A Writing Course at Lumb Bank 

Several years ago, and as part of my writing journey, I spent a very inspiring and constructive week at an isolated 18th-century former mill owner’s house in West Yorkshire. The property in question is called Lumb Bank and is owned by the Arvon Foundation; a charitable trust dedicated to the promotion of all forms of creative writing. 

The Arvon Foundation owns two additional properties, one in Devon and the other in Shropshire. Arguably, Lumb Bank’s claim to fame from the literary perspective is that it was once the home of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath (of whom, more later). 

I opened by calling this part of my writing journey, yet in truth, even reaching Lumb Bank proved to present a far from simple physical journey. To get there from Shetland involved a ferry crossing to Aberdeen, a flight from Aberdeen to Manchester and a train to Hebdon Bridge followed by a taxi ride to the house. 

It was all worthwhile. After the simple yet necessary registration process and the allocation of a room it was a case of getting to know one’s way round the big old rambling house and its gardens. Then came the first meal and the introductions. That first meal was cooked by the staff. Thereafter we formed small groups to prepare subsequent dinners. No one went down with food poisoning so that seemed to work!

The following morning, we began the serious business of learning about editing. It entailed a series of workshops led by two published authors, Antonia Hodgson and Romesh Gunesekera. The workshops were interesting, varied and well planned. They called on us to write brief passages after which we were taught how to edit them. 

Even though it was early Autumn, the weather was very benign, and we were able to explore the surrounding countryside which included a large cavern in the valley below the house where the founder of the Methodist Movement, John Wesley is reputed to have preached. 

A more demanding walk up the hill behind the house took us to the scenic village of Heptonstall. It is in the churchyard there that the grave of Sylvia Plath is to be found. Her gravestone makes reference to her husband Ted Hughes. However, given the nature of their marriage and his attitude to her work, someone had attempted to erase his name from the stone.

Another feature of the Arvon course was an opportunity to have a one-to-one session with one of the authors to discuss a piece of writing that we had previously submitted. In my case, this meeting was held in the garden on a sunny afternoon.

One of the joys of this event was time spent together with like-minded people and of sharing writing experiences and bouncing ideas off each other. For quite some time after I returned home, I was exchanging emails with my fellow attendees.

The final evening was given over to a talk by James Runcie, author of the Grantchester Mysteries. He is a capable speaker, and he welcomed questions from his audience. 

Given the range of genre covered by Arvon, there is definitely something for everyone and I conclude by commending it to anyone who has not yet tried such a residential course.