OUR GREEN JOURNEY

From the outset of the conversion of our Grade ll listed barns Danny and I wanted to create environmentally friendly, beautiful luxury holiday cottages. This has been achieved by skilful design and building work by our architect, builder and electrician all of whom live locally in our nearby village of Castleton. We are fortunate to be in the heart of a National Park, and the North York Moors National Park Authority gave us tremendous help, support and guidance throughout the entire construction programme. Our Green credentials include: Bat surveys for Natural England, a license given and mitigation programme put in place which involved timing of work, the addition of three bat boxes, a roosting barn and wall.

Environmentally friendly building materials…

 

Timber sourced locally: Green oak from Yorkshire Timber Company then the green oak timber frame was constructed on site.

Local wind blown larches were used for some roof timbers to replace like for like. All of the internal doors were made from recycled wood from a dismantled local chapel.

The Yorkshire flagstones found throughout the ground floors we sourced from Drings stone masons in nearby Rosedale.

Beacon View retained its original stone slate roof, Dale View was reroofed using original slates and reclaimed ones where necessary.

Lime based mortar pointing

And it continues inside…

 

Farrow and Ball breathable paint inside and out.

Iron Work: Lighting, frames, hooks, stair rods, curtain rails and hooks all made by a local blacksmith.

Double glazing, underfloor insulation, wall insulation, roof insulation all leads to a snug and cosy barn with Ground source geothermal heat pump, photovoltaic solar panels and wood burning stoves made by Town and Country Stoves designed and built just down the road in Pickering.

Each barn has its own outside water tap sourced from a healthy spring on the moor above. We also have a no. of naturally fed water catchment vessels. The barns are served by a septic tank.

Our kitchen white goods have AA ratings and one of our greatest pleasures is recycling some very lovely Yorkshire antiques. We have tumble dryers but there is a clothes line and pegs and a clothes horse for you too.

LED lighting is found throughout. Outside lights are sensor timed.

Housekeeping

Our housekeeping team are angels! Kerrie, Debbie and Liz keep Crag House Farm Barn’s sparkling and clean and we have had tremendous reviews citing this. Our task is made easier with the plethora of amazing E cloths now on the market suitable for every surface and eventuality.

We use Ecover cleaning products bought in from Out of Eden company. We leave in the barns for the use of our guests Ecover dishwasher tablets and rinse aid, washing up liquid. Laundry liquid and conditioner and multi action cleaning spray.

Recycling has been a bit of a thorn in our side since the removal of our recycling bins by Scarborough Borough Council – thereby tells a tale! We have resolved this issue by taking clean recyclable material to the local recycling centre ourselves.

And if you are lucky enough to be here at Christmas or New Year and get to enjoy our 13 ft Christmas Trees then you’ll be pleased to know they are now recycled too.

Our journey continues…

 

Our Green credentials are expanding beyond the barns and Crag House Farm. We also love to support local businesses such as our local pubs, village shops, tea rooms, Yorkshire Cycle Hub -bike hire centre and Moor’s Information Centre all of whom are walkable from here. ‘Let the train take the strain’ is ideal for us with the station at Danby being barely a mile away. We always recommend a train trip into Whitby with an absolutely stunning journey through the Esk Valley.

Crag House Farm is on the Map. North York Moors National Park Cycle Friendly, Walking Friendly, Nature Friendly and Dark Skies Friendly map. All helping to keep our carbon footprints lighter.

We are being helped on our Green journey by Green Tourism and each step we take leads to a cleaner, safer world for our children and grandchildren.