Environmental Policy – “Waste Not Want Not” 

Promoting alternatives to the car
East Hook Holiday Cottages are in a quiet rural location on the fringe of Dartmoor with a beautiful six mile panoramic view of the National Park, yet are only one mile from the town of Okehampton and can be very easily reached by Public Transport – By Coach – to Okehampton. By railway – to St. David’s Station Exeter, then bus link to Okehampton, then Okehampton Taxi for the last mile.
We are VisitBritain “Walkers Welcome” and Cyclists Welcome” accredited and provide lots of information on local walks and cycling routes in our beautiful area.
Once at the cottages you can walk into Okehampton via the Tarka Trail Public Footpath approx. half a mile and down hill all the way! You can come out into Waitrose car park – one of only three Waitrose stores in Devon . Just walk across the road and there is a Somerfield supermarket and Lidl supermarket.
Cycle Hire can be booked prior to your arrival at the cottages, and your cycles can be outside your cottage ready to go on arrival. Cylces can be stored under cover. We are situated on the Cylceway 27 – Devon Coast to Coast and our land joins the Foresty Commissons Abbeyford Woods which is a very diverse plantation of 378 acres (153 hectares) with good quality waymarked routes and off road cycleway. Abbeyford Woods also offers a “ North Shore ” Advance Mountain Bike circuit – one of only two in Devon .

Contributing to wildlife and the environment
East Hook Holiday Cottages boast of magnitude of wildlife in the parkland like grounds, and right on your doorstep with swifts regularly nesting outside the back doors. The 2004 to 2007 BBC 2 “Springwatch” programme was filmed just a few miles from here, and we had the pleasure of accommodating members of the production team for those four years. In the cottage “Information Folder” are identification charts to help you recognize different trees, birds, wild flowers, insects etc.
Click here to find more information about the wildlife on our farm.

Energy and water efficiency
East Hook Holiday Cottages provide cosy log fires which are very popular in winter particularly for the Chirstmas/New Year period, with the wood all being produced here on the farm. The night storage heaters are run on the Economy 7 tariff. We use “A” rated electrical appliances and low energy light bulbs. We have our own lovely water supply, the quality being regularly tested for your peace of mind. We ask visitors to put back any unused towels in order to keep water use to a minimum. The toilet cisterns are fitted with water reduction devices. We collect the roof rain water in butts to water the garden and garden containers, wash cycles and walking boots.

Waste Reduction
East Hook Holiday Cottages being in the West Devon Borough Council area have an excellent recycling focus. W.D.B.C. provide a Green Box to recycle newspapers, magazines, paper, food and drink cans, aerosol cans, glass bottles and jars, cardboard and plastic bottles. We ourselves provide a Yellow Bucket for food waste, tea bags, egg shells etc. – anything that can composted. This is emptied daily. We use paper liners for dustins recycled from the farm.

Support for local residents and suppliers
East Hook Holiday Cottages supports its neighbours and we purchase supplies in Okehampton and district.  In the cottage “Where to Eat near East Hook Holiday Cottages” folder we provide a vast range of local information to suit all tastes and pockets. We encourage guests to visit farmers’ markets and straight up the road seven miles away, Hatherleigh Market on a Tuesday morning – the largest pannier market in Devon . We provide a strong wicker basket, a large hessian eco bag and a wine carrier to bring back the local produce purchased.

Use of ethical products
East Hook Holiday Cottages uses environmentally friendly cleaners e.g. washing up liquid, soap powders and cleaning materials, such as E-cloth which clean perfectly without chemicals. We use Fair Trade products and encourage our visitors to do likewise. We support and purchase the products of “Spirit Aid” see www.spiritaid.org – helping children all over the world.