Dear Guest,

Welcome to Pottery House.

We have put together this information pack to help make your stay with us more comfortable and enjoyable. In the following pages you will find information on:

w Facilities and amenities available to guestsw Guest PC on the landingw Local facilities such as Post Offices, petrol stations and eating outw Information for walkers and cyclistsw Instructions for using the digital TVw Local bus timetablew Our Environmental Policy w Nature Diaryw Pottery House Hall of Famew Pottery House network/Intranet

There is an additional pack in your room, detailing places of interest and things to do.

If you require any additional information or assistance please do not hesitate to ask one of us. If we are not around there is a hand-bell on the desk in the hall, please don’t be shy to use it.

If you would like to take details of places to visit with you, please do not remove pages from this folder or take this folder out of the house. We are happy to print copies of any pages you require, including more detailed maps.

We welcome any suggestions of additional information you would like to see in this folder.

Enjoy your stay.

John & Glen

Your Accommodation

¯¯ Breakfast ¯¯

Breakfast is served in the dinning room between 08:30 and 09:30.If you would like breakfast earlier than 8.30 please ask the night before.

If you would like a call at 9.20 so you don’t miss breakfast please let us know the night before. Otherwise we will assume you do not want breakfast and will not disturb you.

Our cooked breakfasts are prepared for you while you wait. We don’t normally take breakfast orders the night before, we don't know what we’ll fancy for breakfast tomorrow, so we don’t

expect you to. However if you wish to make an early departure you may pre-order your breakfast the night before for a set time and we can have it prepared ready for you.

Vegetarians: A full cooked vegetarian option is always available. Please tell Glen at breakfast that you are vegetarian we will ensure your breakfast is cooked separately from any meat

products. We always use sunflower oil or butter for frying.

All our bacon, sausages, haggis and black pudding is supplied by a local, award winning butcher Cockburn’s Of Dingwall.

Our eggs come from our own chickens.

¯¯ Evening Meals ¯¯

The Dores Inn is situated 10 minutes walk away and has a dinning room separatefrom the main bar.

We recommend that you book a table in advance during the busy season and at weekends. If you would like us to book a table for you please ask.

There is a wide range of restaurants in Inverness and there is a booklet on the landing called “Dine Inverness” which lists all. There is a list of recommendations further on in this folder,

please ask for directions if needed.

¯¯ Front Door Access ¯¯

The front door is normally locked at 23.30. The key is left in the front door in case of an emergency or in case you wish to go out for a walk before breakfast.

If you expect to be back later than 23.30 then please let us know before you go out and we will make arrangements with you to get back in.

For guests staying more than 1 night, access to the house is normally after 16.30

¯¯ Toiletries ¯¯

While we want to supply you with some basic toiletries, we are not comfortable with the environmental impact and waste of the 1 person bottles and sachets found in many hotels.

We have therefore installed a hand soap dispenser above the sink and a twin dispenser in the shower containing shampoo and shower gel.

This also allow us to buy products in bulk reducing waste further.

The dispensers contain:

Sink ECOVER Hand Soap

Shower Gel ECOVER Shower Gel with lavender and aloe Vera

Shampoo Highland Whole-food, simple shampoo. No colourings or perfumes

¯¯ Laundry / Ironing ¯¯

We offer a laundry service (washing & drying only) for £9.50 per load, up to 6kg.

There is an iron and ironing board available for guest use in your room, please ask.

¯¯ Hair Dryer ¯¯

There is a hair dryer located in either in the top draw of your dressing table or inside the wardrobe door next to the dressing table.

¯¯ Heating ¯¯

The room temperature is controlled by adjusting the numbered dial on the radiator in your bedroom and bathroom

¯¯ Bedding ¯¯

Your bed had an “All-season” duvet which consists of a 9.5 tog and a 4.5 tog duvet buttoned together for extra cosiness. If you find this too warm you can remove one of the duvets, or let

us know at breakfast and we will remove one for you when making up your room.

Extra pillows and a blanket is located in the large cupboard, in a dust proof plastic bag. Additional bedding is available on request.

¯¯ Glasses / Water ¯¯

There are tumblers on the shelf and wine glasses are on your courtesy tray, a corkscrew is located in the draw below the kettle.

To avoid the waste of plastic bottles we have placed a jug of fresh filtered water in your mini-fridge for drinking. The cold tap water is perfectly safe to drink, however if you would prefer

your jug topped up with filtered water please ask.

