The land at Sunnybank Farm

During your stay you are welcome to roam and explore Sunnybank Farm, a smallholding of 40 acres, as well as the adjoining woods and moorland which are crisscrossed with paths and trails. The farm is a mixture of woods, pasture and moorland and stretches from the top of the hill to the sheltered banks of the river Camel below.

"To start off by thinking that we are here on the land and we can encourage wildlife in all its wonderful diversity and not diminish it, seems like a simple but good way forward. It's about making decisions that lead towards a life affirming, thriving life for all of us, human and non human alike."

Our approach:

To live lightly on the land
To Rewild and support Biodiversity
To combine farming and conservation
To welcome people to the land
To play
To celebrate the seasons
To conserve rare Butterfly habitat
To support a handmade life
To practice Sustainable Woodland Management
To explore Renewable Technologies.

Living lightly

For the last thirty years the aim has been to live lightly on the land, to repair what has gone before and to leave as small an imprint as possible. We have avoided concrete in making the yurt holday site, adopted renewable technologies, recycled waste and compost, and used local materials. This remains a vital part of our approach - bringing our love of the land to all that we do here.

Rewilding

Paying attention to natural cycles has been an essential part of how we work on the land. Noticing what grows, has helped us work with what is here. It is a balance, a close relationship between what we would like to see happen and what the land supports. Bringing more life to the land, increasing biodiversity, protecting rare species, is a valuable way to repair our relationship with the natural world.

Butterflies

Twenty years ago the Cornish Butterfly group found the rare and very beautiful Pearl Bordered Fritillary on the land. Since then we have worked hard to manage the land, to create the best habitat for these butterflies to thrive.

Our small herd of traditional Hereford cows, perfect for foraging on the rough moorland and woodland sites, make rides and paths through the bracken , creating conditions for violets to flourish. It is the violets that form the principal food source for the caterpillars of the Pearl Bordered Fritillary. This valuable relationship between the large grazing cows and the delicate lives of the butterflies is still being explored and lies at the heart of this rewilding project.

A Handmade Life

Although the science is only just catching up, it has long been known that working with our hands and working with the land and the soil is good for our wellbeing and mental health. It is good for the planet too. All the yurts made for Cornish yurt Holidays were made here in the Yurtworks workshop which made yurts professionally for over 20 years.

All the other structures, the ig-loos, solar shower, sauna, kitchen were also designed and made here, using as much local wood as we could possibly source.