Ordnance Survey – Great Britain's national mapping agency

Eco-friendly holiday resort in Yorkshire Dales

05 October 2007

A new eco-friendly holiday resort has opened in the Yorkshire Dales. Natural Retreats is a sustainable holiday location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, with ten environmentally friendly lodges.

Nine more lodges are planned at the resort, where prices for a five-night stay in the summer start at £565 per resident.

The company said: ‘We believe that by bringing together sustainable principles with the latest cutting‑edge technology our residences really are the most luxurious and modern way to get close to nature’.

The green company says that it does not build restaurants, shops or swimming pools to accompany any of its resorts. Instead it encourages visitors to support the community by using local facilities.

Last year two North Yorkshire youth hostels were awarded the European Ecolabel by Defra, marking the region as an area of excellence for ecotourism.

Ecolabel is an award scheme led by the European Commission and both hostels, in Langdon Beck and Lockton, had to demonstrate efficient use of energy and water as well as staff training about green issues to win the award.

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