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Isle of Wight B&B & Paragliding school

COUNTRY:
England
LOCATION:
Chale, Isle of Wight
See map here
PRICE:
From £25 - £40 per person per night
MORE INFO:
. Price depends on season and room type
VOUCHERS:
Gift vouchers can not be used with this holiday
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Isle of Wight B&B & Paragliding school
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Isle of Wight B&B & Paragliding school

How this holiday makes a difference

Environment

We have been an organic B&B for 10 years and have literature around the house explaining what organic means. We have also practised environmentally friendly schemes for the same length of time such as low energy light bulbs, recycling, water butts, solar fountains, lowering thermostats and wash temperatures. We use environmentally friendly cleaning products such as vinegar, have a water meter, and switch machines off when not in use.
Most of our projects and constructs are made of recycled/reclaimed materials

We have planted 100’s of trees to soak up the water to reduce erosion of our land and have made a small nature reserve to encourage butterflies, newts and other wildlife.

We have also installed reed beds and storm water drainage systems which have made the local erosion slow down, thereby increasing the lifespan of all the homes in our road.

We send our students to eat in the two local restaurants and to buy foodstuffs from our local shops. We also try to source most of our own foodstuffs for the B&B and packed lunches from our local shops and work in conjunction with other local activity providers to offer a variety of services to our clients.

We encourage people to try things they have never tried before both organically and for paragliding. Paragliding is a great leveller and brings people together from all walks of life who might not have usually got together.

Community

Local artists have occasional shows here, we sometimes play music in the local pubs, we buy local produce and drove the process of writing the Village Plan so we could access grants for the village. The reedbed scheme has reduced the tertiary recharge of the perched water table and literally supports the community.

Landscape

We fly absolute beginners on our dual control paragliders from our cliff top take off meadow, out over the beautiful Chale Bay coastline and up to the sky.
The coastal erosion is spectacular and fascinating
Comfortably sitting under a paraglider is without doubt the best way to enjoy one of the best views and landscapes in the country!!!!.
Welcome to my office in the sky.

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Story of the accommodation provider

Flew over this place and simply knew it was perfect for my paragliding activity. Smooth summer sea breezes flows in from the south west; the air meets the cliffs and goes up. We fly with buzzards, kestrels and peregrines every day, what could be better? We are soooo lucky to be here. From the privileged viewpoint of a paraglider it is possible to see all the coastal erosion processes in action and understand them better. An interesting low level flight in 2011, with Canadian geophyicict Proffessor Grant Walch of Dalhouse University, produced great photogaphs Fly with us and take your own!

Accommodation provider no: 609

Isle of Wight B&B & Paragliding school
Isle of Wight B&B & Paragliding school

Isle of Wight B&B & Paragliding school

Reviewed 20 Sep 2008 by Nick Rowntree5 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


Going 45 mpn off road on my mtb

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


don't paraglide, ride a bike.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


yes

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


spectacular

Reviewed 28 Oct 2008 by Kerry Hall2 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


The views over the sea were amazing and location first class.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


It was great to have the use of the Crew Room if we needed it. We were expecting to see more evidence of 'green' initiatives, but found that our hosts did not even recycle plastic bottles, which I found a bit disappointing (there were no recycling bins available for glass, cardboard or paper clearly marked, but they did take in the bottles). The garden was untidy and overgrown, and although we appreciate that this could be beneficial for wildlife, and we could see evidence of tree planting, there were also piles of scrap metal lying about which we did not expect in an environmentally responsible site. Both hosts were friendly enough, but we felt that we were tolerated rather than welcomed. We stayed for breakfast on the first morning, which was OK. We did feel sorry for the people staying on a B&B basis, as they were in an upstairs bedroom and were expected to use the same downstairs lavatory/shower as those outside (and they were more elderly than us).

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


For environmental issues, see comments above.

We were asked to select our choice for breakfast the day before. None of the choices were identified as local produce - bacon, sausages etc, so we cannot gauge whether they were organic or local, and hence benefiting local businesses.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


We feel a bit harsh, but feel we need to be truthful - great views, pleasant hosts, but limited evidence of basic, grass roots 'green' efforts (which maybe we missed) - it was acceptable.

Read the operator's response here:

Sadly on the Isle of Wight they don’t recycle plastic. Cardboard gets separated at the dump and we are not asked to recycle it. However, as it happens I always separate it as it makes me feel better. We don’t usually have campervans staying at our place and I did explain to Kerry that we were not a campsite but we allowed people to stay in our garden. Therefore, we are not set up as a campsite and do not need loads of bins for recycling as it’s just us and the occasional B&B guest. In other words all the recycling stuff is in my kitchen.

Yes the garden is overgrown around the sides and deliberately left wild at the bottom. Sadly we do not have time to give the garden much attention as we spend a lot of time on our paragliding school etc etc. There were not piles of scrap metal lying around. My husband is in the process of finishing building a large garage and storage shed out of reclaimed materials including metal, wood and concrete and all these were laid in a neat pile by the shed and round the back of our paragliding school (an area out of the way of the way the caravaners were). As for the more senior couple. Their son had booked them in for two nights and I had explained very clearly to him our set up which he said was fine for them and they also had the use of the upstairs bathroom which they used most of the time.

As we say we are an organic B&B, I assumed that people would know that we served only organic and local produce food unless there was absolutely no option. They could certainly see that the butter and jams etc were organic and had they asked me I could have told them where everything came from.

I guess if she had been here for B&B she might have noticed more like our low energy light bulbs, carrier bags for bin bags, cardboard boxes for sorting recyclables out, eco friendly washing materials etc etc. Although I’m sure she noticed our little nature reserve by our pond, our willows and other trees we have planted in their hundreds, the ditches we have dug etc etc. However, I am sure Kerry will be pleased to know that we plan to give the garden a haircut for next spring and to make our main B&B room ensuite over the winter.
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Accommodation Reviews

We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!

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Isle of Wight B&B & Paragliding school
Isle of Wight B&B & Paragliding school
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