We have an ample supply of ice if you would like some.

¯¯ Recycling ¯¯

If you have any rubbish suitable for recycling, such as newspapers, glass, cans and plastic bottles, please leave them next to the rubbish basket and we will ensure it goes in with the

recycled waste.

¯¯ Waste Disposal ¯¯

The village of Dores, like many Highland communities has a septic tank.

Therefore please do not dispose of any items by flushing them down the toilet, but use the paper bags and bins provided in the bathroom. Thank you.

¯¯ Stamps/Letter Writing ¯¯

There is a notepad, pen and envelopes located in the draw next to the bed. We have a few stamps for sale for UK, Europe and the rest of the world. (See Above).

We have a selection of stamps for sale for postcards, etc.

UK - 1st (46p) and 2nd (36p) class stamps

¯¯ The Garden ¯¯

You are welcome to have a look round the garden and visit the hens if you wish, but please take care as there may be hoses and garden tools laying around.

¯¯ Overnight Assistance ¯¯

If you need assistance during the night, for example a medical emergency, please wake us.

Downstairs, turn left at the kitchen door, go the end of the corridor and knock on the right hand door.

Emergencies only please!

¯¯ Privacy ¯¯

Please respect our personal space by not wandering in and out of rooms downstairs, except of course the dinning room at breakfast.

We are happy to help you with any problems or questions you may have, for assistance please ring the hand-bell on the desk in the hall.

¯¯ Faults ¯¯

We do our utmost to maintain a high standard of accommodation, however should you find a fault, such as a broken light bulb, flat battery in your TV remote control or a dripping tap

please let us know so that we may correct it.

¯¯ Check Out ¯¯

Please vacate your room by 10.30 on the morning of departure.

¯¯ Final Bill ¯¯

We accept payment of your final bill in:-

• Cash - sterling only

• Travellers cheques - sterling only

• Credit / debit card (except Diners Club & American Express)

----------------------------We are happy to accept credit cards however if you have the choice,

the amount the bank charges us to process debit card transactions is considerably less. (Switch, Maestro, Visa Delta).

There is no extra charge to yourself for either type of card.Thank You.

---------------------------

¯¯ Free Internet Access ¯¯

The PC on the landing is available for you to access the Internet. If you have a wi-fi enabled device with you, you can access the Internet via our network “potteryhouse”, there is no password protection and your laptop should connect automatically.

We have our own Intranet web site with lots of photo and ideas of places to visit, links to weather forecasts, whisky distilleries, boat cruises on the Loch and many other places of interest.

The Pottery House PC will connect to the Intranet automatically, if you have a laptop go to www.potteryhouse.co.uk/intranet.

To use our guest PC on the landing:

1. Power on the PC and screen using both power switches on the wall to the right of the desk.

2. Switch on both the screen and the PC by pressing the button on the front of each.3. When the Windows screen “To begin, click your user ID” appears click “Guest”.4. Windows will now start-up, Internet Explorer will start and the Pottery House Intranet

web site will appear. 5. Follow the on-screen instructions. 6. To access web sites not listed, such as your e-mail provider, enter the web site address

in the “Address” box at the top of the screen

You can press the “Home” button at any time to return to the Pottery House Intranet home page.

Slow Access Speeds

Although we have an 8Mb broadband connection, our being in a small Highland village means our connection to the telephone network is long, made of copper and old. Our connection speed therefore can be slow (2Mb-4Mb), especially during the evenings when many other people in the village are online. There is nothing we can do about that, sorry.

Printing

You are welcome to use our printer, within reason.

From the PC On the landing print select “Photosmart 6510”. Output will be sent to the printer downstairs, please ask for your output.

Our printer is Wi-Fi enabled so you should also be able to use it from Laptops, Ipads and other Wi-fi devices.

Local Information

¯¯ Tourist Information Pack ¯¯

A pack of information about local places of interest is located in the top draw of your dressing table. There is also a pack of things to see and places to go located in your room,

prepared by us.

The PC on the landing has its own web site with lots of local information and links to relevant web site. Tourist Information Centres are located in Inverness, Drumnadorchit, Fort

Augustus, A9 South at Daviot, A9 North at North Kessock

¯¯ Banks / Cash Machines ¯¯

All local banks are situated in Inverness. Cash machines are located:

• Tesco Ness Side, Dores Road• Dores Road Post Office Inverness (fee charged)•• Tesco at Inshes Retail Park• Inverness town centre (various banks)• Fort Augustus town centre.

