Wentworth Writing Weekend 2026
15th to 17th May 2026 - another event complete
Wentworth Castle is a palladian stately home built in the 1720s for Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford. It is out in the country about 4 miles from Barnsley and around 10 miles from Sheffield.
The building, now home to Northern College, has 60 acres of National Trust gardens covering a hillside with a folly castle at the top. Please have a look at their website. At the rear of the house is the Home Farm which is now a conference centre with en-suite rooms clustered around The Arched Barn conference room. It's here that we will be holding the NAWG Writers Retreat, as we usually do, this being our 15th year.
There will be around 15 delegates, and I can guarantee that they will be friendly and interesting company as many have been to a number of these events in the past.
We arrive after 2pm on Friday 15th of May and gather at The Arched Barn, where there is coffee and tea always available. In the evening we go for a pleasant meal to a Toby Carvery a couple miles away. On Saturday morning there is an optional writing workshop with our tutor, Leonora Rustamova, who is an author, publisher's editor and creative writing teacher at a Leeds college. After lunch we can walk in the gardens, write and converse with other writers from different parts of the country, or do just what we like. Dinner is in the dining room with the exotic painted ceiling, after which we gather at the Arched Barn where delegates can give talks (we've had a variety of talks:- on The National Space Centre, Dragonflies, Bees, Trilobites, 'My ranch near Santiago de Chile', the origins of money, Robin Hood who actually lived not far away etc.), there will be a literary quiz, and we enjoy a pleasant party atmosphere.
The cost for the weekend is £255. This includes 2 nights B&B in single or double en-suite accommodation, Saturday dinner and the tutored workshop. You will find full details and a booking form on the NAWG website HERE and you can contact me for any for further information:-
Chris Huck Tel. 07968 095164. Old Vicarage, Scammonden, Huddersfield. HD3 3FT.
