Guest Handbook:
House & Gardens
We welcome you warmly to our family home!
On this page you will find details about:
- arrivals
- parking
- gardens and grounds
- kitchen appliances, bins and recycling
- alfresco dining and cooking
- living room wood stove
- TV and Bluetooth speakers
- airing cupboard and laundry
- heating and hot water
- bathrooms and towels
- library books and board games
- bedrooms, additional heating and spare linen
- accidental damage
- departure arrangements
Arrivals
Arrival time is after 4.00pm. Please contact us if you would like to drop off your baggage earlier on the day of your arrival. Please contact us if you will be arriving later than 6pm. Departure time is by 10am, please see departure information below.
Parking
There is parking for two cars on the gravel driveway for our guests. Please don't park on the tarmac lane on the other side of the house (between us and the neighbouring Mill House) - this lane leads to a green lane which must have access at all times. This right of way is occasionally used by horse riders and walkers - but once in a while an intrepid 4-wheel drive or dirt bike will exercise their right to use the green lane.
Grounds and Gardens
- The external stone steps and the flag stone kitchen terrace can be slippery when wet or icy - please take care and if in doubt use the lower front door instead.
- The upper lawn enclosed by fencing is for your private use - there is a table and chairs under the apple tree for alfresco dining.
- Beyond the enclosed terraced garden, there are 7 acres of water meadows and woodland bordering the river. You are very welcome to enjoy all the grounds and gardens, day and night.
- You are welcome to use the fire bowl in the meadow - please do not leave the fire bowl unattended when alight and make sure it is properly extinguished when you leave it.
- The fire bowl grill, extra garden chairs and garden games are in the blue beach hut.
- You are also welcome to use the fire pit further down the water meadows beside the river. No other camp fires in the grounds and gardens please.
- Please respect the peace of the valley, no outdoor amplified music, and no noise louder than an owl's hoot after dark!
- Please take care of the fabric of the building - both internally and externally. The mill wheel, leat and internal mechanics are of historic value and must be very carefully preserved.
- SAFETY WARNING there is standing water and flowing water in close proximity to the house; there are steep drops from bridges, walls and steps all around the house and gardens; the flagstone and wooden surfaces become slippery when wet or icy; the grounds border a flowing river. Please take extreme care of your personal safety and supervise children appropriately at all times.
- SAFETY WARNING please take care not to damage wild plants and animals - many of them are protected species under UK law. In addition, take care to protect yourself - some beautiful native wild plants are very poisonous. Local examples include Hemlock Water Dropwort, Foxgloves, Hogweed and Rhododendron. These are common plants in this area and also grow in our water meadows. Never trample, pick or eat any plant if you are not sure exactly what it is. Please supervise children appropriately at all times.
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Historic mill machinery:
Please take particular care of the historic fabric of the building. There is internal and external mill machinery of historic value, including the external water wheel and mill race, and internal wooden cogs and hoists. Please treat these amazing pieces of historic engineering like museum pieces - to be admired with respectful care.
Kitchen
You'll find salt, pepper, herbs and a selection of teas for your use.
Eco dishwasher tabs, laundry liquid and washing up liquid are all provided for your use. If you want to use your own, please ensure they are environmentally friendly and septic tank safe.
Eco dishwasher tabs, laundry liquid and washing up liquid are all provided for your use. If you want to use your own, please ensure they are environmentally friendly and septic tank safe.
- Recycling: Please WASH your recycling before you dispose of it. You'll find the bin in the kitchen island cupboard. There are several containers for you to separate your recyclable and non-recyclable rubbish. On the kitchen terrace you will find a hinged wooden lid in the old leat box containing the recycling bags and boxes. You can transfer your recycling to these bags and boxes should your kitchen bin become full. The general household bin for non-recyclable rubbish is by the driveway gate. Currently we do not have a compost system.
- Hob: SAFETY WARNING there is no indicator light to show that the hob is on - so please check carefully that you have switched the hob off when you have finished cooking.
