Staying on the Kernock Estate

We hope you have a wonderful holiday staying in our cottages. This important information will enable you to have a safe and enjoyable stay. We are very relaxed and there is no long list of rules, however, there are a few things you need to know, so please take the time to read this page (provided as a hard copy in the Information Pack in your cottage). Thank you.

Health & Safety

The Estate

We want you to be able to enjoy this beautiful country estate. You are very welcome to make use of the walkways, woods and open areas of the estate, however, please be aware of the hazards. All the fencing is topped with barbed wire for stock control, and not suitable for climbing on or over. If you go walking in the fields please make sure that you close gates.

Kernock has a healthy rabbit population so please do take care when walking the grounds and dog park (Central Bark), as there are areas – particularly in the woods – where the paths are festooned with rabbit holes.

There are a number of walls around the cottages which could present an attraction to an adventurous child. We have fenced and planted lots of prickly things around those which are a potential hazard as a deterrent, but please ensure the safety of your children by ensuring they do not have unsupervised access to potentially dangerous areas. As with most of Britain, the South West is also an area where adders can be found – it would be unusual to find an adder on site but please be aware in areas of long grass.

Sustainability

We are lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the world, and we are committed to running Kernock Cottages and the Estate sustainably, with as little impact on the environment as possible, enabling enjoyment of the nature and biodiversity for generations.

At Kernock we have a robust sustainability policy which covers conservation, use of local produce, energy-efficiency and environmentally-friendly business practices. We want to play our part by being environmentally friendly, and at the same time to make it easy for our guests to play their part too.

Recycling & Waste

For our waste and recycling, we use a Cornish company CTC Waste who have their own recycling facility on the Roseland Peninsula. They operate a 100% recycling, 0% to landfill policy. On site, we reuse and recycle as much as we can. Our complimentary bathroom wellness amenities supplied by TEMPLESPA are 100% recyclable and we now provide TEMPLESPA hand soap and hand cream in refillable dispensing bottles in every en-suite bathroom.

Bin liners and bin bags are provided for you. Please put any full bin liners, tied at the top, in the black dustbins outside your property. We will collect these during your stay (this applies to both waste and recycling).

Sewerage

IMPORTANT – Kernock is not connected to mains sewerage – we have onsite sewage treatment plants underground. It is very important for the correct functioning of the system that NO animal fats are put down the sink (please wait until it has congealed, and put the solid matter in the bin). We are also unable to use bleach, anti-bacterial detergents or any biological agents. We therefore provide you with environmentally suitable washing machine, dishwasher and cleaning agents and would be grateful if you would ONLY use these. Please also DO NOT dispose of tampons, sanitary towels, nappies, condoms etc down the loo. We have provided covered bins in all bathrooms for this purpose. This will prevent any unpleasant back-ups in the system which could affect your enjoyment of your holiday. Thank you for your cooperation on this issue.

Heating and Hot Water

Installed in July 2013 the 150KW Herz woodchip biomass boiler delivers heating and hot water to all the cottages across the Estate via a district heating loop. Each cottage has thermostats so that you can control the temperature of your cottage. There is a hot water tank in each cottage which will refill automatically when hot water is used. If you have any heating or hot water problems please contact us.

Help us in our sustainability commitments

We are committed to continuously improving our environmental management so that future generations can continue to enjoy this environment. We would love it if you could support our efforts in the following ways:

• Please switch off lights and televisions when not in use.
• Please avoid going out for the whole day with the heating thermostat on a high temperature (the barns are very well insulated, and the timer works really well).
• If you have the heating on, please don’t use the doors and windows to adjust the temperature, turn down the thermostat.
• We would encourage you to contribute to the local economy by shopping locally where possible. There are some great local butchers, veggie-shops, farmers markets etc. which provide fresh local produce, often at much more attractive prices than the supermarkets. You can find details on the Local Information page.
• We encourage you to consider our selection of local pubs and cafes whilst out and about.
• If you wish to borrow a picnic hamper, please do ask us.
• We very much welcome any ideas from guests which may help us be more environmentally friendly while not affecting our guests enjoyment of our cottages.
• Leftover food – please don’t chuck all your food in the bin before you leave! If you leave it in the fridge or on the worktop then we will either use or recycle it.

Electricity and EV Charging

I have two Electric Vehicle Charging Points – a dedicated Tesla charger, and a Type-2 charger, located at the top of the estate. Should you wish to charge your vehicle please let us know and we will share with you our EV charging policy. In periods of good light and sunshine, much of our electricity is produced by our onsite solar panels and any surplus is stored in battery power walls.

The Tesla batteries help us store power, and we have EV charging points on site

Water

We are self-sufficient in beautiful fresh Cornish water from the aquifer provided via our borehole. Of course, the water goes through a rigorous filtration system, but is doesn’t contain chlorine, so tastes even better than the mains water we have as back-up. We have dual flush on most of the loos (but the accessible loo in Heather Barn has a spatula flush for ease of use), water aerators on the taps, and EcoCamel shower heads.

