Ecocabin was featured in a recent issue of West Country Life. A copy of the article follows:

A natural place to visit

Sally Whittall meets the woman who built a holiday cabin with an environmental theme. Pictures by Matt Cardy

CLEANING holiday cottages in north Herefordshire, farmer's wife Kate Grubb was appalled at the waste food and rubbish Left behind by self-catering visitors. So, she hit on the idea of building her own Ecocabin on her husband's farm near Leintwardine, set in the lee of the Black Hill, epitomised in Bruce Chatwin's novel On The Black Hill.

The cabin is now complete and ready to receive the first paying guests who will share the beliefs of a commitment to sustainable development where country properties have a negative environmental impact.

Vet nurse Kate, originally from Banbury, worked for The Marches Veterinary Practice in Leominster before her marriage to Jamie, who farms with his father at Obley on the Herefordshire/Shropshire border.

After she was married, she lectured in vet nursing and animal care at Herefordshire Agricultural College at Holme Lacy until the birth of Martha, two-and-a-half years ago. "When my maternity leave was up, I had two options, to go back to work and leave Martha with a child minder a lot of the time or find a job at home which would help out with the family finances," says Kate.

While she decided what to do, she took a job cleaning holiday cottages in the countryside as well as beginning work renovating the cottage she and Jamie had taken on a repairing lease near the farm. It was then that her Ecocabin idea began to develop.

She says: "I was a subscriber to the Real Nappy Network that operates in the area and I became a volunteer which, in turn, led me into the Women's Environmental Network.

"I was keen to start my own environmentally-friendly business - where Martha could fit in - and do something which in turn would help stimulate the local economy and help keep other small businesses going."

Kate hit on the growth in tourism in the Marches region and approached Defra - the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - to hear what farm business grants may be available in the tourism sector and how Defra advisors would react to her Ecocabin idea. In a nutshell, the concept of Ecocabin was that rural holiday accommodation should both protect and promote the surrounding countryside. The design offers luxurious simplicity with technical innovation.
Kate says: "Everyone loved it from the beginning and I had some amazing advice and help. I had to attend several important meetings and they all said I should bring Martha along.

"As Ecocabin started to develop and it was time to meet with local planners and designers, I was invited to take Martha with me to all the initial meetings. She was in on everything and whenever a camera came out to photograph the site or the work in progress, she learned to become a real little poser," she adds
with a laugh. Being at home with Martha as a full-time mum has been very fulfilling and the small toddler is bright and happy with a mass of bouncing fair curls and a sunny personality to match. Kate is also on hand to help Jamie with difficult births at lambing time, or with his suckler cows, and Kate's in-laws love having Martha to play in the farmhouse.

From the embryonic stage, to the finished building including the formal planning permission and the design which has frequently been compared with Australian sheep shearers' quarters - Kate has been hands-on and has completed a great deal of work herself.

"When people see it for the first time, some of them say they think of a rustic shearer's shed. I have used compressed wool as insulation and you can hear lambs bleating and calling to their mothers all around, so it's really rather appropriate," she adds.

Starting from the ground, Kate's Ecocabin is simply a cleverly-designed wooden chalet -the frame of the building constructed using local Douglas Fir. The external walls are of native larch boarding, and recycled newspaper and compressed sheep's wool mixture work effectively as insulation under the lime plastered reedboards which form the internal walls. The floor is made from British poplar boards and environmentally friendly paints and wood finishes have been used throughout.
Solar panels provide hot water in summer while a wood pellet stove generates heat and hot water in winter months. Ecocabin uses a renewable electricity supplier and all appliances have been chosen for their energy efficiency.

The kitchen - fully fitted and equipped with all kinds of recycled items - has a full-size gas cooker and microwave oven and the two pretty bedrooms boasting hand-dyed curtains and bed covers sleep four adults with cots or childbeds also available.

Bedding and linen is all organic cotton and natural wool and soft furnishings have been dyed using natural plant dyes. Walls are adobe-smooth painted in non-toxic paints in lemon and off-white.

The interior design aim has been to create a stylish contemporary look utilising existing resources. For example, much of the furniture is from a local recycling scheme and the kitchen work surface is made from yoghurt pots. Finishing touches are by local artists and many have an environmental theme, such as rag rug pictures, mosaic framed mirrors from broken crockery and a brightly-coloured melted Wellington boot wall hanging to protect the breathing lime plaster from wet coats on the hooks.

Few of any holiday-making family's wants have been left to chance. The Real Nappy Company is on hand to hire, deliver and launder the nappies. Natural bath essence and shampoo is supplied in the cabin's pretty pink and white bathroom with hand-painted tiles, as is the chemical-free washing up liquid and washing powder in the utility.

Popular restaurants and pubs are within easy reach of the hamlet, with Ludlow and its Michelin-starred eateries just a half-hour drive. Bicycle hire is available and Kate also offers a pick-up service to and from local transport connections.

Everything organic is encouraged and a shop including most of the staples - beer from Herefordshire hops and wine from hedgerow fruits and flowers - has been well-stocked in the cabin's pantry with an "honesty book" for guests to help themselves.

"I feel the whole project has been so worthwhile and Jamie, Martha and I have the basis of a new business at home on the farm where holiday-makers can come and enjoy our part of the world and, at the same time, help preserve the beautiful countryside immortalised by Bruce Chatwin's On The Black Hill," says Kate.

Ready to rent: An Interior and exterior view of the Ecocabin near Leintwardlne. Kate is pictured with her daughter Martha, top right, and Martha reads In the living room, far right

o To stay at the Ecocabin it will cost you £400-£550 a week or £75-85 a night for four people. Two nights minimum stay. Tel: 01547 530183 or website: www.ecocabin.co.uk