- Extractor fan: hanging above the hob, use the buttons on the fan cylinder to activate the light or the fan. The isolator switch for the extractor fan is on the wall to the left of the kitchen sink.
- Toaster: this is an old fashioned 4-slice toaster. Use the red button to indicate whether you want to toast 2 slices or 4 slices. Then, turn the black timer dial to your preferred toast time - number 2 will toast your bread without burning it.
- Kettle: you may notice that the limescale deposits in the kettle are black - this is a completely normal effect of the mineral deposits in the water. Our water is drawn from our own bore hole, filtered and sanitised using an infrared system.
- Coffee maker: we have a Nespresso machine on the kitchen island as well as a French coffee press in the glazed kitchen cupboard.
- Kitchen scales: electric scales in the kitchen drawers.
- Blender/electric whisk: in the kitchen island cupboard.
- Fridge Freezer: the digital display panel is faulty, but rest assured the fridge freezer is set to the correct temperature, so please refrain from pressing the buttons on the display panel.
- Dishwasher: to start a new wash cycle, return the dial to R (reset), then turn the dial to the new setting and press start. Dishwasher tabs, rinse aid and dishwater salts are in the cupboard under the sink.
- Washing machine: the machine is on an uneven floor - therefore please take extra care not to overload the machine, ensure you have a balanced load, and use a low spin speed. To adjust the spin speed, use the touchscreen to select ‘spin’ and choose your desired speed.
- Water: we draw our lovely Cornish water from our own bore hole. Water is a very precious resource here - please don't waste it.
Alfresco:
Please remember to return all borrowed picnic and beach items to the house after use.
- Turkish hammam towels: are provided for each guest in the basket under the coat hooks in the kitchen hallway - you are welcome to take these to the beach. Please don't use the bath towels for swimming and picnics.
- Picnic carrier and blankets: in the blue chest of drawers by the top of the stairs. Feel free to take these on your outings.
- Picnic utensils: enamel mugs, plates, bowls and picnic cutlery and thermos in the glazed kitchen cupboard. Please don't take the silverware to the beach!
- Barbecue cooking tongs and spatulas: in the top left hand kitchen drawers under the glazed kitchen cupboard.
Living Room
Wood burning stove SAFETY WARNING: please follow the following instructions:
TV and blue tooth speaker:
- Never leave the door of the wood stove open or ajar. This would be a huge fire risk from sparks - and it also causes the stove to burn too hot which is a chimney fire hazard.
- Only seasoned wood on the wood stove please - strictly no green (or unseasoned) wood.
- You will find fire lighters and matches in the metal container beside the stove.
- You will find a full basket of seasoned logs beside the fire - more are stored in in the leat box on the kitchen terrace.
- Strictly no cardboard or refuse in the wood stove - this can be drawn up the flue while burning and is a chimney fire hazard.
- Do not place items on top of the woodburner when alight.
- Do not store combustible items immediately beside the woodburner.
- Generally, you will not need to empty the ash box in the wood stove. But if you have decided to empty the ash drawer, you will find a metal bucket on the kitchen terrace to dispose of the ash - obviously do not put ash in the internal or external household rubbish bins, because embers can easily cause fires in the bin. Please make sure the ash box door is properly closed before you light the fire - this can be fiddly, but you just need to sweep all the ash out of the drawer space to allow the door lever to meet the catch. This is important to ensure that the fire does not burn too hot and cause a chimney fire or damage the flue.
TV and blue tooth speaker:
- You can access many digital TV and radio channels through the WiFi TV (eg. Netflix, BBC iPlayer).
- You can pair your own devices with the bluetooth speaker to play music.
- The TV and speaker remote controls are stored on the speaker shelf underneath the TV.