Please ask for directions.

Cash withdrawals are also available using Chip+Pin cards at Dores Post Office, see below.

¯¯ Post Office/Box ¯¯

Dores Post Office and a post box is 200 yards away. The Post Office opens Mondays, Tuesday and Thursdays between 10.00 and 12.00.

Additional post offices are situated in Foyers, Dores Road Inverness, Inverness Town centre and Inshes Retail Park Inverness. Please ask for directions

We have a few stamps for sale for postcards for UK, Europe and the rest of the world

¯¯ Petrol Stations ¯¯

• Tesco Ness Side, Dores Road • Tesco Inshes, Inverness Distributor Road

• Fort Augustus

¯¯ Taxis ¯¯

• City Taxi 01463 222 555 • Inverness Taxi 01463 808080

Eating OutThe following are either places we have enjoyed, or have been recommended to us by guests or friends.

Please ask if you need directions.

Snacks / Lunches

Dores Inn,5 minutes walk away. Has a lunchtime snack menu. Serves food daily, 10am – 9pm.

Waterfall cafeFoyers, 10 miles southSnacks, sandwiches, cakes, breakfasts in the morning,Fish & Chip eat-in or take-away service. Friday and Saturday 5pm – 8pm.

Girvan'sInverness, far end of the High StreetSnacks and lunches, wonderful cream cakes.

Evening Meals

Dores Inn5 minutes walk awayFood from 10am – 9pm. We recommend you book for dining after 6pm, please ask us, we are happy to call the Inn for you. 01463 751203

Mustard SeedInverness, by the river. One of our favourite places to dine in Inverness. Top quality. Gets very busy so booking is essential. Tel. 01463 220220

Cafe 1Inverness, Castle Street. Another of our favourite places to dine in Inverness. Top quality. Gets very busy so booking is essential.Tel. 01463 221600

Little ItalyInverness, top of the High St. at No.6 Stehpen Brae. Family run small (10 tables) Italian bistro. Friendly place, great food. TEL. 01463 712963

The KitchenInverness, by the river. Glass fronted building overlooking the river. Good food, same owner as the Mustard Seed (see above). TEL. 01463 259119

Grouse & Trout, at The Steadings Hotel.Out in the country in the hills behind Pottery House. Lovely hotel run by David & Mary, Traditional Scottish fare. Lovely drive out if you'd rather not go into Inverness. Tel. 01808 521314

Zizzi's Inverness, by the river. Glass fronted building overlooking the river. Pizza restaurant serving excellent food. TEL. 01463 237735

The Castle TavernInverness, top of Castle Street. A very small, traditional Scottish Pub with several awards for their beer selection, small restaurant upstairs serving basic pub grub. Fish & Chips, pie and mash, steak and chips, etc. Simple, but good value food. TEL. 01463 259119

The Snow GooseInverness, A96 Aberdeen Road. Modern gastro-pub, good food, pub-grub menu. Not the most picturesque location by the retail park, but good value.

Rocpool - RendezvousInverness, by the river. Top quality restaurant. Excellent food. TEL. 01463 717274

Rocpool ReserveInverness, Culduthel Road. 5 star hotel, serves lunches and evening meals. TEL. 01463 240089

Sutor CreekBlack Isle, Cromarty. Small pizza restaurant, makes and bakes pizzas in their own wood burning oven. TEL. 01463 259119

The PloughBlack Isle, Rosemarkie. Traditional pub serving good value food. Nice place to have lunch after visiting Channonary Point and/or Fairy Glen.

Walkers & CyclistsWalkers and cyclists are welcome at Pottery House, we have the following facilities to help you.

Directions We have a large supply of maps and information on local walking and cycling routes.

WeatherA link to the BBC 5 day weather forecast can be found on the PC on the landing, click

“News and Weather”. If you would like assistance with this please ask

Early Breakfast If you wish to make an early start we are happy to provide an early breakfast. Please

ask the night before

Packed LunchIf you would like a packed lunch or for us to fill a flask please ask the night before.

Wet ClothingIf you are unfortunate enough to get caught in the rain we have a warm utility room

where boots and clothes can be dried overnight.

Storing CyclesIf you would like safe, dry storage for your cycles overnight please ask and we will

lock them in the garage.

Cold and wet?There are a range of hot drinks available upon your arrival in your room, including

hot chocolate.

