SUSTAINABILITY

Cosy in the winter and cool in the summer, Nuthatch Retreat is triple-glazed and highly insulated with hot water and underfloor heating fed from an air-source heat pump. Electricity is provided from 100% renewable sources.

Efficient appliances (AEG, Neff, LG), a stylish Simpson & Partners EV charger (designed and manufactured in the Cotswolds); sustainable hemp and linen bedding and ethically-produced Neal’s Yard Remedies toiletries further reflect efforts to minimise the impact of the space. Other considerations include:

  • Environmentally-friendly products for cleaning and guests use, refilled to minimise single-use plastic.

  • Who Gives a Crap bamboo toilet paper. 50% of their profits are donated to clean water and sanitation non-profits.

  • Line drying towels and bed linen whenever possible to minimise power usage and give them as long a life as possible.

  • Only using peat-free compost.

  • The frozen meat available to buy is sourced from Plump Hill Farm - ethically reared and rare-bread, based in Longhope.

  • A herb bed offers guests fresh mint, thyme, sage, parsley, and wild garlic in the spring.

  • Items in our food hampers are locally sourced from within 15 miles.

  • There is a bat-box installed on site to encourage our nocturnal neighbours to roost.

  • Beyond rubbish bags, no single-use plastic is used at Nuthatch Retreat.

The garden is designed to attract a wider biodiversity to an area already rich with the sights and sounds of nature. The lower part of the garden is left to grow a bit wild, with spring and summer wildflower beds and grasses left to grow tall. The bird feeders attract greater spotted woodpeckers, goldfinches, all the tits, squirrels and of course, the occasional nuthatch! Whilst relaxing here you can encounter a myriad of butterflies, bees and bugs, lizards, bats, owls and birds of prey. Just over the boundary into Forestry England land herds of deer can often been seen grazing amongst the bracken under the old Ash tree and at night you may even hear the sound of snuffling wild boar making their way through the undergrowth.