Sustainability

At Slack House Farm we care about the natural world. We hope that visitors to our website and our smallholding will also give some thought to the wonder of this planet we inhabit.

To the best of our knowledge we are the only off-grid bed and breakfast in England. That means that all our electricity is generated by wind and sun. We have no mains electricity so our electricity isn’t sold back to the grid to make a profit. We live in tune with the weather. We use our washing machine when it’s windy then hang our washing on the line to dry. We use a vacuum cleaner when it’s windy, and use a broom when it isn’t.

Our drainage is through vertical flow reedbeds with flag iris and willow soakaways - wonderful for wildlife - and our main toilet is an outside compost toilet. We grow vegetables and herbs of all kinds - only useful plants have a place in our garden, particularly those which have the added benefit of attracting pollinating insects. We have planted many hundreds of trees, which will hopefully provide us with fuel in the future - our heating and cooking is powered by wood, a renewable energy source, and our hot water is fueled by wood and solar power.

We are very fortunate to have inherited a wonderful herb-rich meadow with the smallholding and enjoy the most incredible wildlife - this truly is paradise for bird lovers with lapwing, black grouse, yellow wagtail, skylark, curlew, redshank, to name but a few, enjoying our meadow and pasture.

Our domestic animals live out their natural lives with us, the chickens supplying us with eggs and compost, the sheep supplying us with wool and compost. Woolen crafts are made in our workshop using materials from the land. We offer bed and breakfast accommodation which enjoys the benefit of furniture handmade by a local craftsman from reclaimed timber, organic and fairtrade bedding, with rooms insulated using sheepswool and recycled newsprint.

Here are a few photographs of Slack House Farm.