Late arrival.Orders for evening meals and taken in the Dores Inn up to 20.30 on weekdays and up

to 21.00 at weekends.

Public TransportThe timetable for the local bus service can be found later on in this information pack.

If you would like any further assistance or information with any of the above please do not hesitate to ask one of us.

Cycle Specialists

Highland Cycles16a Telford StreetInverness

HalfordsHarbour RoadInverness

01463 234789 01463 223388

They are open Monday - Saturday, 9.00 - 17.30 and offer sales, repairs, accessories and cycle hire.

Car store but with a good range or cycles, spares and accessories. Mon-Fri 09.00-20.00, Sat 9.00-18.00, Sun 10.00-17.00

Pottery House Garden

If you would like to look around the garden please do, but take care as there may be tools and hoses laying around.

¯¯ Current Projects. Autumn/Winter 2011 ¯¯

Cutting Boarder - Next to gate. This bed is being transformed, it was completely dug over two years ago and gradually is being planted out, the spaces being filled with annuals. Last

winter the Acer now in the lawn was moved from this bed as where several shrub now living happily round the back.

Fruit Garden - The area around the wood shed is being used for fruit. In the top of the lawn is a Cox’s apple tree, in the barrow strawberries, and to the right of the shed blueberries, fig, cherry, brambly apple, plum and damson trees. There are raspberries behind the plum tree,

they are new this year.

Mint Bed – What used to be the rose bed, behind the oil tank, was transformed as part of the TV program “Beachgrive Garden” into a mint bed. .

Wild Meadow - The area at the top of the lawn is being allowed to grow wild into a meadow, particularly the area above the pond. Partly for local wildlife and partly because it’s very

difficult to mow. The wild-flowers did well last summer, but we're hoping for better this year.

Bog Garden - The area between the pond and the wall is a bog garden (as it’s always very wet). The Gunnera was planted three years ago and seems to be thriving, so this year we’ve

started to plant out more moisture loving plants. We’ll see if it succeeds.

Wildlife Garden - The area under the kitchen window is intended as a food stop for wildlife. We’re trying to have flowers there for as long as season as possible. This has been going for

three years now, so still a work in progress.

Herb Bed - The area next to the back door contains many herbs. Rosemary does exceedingly well here, but there is also parsley, thyme, chives and sage. There is also a pear tree which

fruited exceptionally well last year considering it is only 3 years old.

Around the pond - Many wild plants inhabit this area, the soil is poor and wet. We’re gradually trying to improve it and plant it out. Last year part of the lower section was planted

with Hostas, they are all coming back this year.

Veggie Plot - There is lots happening in the veggie plot and in the beds by the steps up to the back gate, to much to detail here. Last year was a reasonable year for this area, we’re hoping for even better results this season. Includes rhubarb, broad beans, French and runner beans, onions, Brussels, lettuce, radishes, kale, Jerusalem artichokes, Savoy cabbage, carrots and

beetroot.

Environmental CommitmentOur Policy

At Pottery House we are proud to have been awarded a Gold by the Green Tourism scheme for our good environmental practices. These include:-

• Recycle as much waste as possible.◦ Glass, tin, newspaper, cardboard goes in the recycling bin for

collection.◦ We shred paper and use it for nesting material for the chickens, ultimately ending

up on the compost heap. ◦ Food waste goes to the hens or if unsuitable, on the compost heap.

• Careful purchasing:◦ All cleaning products are environmentally safe such as Ecover◦ We buy as many “Fair Trade” products as possible.◦ We use local suppliers such as Highland Wholefood and local butcher Cockburn's.◦ Avoid unnecessary packaging, buy recycled products such as toilet rolls and

printer paper • Making sure our guest information includes environmentally friendly options:

◦ Bus timetables◦ Local cycle hire information◦ Local walks and wildlife, including our Nature Diary

• Reduce water usage through:◦ Installing water efficient shower heads in all bathrooms◦ Placing bottles in toilet cisterns to reduce water usage by flush◦ Building our own water recycling system so water from our washing machines

can be used on the garden◦ Our towel re-use policy and having “A” Rated washing machines.

• our wildlife friendly garden with bird feeders, boxes, insect homes, • Low energy light-bulbs, including LED down-lighters in all guest bedrooms. • Monitor energy usage at Pottery House throughout the year• Organising the South Loch Ness Tourist Group litter pick each Spring.• Supporting charities such as WWF, RSPB, Kiva. • Where possible unwanted household items are passed on though Blythswood Charity

Shop, “New Start Highland” and “Freecycle.org”

However there is not place for complacency, we still have much we want to do:

• Investigate further renewable sources of energy at Pottery House, such as wind turbines, solar panels, wood chip boilers and ground heat pumps.

