If eco tourism comes in different shades, I’d rate the Aislabeck eco lodges in Yorkshire as a pea green. It’s not the sort of place that has composting toilets, which I consider the rich ivy green end of the scale, but it’s considerably more green than an "eco hotel" with a wash-towels-after-each-use policy, which I'd rate as a pale mint shade.

The hamlet of ten lodges at Aislabeck, built on the wooded slopes of a tumbling valley in Swaledale, the northwest tip of the Yorkshire Dales, was opened at the end of 2006. The ethos is green, but not at the expense of comfort.

Little luxuries include flat screen television, CD and DVD player, glossy modern kitchen and rain soak shower, but as you plough through this water and electricity with your invigorating shower and feature-length DVD, your conscience is eased by Aislabeck's eco credentials.

The lodges source electricity from Good Energy, so it’s 100 per cent renewable; have wall insulation made from recycled paper, wood chip boilers, and get water from the natural spring that used to supply the market town of Richmond, two miles away, before demand got too much.

The mostly wooden lodges were built with timber from sustainable woodlands and have a “living roof” of turf and plants to improve insulation – this also effectively camouflages them. “Most people in Richmond don’t realise we’re here,” says founder Ewan Kearney. Asking for the Aislabeck Lodges certainly foxed our taxi driver and his GPS device when he picked us up at Darlington Station, 30 minutes away.

“It’s the woolly backs out here,” the driver said to us, after putting the wind up us with stories about ghosts and a thick fog that fills the valley… “you’ll be walking in the valley and suddenly you look down and can’t see your feet,” he said, delighted by the fearful reaction of the two girls in our party of four.

Leaving our modern day Brother Grimm behind we were relieved to spot the warm glow of lights from the glass-fronted lodges dotted across the valley, and after a glass of warming Shiraz from the welcome hamper, soon forgot the ghostly tales.

Though situated in a remote valley there’s no hint of spookiness. The lodges are well-lit, have warming wood burning stoves and décor is friendly - real oak floors, chocolate-brown leather sofas, and an open-plan kitchen, diner and living room. Our neighbours, who we saw variously pottering around the site, were mostly couples, although the visitors' book revealed that Aislabeck is popular with families too.

In all of the lodges the layout is the same: leading off the communal area is a utility room with washer dryer and microwave, and three bedrooms, one double and two twin, and two bathrooms, one en suite. There’s a further nod to eco living, with Ecover toiletries and cleaning products and recycling bins. Other goodies in the hamper, aside from the wine, are sourced from local suppliers, included bread, cheese, fruit, eggs, milk and butter.

Plans are afoot at the lodges to construct a reed bed sewerage system, which means waste water is filtered and returned purified, to Swaledale. The lodge owners also support local wildlife trusts and maintain a badger set on the site. Our visitor book recounted numerous sightings of these badgers, particularly at dusk, as well as deer, kestrels, and hawks. The only wildlife that we saw on the site were the sheep, which are rescue animals from Farmaround, another charity that Kearney is working with.

Like all good self-catering properties there was all the cutlery, crockery, cooking utensils and appliances you’d need for six people, plus board games, a DVD library at the owner’s lodge, and an comprehensive folder on what to do in the surrounding area. We also took a sound recommendation from the visitor’s book and had an excellent pub lunch at The Bridge Inn at Grinton, about 30 minutes away by car. The Sunday roast and home-made puddings for less than £20 a head, including a couple of drinks each, was good value and perfect after a brisk walk in Swaledale.

The rest of our entertainment came either from relaxing in the sunshine on the lodge’s wide terrace, where an outdoor table allows al fresco dining (although sadly barbeques are banned), or heading into Richmond, two miles away. In Richmond the Georgian streets, weekend markets, day spa, shops, waterfalls and English Heritage Castle provide entertainment for at least a couple of days, and beyond Richmond there’s golf, canoeing, angling, theme parks and of course spectacular walking in the Dales. The tourist information centre at Richmond has brochures and maps on these activities and also has leaflets on walks around Richmond.

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