bags/bins for food waste, paper & card, metal & plastic, and glass. At the end of your holiday, we check everything is in the correct place before the Council empties the containers.
Buying local
Our welcome gifts of food and drink are sourced from Blas ar Fwyd, and many of our cleaning products are available from Little Green Refills in Abergavenny – a store which is jam-packed with sustainable products. We’d love you to visit local market stalls and independent retailers; we know you’ll find excellent produce and have a friendly shopping experience.
The eye-catching throws and cushions in our cottages are woven in Wales by Melin Tregwynt. All of the curtains and soft furnishings have been made by us, allowing us to repurpose fabrics, and source furnishings and furniture which can be upcycled and given a new lease of life.
Logs for the cosy woodburning stoves and the outdoor fire pits are primarily sourced from our own woodland behind the cottages. If we haven’t kept up with the chopping and seasoning, we occasionally source logs from an estate less than a mile from home.
Refilling again and again
We use Gilchrist & Soames toiletries in bottles with pump dispensers, which we can easily refill. There are no tiny sachets or mini bottles. Similarly, we provide environmentally-friendly Ecover products in refillable bottles for guests to use, and for us to clean the cottages during changeovers.
Promoting biodiversity
Over the years we have planted hundreds of trees, shrubs and flowers in the gardens and in our woods behind the cottages. The logs we provide for our guests to use, come mostly from our own land; we manage the hillside behind the cottages by sustainably thinning the woodland to allow species to thrive. Our gardens are visited by butterflies, moths, bees, frogs and many other creatures. We’re hoping to attract even more wildlife by leaving various areas of the grounds in a less cultivated state.
The birdsong from the surrounding woodland is spectacular; overhead, lookout for red kites and buzzards. After dusk, expect owls, bats and badgers. On the canal, ducks, dragonflies and damselflies are a common site, and you’re sure to spot a heron because they nest between Llanfoist Wharf and the next bridge south (bridge number 95). The bird feeders - which you can see without even moving from your cottage window or a garden seat - attract a variety of birds. It’s a very relaxing environment, enjoyed by people and wildlife, together!
If you have any questions about our cottages or ideas that might help us improve our eco-friendly holidays, please get in touch.
