If you need to contact us, you can email info@wheatlandfarm.co.uk, or telephone 01837 83499 or phone, text or WhatsApp to 07780708747. WhatsApp is best – because wifi coverage is better than mobile signal here.

Arrival time is 4pm and departure time is 9am. If you’re planning to leave early, it’s a genuine help to let us know.

Honeysuckle Eco Lodge – how it all works

Handwashing and Hygeine

If your hand sanitizer needs refilling, contact us at the farmhouse. There are handwashing stations by the bikes, by Balebarn Lodge, and by the lodge field campfire site.

Waste and rubbish

At Wheatland Farm we can recycle almost everything – so long as it’s clean.

• Please take washed recycling to the recycling centre between the lodge field and the old farmyard. That includes tins, glass, paper, card, cartons, tubs etc.
• All food waste and paper towel (not wet wipes) goes in your food collection bin, and, if you fill that, into the larger collection caddy near the recycling centre. Just ask if you’re unsure.
• Please don’t put food or food dirtied items in any bin – we don’t have a waste stream for mixed waste. Rubbish is sanitary products, foil crisp packets, really irretrievably greasy BBQ foil, plastic-based wet wipes (it’s so much better not to use them), broken shoes – things like that.
• Please take as much of your left over food as possible home with you. But if you really can’t please still don’t put it in the bin! Leave it on the kitchen table and we will deal with it.
• Batteries and electricals – leave these in a pot by the bin and we will ensure they don’t end up in landfill.
• Dog poo goes in the dog poo bin in the old farmyard (wrapped please).

The induction hob

The hob in Honeysuckle Eco Lodge kitchen is induction. If you’ve not used induction hobs before, you’ll find they heat up and cool down as fast as gas. But they only work with induction suitable (magnetic) pans. See this short demo for how the controls work.

Hot Water

Your hot water is solar, with an immersion top up. The top up switch is in the tall cupboard to the right of the sink. Press the grey lozenge button. One press turns on the immersion heater for 30 minutes, 2 presses gives an hour, three presses 2 hours. Four presses switches it off again.

Power cuts

If there’s a power cut, it’s usually temporary. If it persists, ring Western Power Distribution on 08006738105 for more details and contact the farmhouse. The fuse box, should you need it, is by main door. Honeysuckle Lodge has RCD protection.

Wifi

Wifi code is honeysuckle (all lower case). If there’s a hitch, please don’t touch the modem, even if you think you know what you’re doing, as the set up between the lodges is complex. Instead, contact Ian if there are problems.

Smoking

Honeysuckle Eco Lodge is non-smoking. If you smoke outside, please dispose of butts responsibly.

Accessibility equipment

If you find you need something, please ask. There’s a list of equipment to borrow on our accessibility pages (subject to availability).

Eco Outside Bath (optional extra)

Honeysuckle Lodge has an outside bath / eco hot tub, available for a £15 set up fee.

•  Unlike the conventional tubs on Balebarn and Beech Lodges, the charge is per day not per stay. This is because it’s a bath, not a conventional hot tub, using fewer chemicals but needing regular water changes and full cleaning.
• The daily charge of £15 includes set up (with lighting for the evening), filling, heating (this takes several hours), 2 extra towels, hot tub glasses, draining late at night and cleaning the following morning.
• Unlike the conventional hot tubs, you can book it after you arrive, and cancel it if the forecast is unkind.
• You can book it just once for the experience, or more frequently (but consider a lodge with a conventional hot tub if you want one often).
• You can book it for your children to use during the day if you wish, but you cannot use it unheated and uncharged as a permanent paddling pool – sorry! We will still need to change the water every day, even if it’s unheated.
• In an emergency: leave the bath and seek medical attention for anyone feeling unwell. There is a first aid kit in the conservatory at the farm house. Telephone 999 in a life threatening emergency, giving Wheatland Farm, EX19 8DJ as your location.
• Please cover the bath when you’ve finished using it, for safety reasons. If using it during the day, remember that other people’s children may be playing nearby. If we see the bath open and unattended we will cover it, and if this happens repeatedly we will lock it.
• Children must be supervised.
• Please take care not to disturb other guests (no outside music please).
• Normal expectations of public decency apply.
• Don’t use the bath if under the influence of alcohol, or if you are taking any drugs, prescription or otherwise, that could increase your risk of becoming unwell. Follow medical advice if you are elderly, pregnant (or could be), have a heart condition, are at increased risk of stroke, or have any other medical condition.
• Limit your soak time, as you would in a conventional bath. Take care in the sun.
• For your own safety, use only the plastic glasses we provide.

Laundry

There’s a shared washing machine near Balebarn Lodge, £2 per load (includes soap). Please contact us at the farmhouse if you want to use it.

Around the farm

BBQs – Please don’t light any BBQ, even the free standing one, on the wooden veranda.

Campfire site – please message Ian about wood if you’d like to have an evening fire in the meadow.

Exploring: Feel free to wander anywhere within the red line, on the map, but please respect our neighbour’s privacy (or they might really turn into dragons). Parents/carers – there is a simple tree house, built for our own kids, among the trees at the southern edge of the lodge field. We check it routinely, but please also go and look, and decide whether or not you are happy for the kids to play there, as you use it at your own risk. Note there may sometimes be standing water in the wet area where we drain Beech Lodge hot tub (top corner of the lodge field). Popehouse Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest (no dogs here please) is the area at the bottom of the map, running the length of our land. It is bordered by the woodland fringe at the bottom of the turbine field and below the big wildlife pond. Please leave gates as you find them, and expect to encounter cows in summer, mud, and sometimes electric fences on Popehouse Moor.

Nature walks: are available with Maggie by appointment, one ‘household’ at a time. There is no charge.

Dogs on leads please at all times – to help with social distancing and to protect our wildlife. Don’t take dogs onto Popehouse Moor SSSI, even on a lead please. There is a dog waste bin in the old farmyard. See our terms and conditions for full ‘dog rules’.

Badminton: You can borrow equipment for the lodge field badminton/volleyball pitch from the farmhouse. Please return it after use.

Boats: ask Ian for the briefing, then you can borrow the key. Please return the key, paddles and any buoyancy aids, directly to us. Please read the terms and conditions.

Wild swimming: the water between the pontoons gets deep quickly. Please only swim if you’re a confident swimmer and accept the inherent risks of wild swimming. You are responsible for your own and children’s safety. Please read the terms and conditions.

Bikes: Talk to Ian. You may be able to borrow a bike to keep for your stay. If you want bikes for long trips, please come and chat. Please read the terms and conditions.

Wellies: we have a few to borrow. Please return them to us for washing.

Local facilities and food

Please see the current information on the main welcome page, and in the things to do section of the Wheatland Farm website.