Surrey Hills self catering cabin, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We are completely committed to the principle of living in a sustainable way. We encourage and protect the wildlife on our farm - foxes, badgers and deer live in our woods - if you visit at the right time of year then we can show you young foxes at play outside their den and where to go to watch the badgers come out at night. Tawny owls, spotted and green woodpeckers and nuthatches are resident in our woods as well.
We recycle all our paper, card, glass and plastic bottles. We collect all our old metal and recycle this as well. All the rainwater from our barn roofs is channelled into barrels and used for watering the animals and gardens. We grow our own vegetables - this year we grew sweetcorn, tomatoes (a bad season!), French beans, onions, cabbages and carrots. The hens love all the leftovers!
We are very careful to conserve our lovely old farmhouse - we have restored it using old materials and methods; we used lime-plaster on the exterior to infill the timber frame; we have used lime plaster and local sandstone from the farm to restore the stone-walls.
Community
We are always able to recommend somewhere local to eat or drink - sample the local beer at the William IV which is a 30 minute walk from the farm or try some of their home produced pork! Small, local and independent, we love the flagstone floors, timber beams and huge portions of home-cooked food. Or take a longer walk across the heath and finish in the garden of The Windmill at Pitch Hill which boasts one of the loveliest views in the south. This is where George Harrison wrote 'Here comes the sun' and is the perfect spot for a chilled glass of wine on a summer's evening. For an easier walk, try the Hurtwood Inn in Peaslake Village which is 40 minutes from the farm through woodland and open undulating countryside and fields of sheep and wheat.
We recognise local issues and actively campaign for change - a recent success has been the closure of the 'green lane' linking Farley Green to the centre of Shere, to vehicles, between September and May each year. It was very rutted and muddy. This closure has enabled the track to be re-surfaced so that it's now much easier for walkers and cyclists to enjoy - and it should now stay this way with a ban on vehicles for 8 months of the year!
We are very involved with the Albury Produce Show and Free Musical Festival each July, which raises thousands of pounds for local charities. It's a quality produce show with hundreds of different classes for the best fruit and vegetables, crafts, baking etc. and a great day out for the family with various side shows and entertainments! We support the show by baking cakes and running the bar - try our homemade Victoria Sandwich Cake with a twist and burn off the calories later at the evening barn dance or chill out at the music festival on Sunday.
Landscape
We provide guidebooks, local history books, maps and walks around the local area, most including somewhere good for lunch. Try our two circular photographic walks - for non-map readers or novice walkers, you (almost) can't go wrong! They take about 20 minutes and show off our wonderful landscape, fabulous views and picture postcard cottages. For something more challenging, we can also suggest one of our 2.5hr circular walks which go via the William IV or the Hurtwood Inn or both!
We keep a good stock of leaflets from the local tourist office in Guildford and having 'done' it all ourselves (both with and without children) we are always happy to suggest some places to visit that we think you would like!
We are completely fanatical about stone walls and love building them – stone walls once bordered the ditches around the fields and you can find the remains of these if you search hard enough! We have built a dry stone wall at the front of the main farmhouse to support a bank under the hedge and a more solid stone wall using lime plaster along the length of the drive and into the farmyard which is an on-going project. We have used stones picked up around the farm, in fields and woods – it is sandstone and obviously the local stone from which a later part of the house was constructed.
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