Cornwall converted railway carriage, England

Planet

We sustain the environment by;
Transport; Encouraging guests to come by public transport and use public transport while here. To this effect we provide lots of detail on facilities and attractions accessible by train. We are active members of our Rail Users group and campaign for the best service possible. We award £50 low carbon discount to guests who arrive by train or live in Cornwall and Devon. We minimise our own car use and travel between our lets by train when we need to work at Hayle during a changeover.

Energy; We use Good Energy electricity. We heat our office with wood. We use low energy bulbs. In 2022 we started working on moving away from reliance on the gas boiler in Hayle, and have fitted underfloor heating and new water tanks, so that later in the year we can fit an air source pump.

Waste; We use our own home grown apple juice in our welcome packs, and reuse both our bottles and lids. We used to return all pots to our local nursery, but now we tend to simply take cuttings from friends and divide plants, thus reducing the need for plastic pots, and reuse the ones we acquire. We provide full recyling and composting facilities and use the compost and leaf mould to feed our plants. We regularly pick up rubbish from the beach when we visit and encourage guests to do the same. We buy second hand character furniture for our lets. We use recycled paper and toilet paper and reuse scrap paper.

Buildings; We restore carriages that are at risk of being destroyed and are involved with a group that sources and re-uses parts from other carriages that are unsalvagable. We do not take housing out of circulation - we are passionate that our village should be lived in all year round - but have created a community of carriages that brings money into the community.

Wildlife; We garden organically. We grow our own flowers for the vases and landscape so we have flowers all year round. We plant bee and butterfly friendly perrenials. We have an open heap of tops for the wildlife and provide insect houses, bird feeders and bat boxes. There are information boards around the gardens to read, and we have a wildlife pond.

Water; All toilets and taps are push and go, so water is only used when the levers are pressed. These are the original fittings from when the carriage was in use, and the only water available was that stored on board - a good incentive for rationing!

Suppliers; We use local suppliers for our welcome packs - our own Cornish apple juice, Cornish beer and cider, Devon biscuits (chosen for their plastic free packaging). Our tea and coffee is fairtrade.

People

We support the community by;

Friends and Neighbours; We put in lots of literature about local amenities, encouraging guests to use the local shops and pubs. We provide a book of day trips by train and are working on improving our walking page. We promote local festivals.

Volunteering and Charity; Much of our charity and community work is based at our other site in St Germans. Dave helping to set up the Community shop and spent three years as treasurer of the shop, being a fundamental link in getting it up and running, sourcing grants and balancing figures. He now takes voluntary shifts and set up the shop website. We support the national charity Railway Children, donating holidays to their auction each year.

Campaigning for change; Lizzy is a founder member of the St Germans Rail Users Group. Lizzy writes a fortnightly article on climate change for the local newspaper, and we are involved in campaigning for change on many levels, taking part in marches (Lizzy is a champion banner maker) and offering advice to other businesses.

We are only a small business, but we do provide part time work for local people at a fair wage. In Hayle we employ a caretaker and gardener and use local tradesmen.

Travelling with respect; We encourage the use of public transport, which helps to preserve the local services and forge good relationships with the local shops - we are well known in Foundry Square and when in Hayle always support the excellent local shops.