ELMLEY COTTAGE 1 2 CONTENTS THE ESSENTIALS ................ Error! Bookmark not defined. ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES ............. Error! Bookmark not defined. INFORMATION FOR WHEN YOU ARRIVE ............................. 5 COOKING ......................................................................... 7 CATERING .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. WASHING UP ................................................................... 8 RUBBISH ........................................................................... 8 WET AND MUDDY ............................................................. 9 INTERNET AND PHONE RECEPTION .................................... 9 LITTLE ONES ..................................................................... 9 ANYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW............................. 10 FIRE ................................................................................ 15 CODE OF CONDUCT ....................................................... 15 CONTACTS ..................................................................... 15 3 THE ESSENTIALS ARRIVALS: We are very much looking forward to welcoming you. Before your arrival please do read our COVID information which you can find here. Our check-in and check-out times are 3.30pm and 10.30am. At the moment, early check in and late check- out is unfortunately not possible*. You are more than welcome to enjoy the Reserve and the facilities on your arrival day from 10am and on your departure day until 5pm. Please do let us know your plans so we know how many guests are onsite. Arrival: At the entry gate please use the gate code emailed to you before your stay. It is then a two-mile drive through the Nature Reserve to the farm. Please drive slowly up the long drive, the cottage is on your left at the top – you can park outside. On arrival, please do walk through to the courtyard and pop to the barn to say hello and we will talk you through arrival information, and hand over your keys. If you would rather opt for a contactless check-in, you are very welcome to go straight to your hut. Please let us know in advance as we will need to arrange the hut to be unlocked. 4 If you need anything at all please call 07930 847520 (9am-5pm) or if arriving past 5pm, our emergency number is 07538592146 INFORMATION FOR WHEN YOU ARRIVE • There is a portable thermostat for the heating. The controls for the gas fire are at the bottom right. • Please enjoy the outside fire pit and you may help yourself to more wood from the wood store which is located at back of the office (little brick building with green windows at the end of the courtyard). There is a £5 honesty charge. • The gate code for the entrance gate is on your keys so please use this to let yourselves in and out. • The cottage is a wonderful place to watch wildlife from, and do keep an eye out for the barn owls which are in boxes in the oak trees. Please do enjoy the garden but to avoid disturbing the wildlife please do not walk towards the water or down the arrival track. • The nature reserve footpath is via the main car park, accessed through the farmyard. It is around 30mins walk to the first hides and 3 miles in total to the furthest hide, Spitend. As we are based in a National Nature Reserve, please keep to the footpaths, close any gates and please don’t go too close to the water in front of your hut to avoid 5 disturbing the wildlife. • On the morning of your departure, please return your key and check-out by 10:30am*. For contactless check out please use the key drop, you will be emailed the stay invoice and payment will be settled Or, please pop in and settle this with one of the team in the barn. You are more than welcome to enjoy the reserve until 4:30pm. * There will be a fee for unarranged late check outs, to ensure we have enough time for our hard-working housekeepers to change over the hut for our next guests staying. 6 FOOD STORAGE There is a 60/40 fridge freezer for your use. COOKING The cottage has a lovely gas range and the kitchen contains all pots and pans and other kitchen bits you need. COOKING AND CATERING Your hut will be stocked with complimentary marshmallows, breakfast tea and freshly ground coffee, please request cold milk and homemade muesli from the barn on arrival. Pre-17th May Breakfast and supper are available and can be delivered to your hut, hot in a hamper. Full options and prices will be emailed 5 days before your stay Coffees, cakes, ice creams, local snacks and drinks are also available to purchase in the barn Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 9am – 3:30pm. Please note, this is take-away only. As we are a small team, please order at least 24 hours in advance as food may not always be available. If you have any dietary requirements, please do let us know in advance and we will be happy to alter the menu to suit. 7 After 17th May Kingshill Barn is open for food and drinks, breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have a 5 out of 5 standard Food & Hygiene rating. Our menus are designed with three things in mind: seasonality, local produce and running a zero-waste kitchen. WASHING UP Eco-Friendly washing up liquid and sponges are provided. WATER The water all around the site is safe for drinking. RUBBISH Please separate out rubbish and leave it in the utility room, we will pick this up on request. Here on the reserve we have: General waste (including food waste), recycling (paper, cardboard & plastics), glass. BATHROOM You will find gorgeous natural products by Bramley in full size bottles. Please enjoy these but leave the bottles! 8 WET AND MUDDY In wet weather please make sure you use the utility room for boots and coats. There are hooks to dry out wet clothes. INTERNET AND PHONE RECEPTION 4G can be picked up around Elmley. There is free wi-fi access in the cottage however, we do recommend you try and switch off! Please use the wi-fi responsibly, excessive data use will incur a charge. LITTLE ONES Children and babies are very welcome at Elmley. Travel cots, highchairs, toys and books are available for your children to use. Please bring your own bedding for the travel cot. We do not offer any particular activities for children but they do have a huge amount of space and fresh air and will enjoy watching the tractors and watching our lovely Indian Running Ducks! It is a long walk to our hides for little legs so do set off prepared with snacks, raincoat and water. For babies an off-road pram or baby carrier is advised. As we are a working farm with farm machinery please ensure children are always supervised when you are out and about. Do be extra careful around any water as the ditches and ponds are very deep. 9 ANYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW We are open to visitors on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The opening days and hours do vary depending on the time of year, so please let us know before your stay when you expect to arrive. If the gate is ever closed just buzz the intercom and we can let you in. As the Reserve is protected for conservation guests are not permitted to roam freely across the marsh but must stick to the allocated footpaths, please just ask if you are not sure. Being a working farm and a marsh there are some risk on site, please be aware of the risks and ensure children are supervised at all times. The ditches and ponds are deep and very dangerous and so paddling is forbidden. Please do not enter fields with closed gates and livestock. ABOUT ELMLEY Elmley is a 3,300 acres estate which is both a working family farm and a National Nature Reserve. With a population of five and being off the grid, it is as remote as you can be in south-east England, yet has 4G (although we recommend you turn the phone off!). We have the unique status of being the only family farmers who own and manage a National Nature Reserve. Being an independent Nature Reserve, we have the opportunity to do things a bit differently. There is nowhere else in the UK that you can spend the night, or get married, within a Nature Reserve (let alone the middle of a National Nature Reserve). 10 Georgina and Gareth, their young children, and our small team are your hosts. Georgina’s family has farmed on the grazing marsh for over 40 years - a herd of 800 suckler cows and sheep graze the marsh - and are renowned for managing the land for nature conservation. WILDLIFE A stay at Elmley is a wildlife experience with hares, owls, marsh harriers, water voles, avocets and dragonflies being some of the other wildlife you might see. You should expect to hear and see wildlife everywhere. As well as the safari-esque sunrises and sunsets, the marsh at night is a really special place to take in the chorus of marsh frogs, calls of owls, ducks and wading birds, or to watch the moonlight glint of the pools and nearby Swale channel. Elmley is a National Nature Reserve and an internationally important site for the conservation of both habitat and plants, animals, insects and bird and so it is a SSSI, Special Protected Area for birds and Ramsar site (wetland of world importance). We have a huge number of rare and endangered species but Elmley is especially important for breeding wading birds and over-wintering birds – in fact in 2018 we have a had record as over 460 lapwing chicks fledged into adults (exactly the opposite to the rest of the country sadly). And, in the winter months the sky is filled with tens of thousands of wildfowl, which make an unforgettable sight of cloud-like murmuration's and flocks in formation.