Pendle & Paper Writing Holidays

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Find inspiration through exploration with Pendle & Paper Writing Holidays

Pendle Hill and the surrounding area is renowned for stunning scenery, delicious produce and a wealth of local independent shops and eateries, but its literary heritage is equally fascinating. From J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous fantasy fiction to Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry, our awe-inspiring views, culture and history have served as inspiration for many, making our corner of Lancashire an ideal spot for nurturing your creative inclinations.

Combining all of this to provide holidays with a literary twist, Pendle & Paper Writing Holidays invite you to join them on an exciting break filled with trips to inspiration-inducing places and professional writer-led activities, designed to stimulate your creative juices.

The all-inclusive itinerary, which includes dinner, bed and breakfast at a Grade II-listed boutique hotel, will see you retracing the steps of the Lancashire witches, following footpaths made famous by the Bronte sisters and exploring settings of Sunday Times Bestsellers.

Each day you’ll also take part in relaxed creative writing workshops alongside other writing enthusiasts: “Our workshops are sociable affairs, where ideas are fuelled by conversation and coffee,” said Pendle & Paper’s founder and published poet, Mary Lee-Slade. “The aim is to find creative power in the Lancashire countryside, just like so many other writers throughout the years.”

To find out more about Pendle & Paper Writing Holidays, please visit www.pendleandpaper.co.uk, follow @pendleandpaper on Facebook and Instagram, or email mary@pendleandpaper.co.uk.

The Shire
by Mary Lee-Slade

Up the Pendle steps you go,
Barley stretches out below.
Breathless, keen to reach the top,
but rest one moment. Pause. Stop.

Turn your back against the hill
and view the vale: peaceful, still.
Its patchwork green, stone-walled fields,
cows and sheep that bring our yields.

Think of those who walked these trails:
shepherds, witches and their tales.
What lured them up this rough peak?
What wild wonders did they seek?

Have their stories all been spoke,
the lives and trials of these folk-
Pendle people born and bred,
who worked the land and wove thread-

Mothers who were put on stands
for making brews with their hands-
Normans, Quakers, the oppressed,
millers, miners and the rest?

This Shire’s packed with tales galore,
with sights and scenes to explore.
So, as you trek up the mound,
don’t forget to look around.

Grasp your breath and catch a beat,
take the weight from off your feet.
Reach for your pad and a pen,
and write a yarn of this great glen.

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