Monthly Archive

As ever it’s been a busy time at the Hurst Shop – we had open courses right up to the middle of December, and then leapt straight back into things on January 22, with a terrific partnership week with Princess Royal Trust for Carers. They spent the week in the esteemed company of tutors Ian Marchant and Jemma Kennedy, with Jo Shapcott featuring as our guest reader. While any number of aesthetic goals were reached, for us the highlight was to find that one of the participants had not been to the pub in sixteen years – a duck she broke on the Tuesday. And the Wednesday. And the Thursday…As a reward for rejoining the fray, she was awarded our first Champagne Moment of 2007.

Meanwhile we’ve been girding our loins for the start of the Open Programme (all our courses advertised in this year’s Arvon brochure). The bookings have been thundering in, and everyone who has booked seems really, really nice, so I’d encourage you to join their number. Space prohibits a list of highlights, but I’m sure you carry your Arvon Course guide with you wherever you go, and have the Arvon Foundation as your home page (Google is so 2005), so I’m sure you’re up to speed.

Before the Open Programme begins we have a number of School Weeks, which are always a highlight. If you’re a teacher and you haven’t brought a group to the Hurst, then you’re obviously insane. Check out the young people pages at www.arvonfoundation.org for more details.

Aside from things writerly, scrumping fans – and who isn’t a scrumping fan? – will be excited to hear that our local committee member Keith Pybus recently selected a number of apples from our orchard for dating and identification. It seems most of the trees were planted in the late 19th Century, and that one of the varieties – called a Curl Tail – is a rare apple, first recorded in Woking in 1872 and not before recorded in the Marches. So if you visit us during October/November next year, and are partial to rare and strange apples, you’re in for a treat.

Finally, congratulations to all at Pentabus Theatre, who were nominated for a South Bank show Decibel Award, which recognises work which contributes to the development and promotion of ethnic diversity in the arts. The nomination was for White Open Spaces, a theatre piece developed at the Hurst in November 2005.We look forward to seeing you here soon

Peter & Kerry, Centre Directors, and Dan, the Administrator

A fresh new year at Lumb Bank - this photo was taken on a mobile phone by Ilona, Lumb Bank’s administrator. 

The Ted Hughes Arvon Centre at Lumb Bank has been undergoing revamping and renewal which was put to the sternest possible test when Castlegreen School from Sunderland became the first visitors of 2007. Both public bathrooms have been replaced and all communal areas have been completed re-decorated. We have replaced the carpets in the library, on the stairs and along the landing and the place is looking very smart indeed. Certainly the students from Castlegreen appreciated our new fixtures and fittings. They were there working on performance based poetry with Luke Wright and Lemn Sissay with Clare Shaw as the mid-week guest. The work was, as ever on an Arvon course, extraordinary with all the students making a huge leap forward in their writing.  This was especially pleasing as many of the group had had significant behavioural and emotional difficulties prior to coming to the course. Meanwhile Luke Wright’s campaign to become the next poet laureate continues apace…

Bookings continue to stream in with a quarter of the places for 2007 now gone and two courses completely full. If you want to come to Lumb Bank this year you’ll need to get your skates on…

Best wishes

Stephen, Caron and Ilona

Well, it has been sometime since we have shared our news of which there is plenty. In fact, so much, that time and space will not allow the full telling. We had a wee period of the doldrums when it became clear that we were not going to achieve our goal of raising £500,000 to build a new accommodation block. However, the Moniack Mhor team is never long defeated by such minor inconveniences and so we continue to plough onwards and upwards.

There may come a time in the future when a new accommodation block is built but for now we are strengthening our already considerable strengths. We’ve made the house cosier inside with new squadgy sofas, candelabra and muted shades of paint; we’ve spruced up the outside, changed all the menus, and now have haggis, neeps and tatties on the Friday night!

We’ve got new computers which are sleek and black and flat-screened and, amazingly, their acquisition means we have more room in the cottage, which in turn is allowing us to put in a little kitchen area and two en-suite shower-rooms! It’s actually all quite miraculous!

The students who come here in the summer months continue to be over-awed by our spectacular scenery, stunning sunsets and shaggy sheep. Lyndy and I continue to battle the elements to get to our place of work and spiritual home whilst Cynthia, languishes at home writing a novel courtesy of a Scottish Arts Council bursary. She will return in the spring, hopefully thrice-published.

From Andrea Muir – adieu!

We’re looking for Arvon Friends to share their experiences of the Arvon courses they have been on. Have you ever been on an Arvon writing course? Which writing house did you visit? How was your journey there and back? How did you feel on the Monday night as you met your fellow writers for the week? What was unexpected? Did you experience any writing epiphanies? What did you cook and did people like your meal? Who were your tutors and your mid-week guest reader? What kind of weather did you have, what colour were the skies? What inspired you most when you were there (and what didn’t?) With Arvon’s fortieth birthday coming up next year (our first course, with Ted Hughes as guest reader, was in 196 we’re going to collect as many stories about Arvon experiences as possible. Add your experience by clicking on Comments…