Surrey Hills bed and breakfast, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We recycle all cardboard including drink cartons, paper, plastics, glass, cans, shoes, glasses, batteries and aluminium some of which we has to take to Cranleigh as cardboard for example is not collected from home. We take old clothes and shoes to either charity shops or bins. Everything we can locally we do locally.
We have a compost heap onto which all garden waste goes including all grass cuttings, leaves. We keep chickens in our field and their runs are moved every few days so that they are completely free range being let out into the garden at the end of the day when our dog can guard them from the foxes. We always have the fresh eggs for the B&B's and then tomatoes when they are in season. Our chickens eat most of the scraps, stale bread and any vegetables that have 'gone over' from the vegetable patch.
We have many wild birds in the garden and we always have fresh water and nuts and seeds in the winter as we have many plants for them to feed on in the summer months.
We have a well in the garden to which we have attached an electric pump so that we can water all the garden conserving the water supplies - we are on a water meter which I think makes a huge difference to our consumption. We have a large vegetable patch so grow as many of our own vegetables that we can. We use bricks in the toilet cisterns and bath water is sometimes used on the garden in the summer. We have four water tubs collecting water all year round for watering the greenhouse.
We use electricity as much as we can on our white meter setting the dishwasher and washing machine to go off in those times which is not made easy as the times change in winter and summer and not always friendly hours!
Community
We use our local shop on a daily basis and encourage our guests to use it as well. We send our guests to local pubs in Ewhurst which is just 300 yards from our house, the Parrot at Forest Green where they use almost all local produce.
We have a weekly Market in Cranleigh where they sell many locally produced meats, cheeses and plants all very good value, and a Farmers Market once a month.
We have a local historian who has much in depth knowledge of the village with many of the houses including our own that feature in a book on the History of the village including many old photographs of the houses and the village.
We have a wonderful Charity in the village called Ewcare which helps local people in many ways taking people on visits to the Doctors appointments, dentist, eye clinics and many more. We also help with jobs around the home and garden if it is difficult for people.
Cranleigh has all the shops and Restaurants that you need and can buy almost everything you need - I am a great supporter of the local shops there and feel we should not have allowed shops such as Smiths to come as it is in competition with the local newsagent and book shop who cannot possibly compete I therefore try to encourage others to avoid shopping there!
We support Alzheimer's Research UK not a local charity I know but hopefully with their help the cure for Alzheimer's will be found. I have just done the South Downs Way in September and raised over £17,000 so far!
Landscape
The Hurtwood and area of woodland maintained by the Bray Estate in Shere which is open to us all. We encourage people to walk in the hills around the Village and the Surrey Hills and are able to give details of walks in the area and maps to borrow if needed. There are also riding establishments in the area and cycling opportunities - please stick to the signs for cycle rides, riders and walkers. There is an Iron Age Fort on Holmbury Hill which can easily be reached on foot from the footpath on the edge of our land and Leith Hill Tower on Leith Hill which has opened an interesting room with maps in the tower and incredible views from the top of the tower. Home made cakes etc can be bought from the little cafe in the tower. We have many leaflets of local activities possible and places to visit.
