Operating manual
The Woodsman’s
Everything particular to this treehouse. The shared essentials — water, logs, waste, departure — are at the bottom of the page.
- Dorset
- Guest information
- The Woodsman’s
A printed copy of this lives in the guest folder inside, with QR codes to short films for the stove and the pizza oven.
The front door
It opens on a ship’s wheel. Turn it anticlockwise.
The revolving wood burner
- Open the air intake fully by turning the adjustment wheel to the right of the glass door round to 3.
- Check the airflow slide behind the door is fully open as well.
- Build a Jenga-like square of kindling, four or five layers high, at the back of the chamber.
- Drop a lit firelighter into the hole in the middle, shut the door, and let it burn down to embers.
- Add kindling and small logs in a tipi, split side down.
- Once the starter logs have gone, add larger ones and bring the air intake down to 2, then 1.
The whole stove turns on its base, so you can face it at the bed, the bath or the kitchen as the evening goes on. Use an oven cloth to turn it once it is hot.
Never leave it unattended when lit, never run it with the door open, and never dry clothes or towels near it. The top and sides get extremely hot.
The rooftop sauna
- Switch it on with the power button at the top left of the control unit. The sauna light switch is just below it.
- Turn the heater on or off with the button at the bottom right, next to the temperature control.
- Set the temperature mid-range to start, then adjust to taste. It takes about fifteen minutes to come up.
This matters more than it sounds. The sauna runs on the same gas bottles as your hot water. Left running, it will empty them — and then there is no hot water for the bath, the shower or the kitchen for the rest of your stay.
The rooftop hot tub
Left empty and clean. Fill it with fresh hot water just before you want it, and be generous with the hot — the ceramic takes a lot of heat out of the first fill. Allow time for filling and for warming.
The bubbles button is inside the control box cupboard on the sauna wall.
Put the cover back on between uses or the oak drops twigs and leaves straight into it.
The copper bath
Take care getting in and out. Copper and soap together are slipperier than you are expecting.
The tree shower
On the lower deck, open to the wood. Same on-demand hot water as inside, so give it a minute to run through.
The slide
It is the treehouse’s second means of escape, and it is also a slide. Take the first run holding the edges to see how fast you go — it varies a great deal with the weather and with what you are wearing.
The hammock
The red ribbon marks the safe hanging position, by the tree shower. Please store it under cover by the back door when you are not using it, or it comes back damp and mouldy.
Blacking out the bedroom
Three things, in this order: draw the semi-circular curtain, lower the side window shutter, then lower the flap above the bed on its pulley. Midsummer sunrise here is a little after five.
Electric blanket
Dual control, one each. The controls are on either side of the bed, down by the mattress.
Water and hot water
Mains water throughout, and good to drink. Hot water is heated on demand, so give it a couple of minutes to arrive; after that it is plentiful.
Never put wet wipes down the loo — they block the biodigester and do not degrade.
Logs
Your basket is filled before you arrive. Help yourself from the log store when it runs low — refills are free. Extra kindling and firelighters are in the honesty shop.
Fire safety
- Enclosed lanterns only. No tea lights, no unguarded candles.
- Never leave the stove, barbecue, fire pit or pizza oven unattended.
- Do not move the barbecue or fire pit off its metal safety disc.
- Leave all embers and ash for us to clear.
Waste
Bins are at ground level below the steps, split four ways: glass, recycling, food waste and general waste. There is a full breakdown on the guest information page.
Leaving
Out by 10am, and move your tag on the in/out board to ‘departed’ as you pass. Nothing else to do.
Text or call the duty phone — the number is below the in/out board at the camp centre, and it can change during a stay.
The pizza oven
Allow forty-five minutes. The first one is always the worst one.