Welcome 2024

Welcome to our 2024 schedule of courses, tutored retreats and untutored retreats at The Garsdale Retreat!

2023 has been another phenomenal year – a few places short of being fully booked. It felt rather like Glastonbury when we opened for bookings last November with half the places going in the first week and two retreats selling out on the first day.

Once again, we have been delighted to welcome back many ‘returners’ as well as newcomers. All speak of the unique, nurturing atmosphere of The Garsdale Retreat and the special feel of being in a writer’s home. We also learnt this year of an entire poetry course group meeting up for a weekend’s writing together. Firm friendships are often formed and last way beyond the duration of courses or retreats.

As usual many participants also suggest they would come back to Garsdale for the food alone! Rebecca’s cordon bleu cooking certainly goes from strength to strength with many demands being made for a new set of recipe cards. ‘Seven More Soups’ or perhaps ‘Seven Salads.’ Who knows what the winter might bring!

The remote beauty of our Yorkshire Dales location has again been very much appreciated. Most people have enjoyed walks in the National Park and a few intrepid souls have enjoyed swimming in the Clough!

It has been wonderful to once again greet people from around the globe including Canada, Australia, Singapore, Malta, Spain, Germany, France, USA, Turkey and the Republic of Ireland. We feel we are a truly international centre!

We are excited to introduce a writing poetry for children course this year and are delighted to offer another broad range of courses: poetry, fiction and memoir with an outstanding line-up of tutors and guest readers, not to mention our ever popular untutored retreats.

Rebecca and I hope you find a course or retreat to suit your creative needs and look forward to welcoming you to Garsdale in 2024.

Hamish Wilson

Director