The Food

At The Garsdale Retreat, there are no cooking or washing up duties. We appreciate that you need to devote yourself to writing, so all courses and retreats are fully catered and you do not have to lift a finger to help!

Forget about all domestic chores and enjoy delicious, home-cooked, seasonal and locally sourced food provided throughout your stay.

The food at The Garsdale Retreat is predominantly vegetarian but we also serve fish. If you have any special dietary needs for ethical, religious or medical reasons we are more than able to cater for you but it is important that you let us know at the time of booking.

To set you up for the day, a nourishing breakfast is served from 8.00 – 9.00am. This includes homemade granola, cereals, fresh and stewed fruit, yoghurt, a choice of white and brown/seeded bread and Garsdale Retreat marmalade. There is also a daily hot dish such as eggs – poached or scrambled, with smoked salmon, eggs Florentine, mushrooms on toast, smashed avocado on sour dough, bubble and squeak….etc.

Coffee and tea are served at morning break with delicious, homemade biscuits.

Lunch, at 1.00pm, usually includes a homemade soup of the day with various salads and a dish such as quiche/tart, Niçoise salad or a board of local cheeses.

Daily baked cake is available for afternoon tea at 4.30pm.

Dinner is at 7.00pm. On Monday we serve a three course meal, Tuesday – Friday, two courses.

We use fresh ingredients which are all locally sourced: fruit and vegetables from Hawes market as well as fish direct from the Fleetwood dockside, bought on the day it is caught.

A selection of drinks are included in the course fee, such as herbal and traditional teas, caffeinated and de-caffeinated coffee, hot chocolate and a variety of soft drinks.

The Garsdale Retreat is accommodated in Clough View, an Edwardian landowner’s house with an historic coach house behind. It is situated at Garsdale Head, next to the Clough, a burbling, bubbling river which flows down from Baugh Fell deep in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Participants enjoy a relaxed, informal and friendly atmosphere. The Retreat is more of a home than an hotel, we look after you well so you can get the most out of your course. From this peaceful setting, there are lovely walks straight from the house, into the surrounding, inspirational landscape.

There are four single bedrooms and one twin room in the main house, with three bathrooms, one bath and two showers. Additionally, there are two ground floor, en-suite bedrooms adjoining the coach house. All the rooms are simply decorated, warm and comfortable, each has a writing desk/table providing an ideal space to write during your free time. Sheets and towels are provided.

The coach house has a large versatile workshop space with a specialist poetry library and a Steinway grand piano. There are views through the French windows across the fields where the Swaledale sheep graze, watched over by a pair of majestic herons. Spilling out of the coach house into the courtyard during summer coffee breaks, you can enjoy views of Rise Hill and Widdale Fell stretching over to the south and Baugh Fell to the West.

In the main house, crossing the beautiful Edwardian tiled hallway, you come to a comfortable sitting room with an open fire and opposite, a welcoming, panelled dining room, with a wood burning stove.

The Garsdale Retreat has excellent, superfast fibre-optic broadband connexion.

We have a printer which you are free to use. We have air-printing or you can bring a USB stick or simply email your work and we will print it for you.

The mobile phone signal is rather varied depending on provider but there is a public phone box a couple of minutes walk up the road. People are welcome to contact you via our landline 01539-234184 if needed in emergencies.

The garden has lots of space to sit quietly, writing or simply relaxing while enjoying the house martins, swallows and surrounding views.