THE SOUTH Travel Writing Retreat
with Dea Birkett and Rory Maclean

at the Burpham Country House Hotel

Travel writing is a growing and dynamic industry and if you want to develop you skills in this area and get published, this is the course for you. It gets results.

It’s also for you if you just want to get more from your time away and get your experiences down on paper or a blog.

Set in the beautiful Burpham Country House Hotel, join award-winning national newspaper journalist Dea Birkett and renowned author Rory Maclean on residential Travel Writing Retreat.

The small, practical, intensive workshops are designed for beginners and those with some experience of travel writing. Whether you want to be published in top national newspapers or write a book about your trip, the Travel Writing Retreat will help you on the road.

The Travel Writing Retreat promises to be an engaging and inspirational weekend for all, offering expert tuition, space and time to write, and practical insight from the professionals, all in the warmth, tranquil surrounds and comfort of a country home with a team dedicated to making your weekend creatively exceptional.

Full information including timetable can be downloaded here. More information on the area can be found at the foot of the page.

WHEN: Sunday 9 November, evening social from 5 pm, to Tuesday 11 November, close 4 pm.

WHERE: Burpham County House Hotel, Arundel, West Sussex, set in the idyllic surrounds of the South Downs; the Georgian four-star rated, with a prestigious Silver award for Quality in Tourism.

FEES: Based on two people sharing, Travel Writing Retreat weekend fees are £450; £395 for Friends of THE SOUTH; day fees are £120 and £100 for Friends of THE SOUTH. Weekend fees include full board; day fees include lunch. Single room occupancy can be accommodated at a higher rate, price on application.

If you wish to enquire about single room occupancy or have any other queries about rates please call the office on 01273 571700 or email info@thesouth.org.uk

Fittingly for a writers retreat the area of Burpham and the Country House Hotel has literary links…Burpham Country Lodge dates from 1710, since when it has been a Lay Rectory, a Squire’s Lodge and a Poor House. The Rev Tickner Edwardes took over the living in 1925 - he was a true polymath, being a master bee-keeper and author, early film-maker, and 'father of hitch-hiking'. He wrote a number of books which are still in print today and is regarded as authoritative in their area, such as The Lore of the Honey Bee. He also wrote the earliest book on hitch-hiking, Lift-Luck on Southern Roads, earning him his continued fame as a hitch-hiker. He wrote a number of romantic novels, one of which, Tansy, was made into an early film which is still shown in the British Film Institute.

He is still remembered by some in the village, as he lived until 1946.

The village of Burpham was also home to John Cooper Powys, and Ruskin stayed at Peppering Farm. Mervyn Peake, the author of Ghormenghast and illustrator, lived at Wepham and stayed with his family in the hotel, and is buried in Burpham churchyard.