Getting about

The local pub is great and eminently walkable (do take a torch – provided in your cottage – if you plan on walking home after dark… the local lanes are very narrow and dark). There are lots of lovely walks and plenty to do locally with only a short hop in the car. In your cottage there is a booklet of walks around Pillaton, with maps for each walk. Also provided are Ordnance Survey maps 107, 108 and 109 covering the local areas and our top suggested walks in the area. In this pack you will find details of our recommended walks and attractions in the area.

Public Transport – the closest railway station is Saltash (but the most practical is Plymouth, which is 10 miles away). If you are looking for a care free day out in Plymouth you could drive to Hatt and take the 12A Bus to Plymoiuth. A.W. Cabs are Saltash-based and also have a people carrier for larger groups (01752 848400). Two other Saltash-based firms can be contacted on (01752) 848422 and (01752) 848484.

Wildlife and Biodiversity on the Kernock Estate

Many guests stay on the estate to unwind, relax and enjoy the views and wide variety of flora and fauna on our 25 acres. We manage our land for insect and bird life under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, so grow insect and bird-friendly plants like quinoia, sunflower, thistle (loved by goldfinches… we have whole flocks of them when the thistle is out) etc. In the winter we spread bird food in the fields, as part of our stewardship agreement. The dawn chorus is fabulous, and we get many seasonal bird visitors, including nightingale and swallows and swifts.

The drumming sound of the woodpecker is heard often, and we have a vocal owl population, which you may even be lucky enough to see in your car headlights some evenings. In your cottage you will find a collection of reference books to help you identify insects, butterflies and moths, birds, animals and plants. Please share any information on the wildlife you see and if you wish to use our night vision camera to track wildlife please let us know.

We have lovely wild orchids in the spring, competing with our 28 varieties of daffodil and narcissus, and a good repertoire of bugs and creepy crawlies, including several families of resident slow worms and have seen (rare) Oil Beetles every year for the last few years (which we report to Buglife.org.uk). We often see some fantastic caterpillars and moths (the hummingbird hawk moth being a favourite), which sometimes end up starring on our Facebook page!

If you want to look a bit further then do ask to borrow our 114mm reflector telescope and take advantage of our lovely clear skies and lack of ambient light to gaze upon the heavens. We also have planispheres, so you can identify what you are looking at.

Hot Tubs

All our hot tubs are Shoreline Hydrotherapy hot tubs, which are known for their eco credentials. Not only do they have energy efficient pumps, low energy LED lighting, very high spec insulation (the covers have an R value of >20) and a heat recovery system, but they also give a carbon offset certificate for 20 years with every tub (paid by Shoreline).

Please read the Hot Tub rules in the Information Pack to ensure safe use of this facility. Hot tubs must not be used by young children. Please do not leave the cover off, do not put your head under the water, and ensure you know where the shut-off switch is, in case of emergency.

Site Plan

Fire

Our responsibilities

As owners and managers of Kernock Cottages, we recognise the significant hazard posed by a fire in the cottages and on site, and our responsibilities for reducing, so far as is reasonably practicable, the risk to life associated with fire. We will ensure that the protection of guests from the risk of fire is given sufficient priority, the resources to deliver this obligation, and that all reasonable measures are taken to reduce the risk of property damage as a result of fire. There are no naked flames in the properties – no gas, log burner or heating boiler in the properties (heating is provided via our biomass boiler on a hot water distribution ring). Smoking is not permitted in the properties and candles must not be used.

Responsibility of guests

All guests have the following general responsibilities for fire safety:

• to ensure that they are aware of the fire alarm and evacuation protocols;
• to respond immediately to any fire alarm, making safe escape their priority;
• to take all reasonable steps to minimise the risk of fire starting or spreading (including complying with the various requirements of this document);
• disconnect the gas from the BBQ when it is not in use;
• to ensure that any visitors they invite to their cottage are provided with information on actions required in the event of fire; and
• to report anything likely to cause fire or facilitate the spread of fire.

Additionally, before retiring for the night, guests are required to:

• conduct a final check of the kitchen area to ensure that electrical appliances are turned off and heat sources isolated;
• switch off all charging devices;
• close all bedroom doors (in the event of a fire this will slow the spread of the fire and protect you from toxic smoke).

This information is provided in the Information Pack in the cottage and reference is made to this information during the Guest Welcome and Key Information meeting, on arrival at each property.

Fire Risk Assessments

A Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) for each cottage are available here and a printed copy is available in the Information Pack.

Heather Barn

Owl Barn

The Coach House

Tree Barn

Security

We are lucky to live in a beautiful private estate. That said, it is easy to become complacent about security. We advise you to lock your cottage when you go out and to close all downstairs windows. At night, it is important that you are able to escape the building, in the event of an emergency. We ask that you use the methods detailed in the Fire Risk Assessment and on the fire notices, to ensure you and your belongings are safe, but you can easily exit the building quickly should you need to.