Accommodation and Mountain Activities in Snowdonia, North Wales.

Environmental Statement

Garden at Bryn Elltyd

We live in an area of great natural beauty, which makes us, at Bryn Elltyd, even more aware of the damage that the human race is enacting on this planet. We believe it is beholden on all of us to minimise this damage so that future generations find it in a better state than when we inherited it. At the core of our policy is your care and enjoyment, we believe that your stay with us can achieve this with the minimum damage to the environment and at the same time we can offer you wholesome food, a warm and friendly atmosphere in a house that meets the criteria as a ecological and sustainable building. We know that many of you are already committed to building a sustainable way of life, and when you stay at Bryn Elltyd you become part of our holistic approach.

Reducing energy consumption will make a real contribution to reducing the greenhouse effect

How you can help;

• Bedding & towels changed only at your request
• Turn out lights when you leave rooms (the hall and outside lights are left on as a safety precaution)
• We will make sure that the standby on appliances are switched off (it is estimated that the equivalent of 2 power stations would be saved if everyone did just that)
• Shut all doors to keep the heat in(the house is insulated far beyond the minimum requirements of building regulations)
• We recycle all cans, paper & bottles; vegetable matter is composted and used on the garden.

Heating & Water;

• Our solid fuel fire provides heating and hot water using wood (which is viewed as CO2 neutral) from our own trees(a white metered emersion heater is a hot water backup).
• Solar collectors, on the garden room and south facing gable end of the main house, provide heat for our water and central heating.
• All our electricity come from renewable sources.
• Our water comes from the mains and is metered, whereas the sewage is disposed of in our own sceptic tanks, one of which filters into the pond which contains native brown trout; these need the cleanest of water to live in proving our system works. The reed beds and swamp also help filter the water of any impurities, as well as being ideal for frogs, toads and newts.

Food;

• Fruit and vegetable - we buy locally and organic when possible as well as growing our own on a small scale.
• Meat - Organic lamb and beef from Ty Isaf Ffestiniog, pork from Llan farm in Llanfrothen and organic chicken from Corwen.
• Eggs - free range hens eggs from Trawsfynedd and our own duck eggs.
• The majority of other food is bought locally to benefit the local economy and to support local jobs. We also have the satisfaction of knowing how our food is grown and that it is not transported over vast distances adding to pollution levels.
• All our tea, sugar, hot chocolate and coffee comes from Fairtrade sources. Other products such as fruit is also, subject to availability, from Fairtrade sources.

Our one acre of grounds support a variety of wild life and so you will not find it manicured but hopefully a combination of mature trees, wild areas as well as flowerbeds and shrubs all part of our eco-system, helping to attract insects, butterflies, birds and mammals.

We hope you appreciate what we are trying to achieve at Bryn Elltyd, demonstrating it is possible to have a warm and pleasant guest house with good wholesome food, gardens that thrive with life and yet having the minimum impact on our environment, in other words (sorry for the jargon) a sustainable product. Our aim is to think globally but to act locally, we do not own this planet it is merely on loan to us, so we should hand it on to the next generation in a better state then when we took over.

We would very much appreciate your comments on how we can improve on Bryn Elltyd or make your stay even more memorable. If you have any comments please do not hesitate to email us.

Contact Information

For more information contact Ceilia & John Whitehead at:

Mail: Bryn Elltyd, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales, UK. LL41 3TW
Phone: +44(0)1766 831356   E-mail:

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