All stories must have a setting – a place and time in which the action happens. But how do we create these places, both real and imagined, and deliver rich, immersive worlds for our readers? How might we find inspiration in the landscapes around us, and invent fictional places that feel just as real as this one? Acclaimed novelists and experienced tutors Katherine Clements and Liz Flanagan will help you find answers to these questions, guiding you through a series of workshops exploring aspects of literary craft inspired by place.
Taking inspiration from Lumb Bank’s beautiful and distinctive location, you’ll experiment with techniques to evoke places and landscapes, learn how to find fresh story ideas rooted in your own experiences and memories, and consider what happens when the setting becomes a character of its own. Whether your writing is grounded in the past or present, the real or the fantastical, together we’ll explore how to develop the places in your fiction so the worlds your characters move through are vivid and alive for readers.
Expect collaborative discussion, generative workshops and opportunity to explore the local landscape. Suitable for writers at all stages of their journey, the course will provide you with one-to-one sessions with each tutor together with workshops and discussion in a small group.
*Please use the expandable links below to reveal timings and further details of the course schedule.
Room with a valley view: £640
Rooms in this price band have a single or double bed, and most are on the first or ground floor. One room in this price band is in the attic but has a valley view.
Attic room without a valley view: £590
These rooms have low ceilings and extra stairs to climb.
Concessions: Room with a view: £448
Concessions: Room without a view: £413
As part of our effort to increase participation in the arts, we offer limited concessionary places at a 30% reduction. You can select this option at checkout if available.
Physical access at Lumb Bank:
The upper floor of the barn is accessible by lift, and the ground floor is level access or ramped. There is an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Lumb Bank’s main building is accessible for wheelchair users, but the access to the house itself is down a steep country lane, and the initial part of the driveway is bumpy and uneven. If you are coming on a course and require assistance to enter the building or are a wheelchair user please contact us on access@arvon.org or rozie.kelly@arvon.org so we can meet you on arrival and guide any vehicles in. If you need to park onsite please contact us to arrange this in advance (one space available per course).
Please see our access page for general access information for residential courses.
Our grants scheme may be able to cover a portion of your course fees. Disability costs and additional living/support costs are taken into account when considering your grant application. You may also be entitled to concession pricing on selected courses.
If you have any questions or concerns and want to chat to a member of staff prior to booking please contact us on access@arvon.org
The Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, Lumb Bank is an 18th-century millowner’s house in West Yorkshire, which once belonged to Ted Hughes. It’s set in 20 acres of steep woodland with breathtaking views to the valley below.
You’ll find many quiet places to write in the house and garden – and a well-stocked library. All rooms are single occupancy, and bathrooms are shared.
All your meals are provided, locally and sustainably sourced wherever possible. Help yourself to breakfast, our team will prepare lunch, and dinner is prepared in groups each evening using the delicious recipes and ingredients provided.
Explore the Pennine landscape of woods and rivers, weavers’ cottages, packhorse trails and ruins of old mills. It is half a mile from the historic village of Heptonstall and two miles from Hebden Bridge.
See here for more information on Lumb Bank.
Katherine Clements
Liz Flanagan