Airing Cupboard
This is the cupboard beside the kitchen terrace door, here you'll find
- the ironing board and iron, clothes horse and pegs. The washing line is outside on the lower lawn (pull the washing line out from the red winder on the wall of the barn and string it across to the willow trees)
- mop and bucket and vacuum cleaner.
- cushions for the kitchen terrace bench
Heating and hot water
We have an oil fired boiler which services the hot water and central heating system. We are as careful as possible to balance comfort and energy consumption in the most environmentally aware way. We heat the house to a constant living temperature and set the water to reheat twice a day. Please do not adjust the thermostat or timings unless absolutely necessary. Do your bit to save the planet and wear a jumper!
Bathrooms
Eco cleaning products and spare loo paper are in the bathroom and shower room cupboards.
- Toilets: SENSITIVE PLUMBING! Pee, poo, loo paper only down the loo - for anything else, bins and sanitary disposal bags are provided in both bathrooms.
- Bath towels: bath towels and hand towels are provided for each guest - please do not take these towels to the beach.
- Heaters: in the family bathroom and the shower room, there are wall mounted electric fan heaters in case of chilly weather. Obviously don't leave these fan heaters running when you are not in the room. Do not hang items from the fan heaters - use the heated bathroom towel rails, the airing cupboard, the clothes horse, the clothes line (in the garden) or the tumble dryer (in the barn) to dry damp items.
- Shower room: there is an electric towel rail in this bathroom. To dry your towel after use, press the left hand timer button on the dial at the bottom of the rail. The isolator switch for the electric towel rail is the hanging pull cord to the right of the bathroom sink.
- Water: we draw our lovely Cornish water from our own bore hole. Water is a very precious resource here - please don't waste it.
Library
We have a large and diverse library - feel free to borrow books and board games from the shelves. There are more board games in the blue chest of drawers at the top of the stairs. Please do remember to return these to the house before you leave.
Bedrooms
You will find extra bed blankets, a spare set of bed linen and a spare set of towels on the top shelf in the red cupboard in the Master Bedroom.
All the bedrooms have central heating radiators - and there are also extra plug-in heaters should you need to boost the temperature in blue room, the guest room and the study. Please use these extra heaters economically - the rooms heat up quite quickly, please do not leave the heaters on when you are not in the room. Obvious fire safety rules apply - do not cover the plug-in electric heaters with towels/clothes.
All the bedrooms have central heating radiators - and there are also extra plug-in heaters should you need to boost the temperature in blue room, the guest room and the study. Please use these extra heaters economically - the rooms heat up quite quickly, please do not leave the heaters on when you are not in the room. Obvious fire safety rules apply - do not cover the plug-in electric heaters with towels/clothes.
Accidental damage
Accidents happen. Please inform us as soon as possible of any damage and breakages so that we can arrange repairs or replacements before the next guests arrive. Please take note of our terms and conditions: you have agreed to pay for any losses or damage to the property or contents caused by you or your party (normal wear and tear excluded). You are responsible for losses and damage (normal wear and tear excluded) whether reported to us at the time or identified after your stay.
On your departure
- Remove all food you have brought into the property - from fridges, freezer, cupboards and kitchen. Please do not leave any food in the property when you vacate, other than the basic supplies that were already in the cupboards.
- Ensure that all kitchen items you have used have been washed (all crockery, cutlery, glasses, pots, pans etc).
- Please empty all bins and recycling inside the house into outside bins and containers before departing, including bedroom, bathroom and kitchen bins. Please ensure your recycling refuse has been washed before disposal.
- Please ensure the electric heaters have been switched off and unplugged.
- Please ensure the hob and cooker have been switched off.
- Turn down the duvet on all beds that have been used.
- Return all borrowed items - for example, books, games, beach towels and any other items belonging to Trethake Mill.
- Please check property thoroughly before departing - including under beds and in drawers.
- Please depart promptly (before 10am). Our cleaners need the full changeover time to be able to prepare the property for the next guests.
Thank you for visiting us at Trethake Mill! We really hope you enjoyed your stay.
