Weavers Cottage a carbon neutral home.

Weavers Cottage
Overlooking the Stour Valley, Weavers Cottage is an end-of-terraced, recently renovated house in the Suffolk village of Glemsford. It is at the end of a cul-de-sac and set in gardens with open fields on two sides. The row of terrace cottages were built by the local silk mills in the 1850s with high ceilings to accommodate looms to enable the weavers to work from home.
The accommodation offered is a double bedroom upstairs with a large lounge / living room, kitchen and bathroom downstairs. The house is comfortable and well furnished and has paintings and artefacts that reflect our travels and the various countries around the world in which we have lived. We moved in to Weavers Cottage in 1983 but now mainly live in a newly built annex with a separate entrance. Accordingly, two of the bedrooms in the house are private and only used by us when we do not have guests.
We share the large garden with our guests. We have cherry, apple, walnut and plum trees as well as a vegetable plot and herb garden. There is a summerhouse and picnic table at the bottom of the garden with views over the adjacent fields. As the summer house is double glazed and catches the afternoon sun it is very comfortable and pleasant place to sit and read or work in the spring and autumn.
Glemsford is a large village with many facilities - 2 pubs, a social club, a Chinese restaurant, 2 mini supermarkets with a post office and a GP surgery with a pharmacy. There is a farm shop 10 minutes walk away through fields. Willow Farm Shop can supply a wide range of healthy foods and also has a cafe / restaurant for breakfast and lunch.
Numerous footpaths can be accessed from the house taking you to Cavendish, Pentlow, Hartest and Long Melford. All villages mentioned have excellent pubs. Long Melford has several stately homes, Kentwell Hall and Melford House, that are worth visiting.
The area is also excellent for cycling in every direction and, in season, cruises on the Stour can be taken from Sudbury to the Henny Swan.
Glemsford is in easy driving distance of Cambridge, Ipswich, Colchester and Bury St Edmunds. The ancient town of Lavenham with its beautiful medieval timber buildings is a short drive away.
The village is 60 miles from London and it is an easy drive, much of it on rural roads once you leave the M11 or A10. However if you don't drive, the local market town of Sudbury (Suffolk) is well served by trains from London via the branch train line from Marks Tey and there are regular buses from Sudbury to Glemsford or a taxi from the station will cost around £15. The buses stop 150 yards from the cottage.
Additional information:
There is unlimited Wi-Fi, a 32 inch digital terrestial television, class D bluetooth amplifer driving Bowers and Wilkins bookshelf speakers for listening to your own choice of music from a phone or tablet.
The kitchen has an induction hob and oven, refrigerator and washing machine.
The bathroom has a bath / shower and bidet toilet seat.
Weavers Cottage became the 60th superhome (superhomes.org.uk) in the UK in 2010, almost meeting the mandatory carbon reduction targets for 2050. More energy conservation work has been done recently, including solar panels on the annex roof, making the property carbon neutral (in use).
Background heating comes from an air source heat pump. A glass fronted wood stove in the living room provides more heat on colder days / nights.
No candles (it voids our insurance policy).
No incense (the smell can linger for weeks).
There are 4 exterior security cameras (covering side access path and gardens) which can be turned off on request.
Car parking for one medium sized car is at the side of the house, for larger cars there is a dedicated parking spot a few paces away. If you require more than one parking spot, there is unrestricted parking in the Main Street 150 metres away.
We have a strict no pets policy as we regularly host people with allergies.