Arvon North: Transforming Lumb Bank

Lumb Bank was in urgent need of renovation. There had been no substantial development or restoration of the site for 40 years. With your help, we can dramatically improve the site, making it more sustainable, accessible, and dynamic.

Redevelopment will mean this unique literary heritage site in Heptonstall, West Yorkshire, can welcome thousands more people each year, giving everyone a chance to explore their creativity, find their voice and tell their story.

‘Lumb Bank is the most inspiring place imaginable for writers. I defy anyone not to be inspired by this most magical of settings’ – Louise Doughty, novelist and Arvon tutor

Lumb Bank – the house with a story to tell

Deep in the beautiful Calder Valley, amongst the relics of the Industrial Revolution, lies Lumb Bank, former home of the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. Its five buildings, set in 20 acres of steep woodland, are suffused with literary heritage. It has been an Arvon residential writing house since 1975 and over that time has welcomed over 75,000 writers of all ages and stages through its doors.

Why we need your support

A redeveloped Lumb Bank will be open and accessible, and the communal spaces will embody the creativity at the heart of Arvon. This will include:

• The creation of a dedicated Writing Barn and social hub to deliver community outreach work
• Making the buildings more sustainable (lowering energy costs and cutting carbon emissions by 50%)
• Upgrading the accommodation across the site to include access ramps, a lift, and more accessible bedrooms
• Establishing a library celebrating Northern writers alongside the works of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath

What will it mean for Yorkshire?

• Future-proofing one of the country’s most inspiring writing houses located in Yorkshire
• Opening up access to high-quality, world-leading writing opportunities locally and regionally and widening participation, particularly with Northern and working-class writers
• Providing an accessible place to write for schools and community groups to support wellbeing and creativity
• Enabling us to operate as an engine house for creative regeneration in Yorkshire, engendering a deeper connection and engagement with the specific history of Lumb Bank and its immediate surrounding area
• Providing employment for writers and individuals living and working within the region, contributing to the local economic and cultural recovery and development of the arts sector

Heritage and impact

Arvon has had a deep and lasting influence on literature. Generations of writers acknowledge Arvon’s impact on their success. Arvon alumni include Booker Prize-winning novelists Bernardine Evaristo and Pat Barker, BAFTA-winners Paul Abbott (Shameless) and Abi Morgan (The Split), Pulitzer Prize-winner Hisham Matar, and Women’s Prize for Fiction-winner Maggie O’Farrell, who says ‘Arvon was an absolute lifeline at the start of my writing life’.

For over half a century, Arvon has supported the development of thousands of writers at every stage of their creative journey and has earned its epithet: ‘the home of creative writing’.

‘Arvon has made me feel confident about myself in what I write. I’m no longer scared to look at my words on paper’ – Student, aged 15, Leeds

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