Great West Way Travel Magazine | Issue 07

“The Wave inland surf destination use solar thermal panels to pre-heat their water and have plans to plant 16,000 trees...” Within their Farm Shop, meat is prepared and sold in their own Butchery, and they also offer ‘Roves Refills’, a zerowaste pantry with pasta, beans, pulses, nuts, oil, fruit, grains, seeds, chocolate and sweets all without unnecessary packaging – you simply bring your own containers from home (or buy reusable ones from the shop). Fresh whole and semi-skimmed milk can be dispensed from the ‘Moo Station’ straight into glass bottles or cartons brought from home, reducing single use plastic whilst also supporting local dairy farmers. Major attractions along the route are doing their bit as well. Blenheim is leading the way with a ‘Gold’ Green Tourism award rating the palace within the top 5% greenest attractions in the UK. Stonehenge has launched a new fleet of green shuttle buses to take visitors to see the stones, and the visitor centre is not connected to a mains water supply; instead, water is drawn from a borehole. The land around the visitor centre and stone circle is maintained as chalk grassland meaning it is not improved with products such as fertilisers but instead cut and cleared once a year. They are maximising recycling with zero waste going to landfill. In the Stonehenge gift shop they stock products made and sourced locally including honey from Salisbury Plain, wine from Lyme Bay and a Christmas card range using cornstarch biodegradable bags and sustainably sourced board and envelopes. The Roman Baths and Pump Room are working on an innovative scheme to harvest heat from the naturally hot spa water to use it to heat their buildings. Sixteen three-metrelong energy exchange blades have been inserted into the King’s Bath, and a new plant room is being created beneath the street. The idea is that heat from the King’s Spring will be used to heat the Roman Baths and Pump Room, as well as the new Bath World Heritage Centre and Roman Baths Clore Learning Centre. The historic landscapes of Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace support a wide range of wildlife communities and projects to conserve biodiversity at the royal palaces, and where possible they have created new habitats or enhance existing ones to encourage local wildlife to flourish. The Bombay Sapphire Distillery in Hampshire was awarded the prestigious BREEAM Award for Industrial Design in 2014 – they have a biomass boiler providing heat and hot water using local, sustainably sourced wood chips as a fuel source and a hydroelectric turbine in the River Test, giving carbon savings of 38% and providing renewable and low carbon energy. SS <strong>Great</strong> Britain, Bristol have reduced their energy consumption of the pioneering conservation system which protects the ship’s fragile iron hull by 25% – part of their commitment to become carbon neutral in our operations by 2030. Also in Bristol, The Wave inland surf destination use solar thermal panels to pre-heat their water and have plans to plant 16,000 trees and 13 acres of wildflower meadowland, while Avon Valley Adventure & Wildlife Park have 265 solar panels placed on their roof generating 90% of their power, and they are working with <strong>Great</strong> <strong>West</strong>ern Recycling Ltd which means they have zero waste to landfill. The Museum of English Rural Life and Reading Museum are launching a new campaign called 'Our Green Stories' which draws on the collections of both museums highlighting and engaging visitors and local people with environmental issues. Chippenham Museum has been engaging people around issues of climate change through an exhibition display exploring the local landscape through imagery and a series of interviews with the local community about their climate concerns. At the Jane Austen Museum, Bath they have switched to LED lights throughout the building, use a fully renewable electricity provider and have plans for solar panels on their roof and at Maidenhead Heritage Museum they have just started to stock a range of eco-friendly, sustainable products from Wild & Stone in their shop. 20 <strong>Great</strong><strong>West</strong><strong>Way</strong>.co.uk

Pictured above to right: The Wave; Bristol; Roman Baths, The Sacred Spring The REME Museum are creating a wildflower and sensory garden in their grounds, designed to keep environmental impacts to a minimum. The wildflowers are species commonly found in Wiltshire, while the vegetables grown in the allotment will be used by the museum’s café. And although you can’t visit the factory, the <strong>Great</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>Way</strong> is proud to be home to the Birchall Tea Factory – the only wholly solar-powered tea factory in the UK and the first tea company in the world to be entirely Carbon Neutral. Located in Amesbury, the factory generates more electricity than they use with 460 rooftop solar panels. Discover their award-winning <strong>Great</strong> Rift Breakfast Tea stocked in a number of restaurants and cafes along the <strong>Great</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>Way</strong> route. → Insider Tip Enjoy greener travel by cycling, walking or riding along the new Pewsey Vale Circular <strong>Way</strong> – a 77 mile marked route (72 mile cycling), with the Vale of Pewsey at its heart. Dramatic downland, secluded woodland, sweeping valleys and the Kennet & Avon Canal provide a rich variety of landscapes for the walker, rider or cyclist to enjoy. ▶ Click here to download the the Circular <strong>Way</strong> leaflet. <strong>Great</strong><strong>West</strong><strong>Way</strong>.co.uk 21