• Be better at marketing ourselves as a Green business and therefore encourage more people to think about the environment when booking a holiday.

• Make more information available to guests about local wildlife and more environmentally friendly activities.

If you have any ideas to help make Pottery House more environmentallyfriendly please let us know.

Environmental CommitmentLitter

Each spring the South Loch Ness Tourist Group (of which we are committee members) organises a “Litter Pick” between Dores and Foyers. The local community litter picks the

other routes into Dores, the village itself and Dores Beach.

As many as 100 black bags of rubbish have been collected in a single afternoon, if not collected this is how long litter can take to break down:-

Cotton rags 1-5 months

Paper 2-5 months

Rope 3-14 months

Orange peels 6 months

Wool socks 1 to 5 years

Cigarette butts 1 to 12 years

Plastic coated paper milk cartons 5 years

Plastic bags 10 to 20 years

Leather shoes 25 to 40 years

Nylon fabric 30 to 40 years

Tin cans 50 to 100 years

Aluminium cans 80 to 100 years

Plastic 6-pack holder rings 450 years

Glass bottles 1 million years

Plastic bottles Forever

If you can’t find bins during your day out please bring your rubbish back to Pottery House and use the dustbins located on the right hand side of the garage.

Thank You.

Why “Pottery” House? - Aldourie PotteryThe Aldourie Pottery was situated on the site of the present Dores Parish Hall, and was operational from around 1900, probably only for seven or eight years. The driving force behind the project was Mary Watts, born Mary Fraser Tyler, whose family owned Aldourie. A more than competent painter in her own right, she married GF Watts, the famous 19th century English artist and, after her marriage, concentrated more on other forms of art, including pottery and highly symbolic work in other mediums, with a blend of art nouveau and Celtic designs.

Mary had started another pottery at Compton, the Watts' home near Guildford, based on the "Potter' Arts Guild", whose objective was to teach and encourage local people to develop their artistic skills. The same model was applied at Dores, and even the buildings were of a style more to be expected in Surrey than in Inverness-shire. (The pottery itself was accompanied by two houses, both recently demolished, known as "Pottery Cottage" and "The Chalet".) It is probably due to the fact that the Watts' spent more time at Compton than at Aldourie (at least until his death in 1904) that the production here did not last very long. Another reason may have been that, although some local clay was tried, it was found not to be suitable, meaning that material had to be brought in, adding greatly to the cost of production.

The pottery building itself remained until 1950, with occasional use as a village hall. It was demolished in that year to make way for the present hall.

The output of the Dores pottery was mainly large garden pots, mostly identical to those produced at Compton. Some of these bear a "seal", which is the same as the Compton mark, apart from the name. The inscription reads "Their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel." Square flower boxes were also produced and some decorative panels. When the War Memorial Gate at the Dores Church was erected, some panels which were found in the pottery were used on the outer face. Some of the designs were similar to those used in the Chapel at Compton, making it likely that they were the work either of Mary herself, or of Louis Deuchars, manager of the Dores Pottery, who had previously worked on the construction of the Chapel. Unfortunately these did not survive the harsh weather, and have now completely disappeared. Compton pots were sold through Liberty & Co., and are now available as reproductions, but it is unlikely that either pottery was financially viable.

Pottery HouseNature Diary

On the landing with the information leaflets is the Pottery House Nature Diary.

The idea of this is we would like our guests to write in an entry for any interesting wildlife you see during your stay at Pottery House. It can be animals, plants, insects, fungi, anything which saw and thought was interesting.

Do not worry if someone else has put the same animal/plant in as yourself, the more entries, the greater interest for future readers. It gives future guests ideas about what they may see, how likely they are to see it and where.

Hall Of Fame

We thought it would be fun to put some photos of our guests on our web site, either by Loch Ness or in front of the house.

If you would like to appear on the Hall Of Fame please tell John, he will take a photo and add you to our web site.

We would love to include you so please don’t be afraid to ask!!!

You can see all the current photos by going to our web site at www.potteryhouse.co.uk and click on the “Hall Of Fame” link.

The web site address is on our business cards so please take one to remind you to check the Hall Of Fame when you arrive home.

Photos are only used with the express permission of the guest.