Lumb Bank

The redevelopment of Lumb Bank will see an upgrade to the accommodation across the site to include accessible bedrooms on all floors. Full details on accessibility at Lumb Bank are coming soon.

The original Arvon concept of enabling young people to live and work with experienced writers was developed by John Fairfax and John Moat. They started running courses in 1968 in the Beaford Centre in Devon. Ted Hughes was living fifteen miles down the road and one day John Fairfax decided to seek him out and tell him about the idea.

Ted was at first sceptical, but asked that if anything should come of the idea he’d like to be told.
Ted was invited to attend the last night of the first Beaford course and from then was fully supportive of the venture, often holding meetings in his Devonshire home and joining courses as the guest reader, where “his presence would have a magical effect, a contagion of imaginative excitement”.

In 1975, following Ted’s suggestion for a northern centre, Arvon leased Lumb Bank from Ted and Carol Hughes. In 1986, Carol Hughes took up the Chair of Arvon. In 1989, Arvon bought Lumb Bank from The Hughes Trust with help from the Arts Council.

“There were so many individual contributions vital to Arvon’s survival, but I think no-one would dispute that Ted’s contribution was of an order all of its own.” —John Moat

Please do not use the postcode for Lumb Bank in your Satnav, as it sends you the wrong way. Use HX7 7EU (Smithwell Lane, Heptonstall). Take the A646 through Hebden Bridge or from Todmorden, follow signs to ‘Heptonstall via turning circle’. If you’re coming through Hebden Bridge, use the turning circle to double back and turn left at traffic lights by the Fox and Goose pub, up the steep hill. Do not take the left turn to Heptonstall (signed ‘access only’); instead, keep driving on Lee Wood Road, then Draper Lane. As you approach the houses at Slack Bottom, take the left-hand turn towards Heptonstall. Continue 30 yards. The lane to Lumb Bank is on your right by the benches and bus stop.

Please park on Smithwell Lane and walk down the track to Lumb Bank, unless you need to drive down to site to drop off luggage.

Please note there is no parking onsite, unless by prior arrangement, eg if you have mobility issues. Please email lumbbank@arvon.org in advance of your visit, if this is the case.

Hebden Bridge railway station is on the main Manchester Victoria to Leeds line with trains from both cities at regular intervals. Every half hour you can catch the 596 bus (Blackshaw Head) to the top of the Lumb Bank lane from the railway station.

If you want to take a taxi from the train station, please arrange for a taxi to meet you at the station in advance. Call Hebden Cars on 01422 845555. Students often arrive at the station at the same time, so you may be able to share – check when you book your taxi. The journey time to Lumb Bank is 10-15 minutes.

Every half hour you can catch the 596 bus (Blackshaw Head) to the top of the Lumb Bank lane from the railway station. The timetable is here – check the box ‘show all stops’ .  The stop is Heptonstall – Green Lane / Smithwell Lane, the stop just after the school as you leave Heptonstall. Green Lane is to the left by the benches, with Lumb Bank signposted. Follow this lane steeply down for 5 minutes – Lumb Bank is at the end of the lane, before the road turns into a path.

Please see the accommodation, food and accessibility page for further information.

Lumb Bank
The Ted Hughes Arvon Writing House
Heptonstall
Hebden Bridge
West Yorkshire
HX7 6DF

Email: lumbbank@arvon.org

For individual team members please visit the Meet the Team page.