Sustainable Tourism: Bryn Elltyd eco guest house it's carbon neutral since 2012
We are a tiny three-star Welsh guesthouse with six bedrooms,700ft up a Welsh mountain in an 1883 stone house. It has taken us five years, but we went carbon neutral over three years ago. We have no staff…no big government grants, just two people powered by a green passion. WE have achieved much and would like to help others and show that change is possible.
These the first words of John and Ceilia Whitehead’s email. I couldn’t resist, I had to know more!
John and Ceilia story starts from their life and passion.
John left school at 16 and took extra exams every year till 32. He was apprenticed as aerospace engineer and ended up flying day / night as hobby and gaining lots of engineering certs and qualifying as licenced aerospace Engineer. He has always had a strong interest in science and Technology self motivated. John’s wide and extended experience lead him to Bryn Elltyd eco guest house.
Just to mention a few
- he has been working as volunteer teaching canoeing / mountaineering since 18yrs to disabled / disadvantaged people.
- Back in Uk after a Everest experience John launched into secondary school technology teaching.
- Visited CAT in 1983 (Machynlleth, Wales. I place I know well because it was where I had my first work experience abroad in 2011 with Ecodyfi at the Dyfi Biosphere Reserve), got inspired and fitted solar thermal panels on their semidetached house.
- Taught for over 25 years and GCSE examiner for technology.
The big change happened when the their daughter started uni, Ceilia and Jhon decided to sell their house , gave up good well paid jobs, left the country and moved to an holiday area they have loved for decades: the Ffestiniog Valley.
Bryn Elltyd was discovered because the Coventry Education Authority has a outdoor pursuit centre where the couple went (as pupils) to photograph a lake pumped up mountain every night ( 450MW pumped hydro scheme).
Bryn Elltyd had been modified toward sustainability with bold buildings with grass roofs, sheep’s wool insulation, solar panels, veg plots, hot air extraction from conservatories, rainwater loo flushing and biological sewerage into a reed bed and duckpond. Jhon and Ceilia have re – engineered, mainly worked on their own, hiring local people where it needs certifying IE, RHI, FIT without mega grants using personal savings.
- The property is carbon neutral and was one of the early adopters of a boiler that turns local wood to gas and burns it at 900c. The boiler is computer integrated with a massive solar array.
- Bryn Elltyd is one of the few places that offers free electric car fuel to guests, with all power for the car charging points either made onsite or from 100% renewable UK green sources. The guesthouse is located between two hydro power stations within 200m.
- The couple buy mainly local products and services and have their own orchard and vegetable plots hewed from the mountainside.
Please find all the details regarding the eco developments 2012/2013.
Location
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a historic mining town in Gwynedd, Wales. The town relies heavily on tourists, who come to see the many attractions within and around the town such as the Ffestiniog Railway and the Llechwedd Slate Caverns, a former slate mine open to visitors.
Blaenau Ffestiniog area is very steeped in Welsh heritage and Victorian high tech. Railway curves around Bryn Elltyd house and digging on it started in 1820’s. Gravity powered then steam trains much later in 1860’s. The first engine, Prince has been restored and still chuffs past the house.
The area is a mecca for climbing, cave mines exploration, canoeing National Dam released water course 20 mins away.
Several new mountain biking trails have been installed with some suitable for competition level mountain biking. Visitors can borrow bikes from the biking centre and explore the miles of trails, ranging from tracks for beginners to high end professional mountain biking tracks and national downhill race trails.
Zip lines (zip world titan) trampolines underground (bouce below), mines exploration (Go below) and massive electric powered surfing lagoon are among the latest attraction.
The town centre has various cafes and traditional pubs. There are various quirky features such as child-friendly potholing, poetry walks, art centres, and breathtaking views.
Awards
2012
- Gwynedd Renewable Energy Project
2013
- Considerate Hotelier national eco award won twice against the whole UK and multinational organisation.
- Green Tourism Business Scheme, a though green assessment scheme. Top Gold Award twice.
- Green Hotelier. Runner up.
- Wales Green Energy Awards. 3rd against the National Trust
Green is the new red!London’s red phone booths are going green! 2014
This week I want to share with you news from a beautiful country UK, I do my best to keep updated on what happens and from the capital city London seems Green is becoming the new red! Some of London’s famous red phone booths are going green!
London is developing several green projects within its area; even one of the most important icons of the city and the whole United Kingdom will be renovated and transformed into free, solar-powered mobile chargers to provide a carbon-neutral energy source in the city.
This project could be one more example of the direction the city and UK are going in. Even with issues and difficulties, this is, in my opinion, the correct path to follow. The real green projects are renovation and revitalisation of the existing.
London-Land’s End Cycle Route
Sustainable tourism in the UK. You may be familiar with Britain’s National Cycle Network of the Sustrans Charity and EuroVelo, the EU-initiative to develop attractive long-distance cycle routes for sustainable cycling holidays. These are both significant initiatives but have their limitations. These initiatives are very dependent on local authorities for approval and development of the routes. In Britain, fussy landowners and lack of budget or interest by the local authorities can block new route sections for decades, resulting in a very fragmented cycle network.
To link up what already exists into one attractive long-distance traffic-calmed cycle route, we have developed our own London-Land’s End Cycle Route. This brand finally provides an overall identity to the many beautiful cycle routes southern England already has. The route has a great appeal to international visitors, taking leisure cyclists by many famous English landmarks, from the Tower Bridge in London to Stonehenge and from Cheddar Gorge to the surf beaches of Newquay in Cornwall. Very special is the Thames Valley Route (taking you nearly completely traffic-free out of London!), the Devon Coast to Coast Route, Camel Trail, Strawberry Line and Bristol and Bath Railway Path; all fantastic examples of how cycling should be!
The London-Land’s End Cycle Route comes as a handy-sized pocket-guidebook (for on the bicycle’s handlebars) with accompanying GPS-tracks for mobile phones and GPS-devices. The independently produced book contains full route directions, maps (with various scales for urban and rural areas), visitor information and listings of B&Bs, campsites, hostels and bike repair shops on the way. Five hundred local venues are listed with full contact details; pubs and cafes on the road are listed by symbols and with mileage information.
Continuity and quality issues of UK-cycle routes are overcome with creative and satisfying route alternatives, genuinely providing a continuous traffic-calmed route! Connectivity is also a crucial aspect of the London-Land’s End Cycle Route project. For example, 60 railway stations are listed in the book, allowing the public to take bikes on trains and to cycle shorter route sections. Also, visitors from the continent can start cycling from the Dover and Harwich ferry ports via additional routes linking to London. For those who wish to continue cycling in France (for example to cycle around the English Channel), another connecting way to Plymouth ferry port is included too. The book also features extensive information for the international visitor wishing to start cycling in London and on how to take the bicycles on the train back to London from any given point on the route.
Susan Brown, who lives in Gland, Switzerland, road-tested our brand-new route during the summer of 2013 when she and her husband took their teenage children on a last-minute cycling holiday to England.
“The book was great,” says Susan. “The maps, directions segments, visitor information and phone numbers for accommodations were all used. We relied on the book completely, and it never let us down.”
To find out more, please visit our website. We look forward to seeing you around on your bicycle!
Eric van der Horst and Dawn Connor
EOS Cycling Holidays Ltd
www.eoscycling.com
email: info@eoscycling.com
phone: + 44 795 4962230