Windermere bed and breakfast lodge, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We live in a National Park and at the back of the house is The Dales Way Walk, a route that travels around 86 miles between the English Lakes and the Yorkshire Dales. In this area just outside our back door, there are wild deer as well as wild fauna, birds, deer, and small animals. We tell our guests about the wild life, and share information about visiting the viewpoints, fields and woodlands at the back of the house. Guests have, in the past, quietly observed wild deer grazing, dormice and pheasants in our backyard, and also bats and owls at night. We try to help the birds by feeding them, and we also buy membership of The Dales Way Association and pay a yearly subscription on a voluntary basis which goes towards the upkeep of The Dalesway and its surroundings.
We use energy efficient light bulbs where possible and take part in a scheme where we recycle all our and guests' waste. In order to save the environment from unnecessary rubbish collections if the guest house is closed or less busy, we arrange for pick ups of our waste only when we require this. Paper, glass, plastic, biological and other wastes are separated where possible. We also upgraded our hot water system and boilers, as well as our central heating system to more efficient ones. To this end, we only use systems approved for energy efficiency set out by the government. All our radiators can be self-controlled and the heating can be controlled separately for different floors of the house as well as the more usual time settings that most people have.
We try to use local produce where possible, with the butcher being literally a 5-minute walk from the guest house. Dairy products and eggs are delivered by the local dairy and we use the local supermarket unless we need to buy things from larger supermarkets in the nearest town. Our tradesmen are also local.
We recycle paper products. For example, we use the backs of envelopes and junk mail where there is blank space for scrap paper. We also re-use envelopes as envelopes where they are not destroyed on opening. We e-mail confirmations to guests where possible, rather than sending mail in the post to save paper, which ultimately saves trees and the environment.
We need to keep the guest house clean, and for this, we need to use water. However, we use energy efficient dishwashers. We also have an energy efficient commercial freezer and an energy efficient commercial fridge. With respect to washing linen etc for the guest house, we use a 30-degree cycle, and also only dry the linens minimally in the dryer before putting them out to dry naturally.
The building had been extended in the past and it is in the heart of the National Park. Local Lakeland stone has been used for cladding the extension so that the building blends in with the cultural vernacular of the landscape. You would not be able to tell that the stone was not original just by looking at the building. When putting up a sign to point out the position of our B&B on a Lakeland stone wall, we opted for a local stone, using local craftsman skills to craft the sign.
We love antique furniture, which is the ultimate in recycling and saving the environment in terms of woodland and new energy expanded for the production of new furniture. Many, if not most, of our furniture is antique, such as bedsteads and other bedroom furniture, as well as some larger pieces of hall furniture.
Community
We encourage people who decide not to drive to our B&B to use public and local transport or even to walk. Where people are undecided as to whether they will drive or not, we encourage them to take public transport by telling them that there is a train station just a mile from the guest house. Once guests arrive, we encourage them to walk about and to use the boats and buses as well as local tour guides or guided tours to go about. We have many local eateries, most within 5 minutes' walk of the guest house and will tell guests about places to eat close by and also help to book tables for them to encourage local enterprise and to reduce the carbon footprint in terms of driving to eateries further away. There are excellent local restaurants and plenty to choose from so this is not a hardship for guests.
We use local builders, plumbers, joiners, engineers etc, and those recommended by these tradesmen. For example, when we required a new re-wiring and re-plumbing of the guest house, we used an electrician who lived 2 minutes' walk from our front door, and a plumber, whose office was 5 minutes' walk from us. The joiner builder only lived a mile from the B&B. When one of our antique pieces of furniture required mending, we ensured that we use a local furniture restorer, whose business also trains up local apprentices in the woodworking trade.
We exchange information with other B&B owners as and when required for recommendations of local firms to go to when tradesmen are required. For example, when another local B&B owner rang to ask whether we knew who could service washing machines, we shared the information we had on a Cumbrian washing machine and dryer engineer. We use local painters and decorators as well and over the years, have kept all our contractors of work local as far as we can.
We have been working for all our years here now with local tour agencies. This is beneficial to the local economy as the money made by the guides and agencies stay within the local economy. We will arrange tours for guests as requested, and to this end, local tour agencies provide us with brochures from which guests can choose from. We book the tours and guests are picked up and dropped off at our B&B.
Secondly, we have more lately been in touch with Blue Badge guides, besides the usual tour companies. The Blue Badge guides would have taken courses and exams to qualify for their badges and have extensive knowledge about the local area. When guests come to stay, they might want to explore an area more in depth. This this end, we will tell them about the Blue Badge guides we know working in the area and also make contact with the guides and arrange pick up and drop off for the guests from the B&B.
One reason for offering the two fishing permits we buy as corporate members of the Windermere and Ambleside District Association, is so that guests can avail themselves of this opportunity to explore the local lakes and also to take part in local outdoor pursuits so that they can get more enjoyment out of their holidays. We also hope that guests will gain a greater understanding of the Cumbrian Lakes and in so doing, help their understanding of conservation so that others may continue to enjoy the pristine Cumbrian environment in the future. We further help guests to take advantage of the fishing permits if they want to use them by offering them the services of a fishing guide, should they decide they want lessons in coarse, fly or spinning fishing. Guests meet with a local fisherman knowledgeable about the local waters and can enjoy a days out on the various waters covered by our permits. Strict guidelines regarding fishing regulations are adhered to.
We also use local walking guides so that guests who wish a guide may be accommodated. For instance, some guests are not comfortable about walking in hills or climbing peaks unknown to them. We will arrange for these guests to take advantage of local walking or climbing guides. One of the reasons we cite to guests who request more information about walks for using a guide is the fact that local walking guides will know the area and will be able to tell them more about the areas they walk, and will not just be able to tell them about the history of the areas they cover, but also be able to point out interesting facts about the local environment and other points of interest.
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