A Little Gem of a Retreat
Beverley tells us about her experience at The Little Gem, a cabin in Cleethorpes, perfect for a writing retreat.
When people ask me when I’m happiest, I always say that it’s when I’m on or running a writing retreat. There’s something so special about being away from the demands of day to day life, with time and space to really focus on writing. I’ve heard it said that time spent with a writing project is akin to having an affair and I love that image - a secret relationship, somewhere to escape to when real life gets too much. It’s particularly fun for me because my characters are literally having an affair in Prague and I get to go with them!
There are different kinds of writing retreats and I love them all. I love the ones I run in my house in Bridlington. There’s something so special about the combination of time alone and time with other writers, people who are genuinely interested when you tell them that you’ve decided to switch from the present to the past tense and that it’s unlocked this whole new perspective that, really, is so exciting right now! Even on the mini retreats at The Writers Workshop, it’s so much easier to get on with writing when other people are tapping away beside me. And then, there are the retreats where there is no company. Just me and my own thoughts in my own little space away from it all. I love those too.
The only thing I love as much as writing and writers, is the sea, so when someone got in touch last week and asked if I’d like to test out their holiday cabin as a mini writer’s retreat, I jumped at the chance. Within a couple of days, I was packing my laptop and a swimsuit and heading off to the Humberstone Fitties - the name alone made me want to go - a unique stretch of estuary, just along the coast from Cleethorpes.
As soon as I drove onto the quirky holiday estate, I was already thinking that I needed to buy my own cabin. I could have spent hours just wandering the little streets of colourful cabins, each one dressed up with slogans, weather vanes and maritime paraphernalia, each one with a different story. Within minutes, I was walking up the sandy path to the coast, the air trilling with bird song, the marshy grasses blowing in the spring breeze. As a person accustomed to the Yorkshire coastline, I found the landscape slightly otherworldly, the sea a still pond with no waves, hints of industry on the horizon. And then there was Cleethorpes…just a forty-five minute walk along the path.
The cabin itself was unbearably cute and perfect as a place to be alone (though it sleeps three). I was so lucky with the weather. It was hot enough that I could lie on a sun lounger reading and taking notes, and I could collage on the picnic table then, at night, I snuggled up in front of the log burner and wrote for hours before sleeping soundly in the comfy and peaceful bed, worn out from exercise and fresh air.
In the morning, the sea had come close enough for me to manage a bracing swim and some more writing before I packed up and set off back home having written two chapters of my novel and an excerpt of a new memoir, as well as having read a whole book. As a lone parent, I really know how to maximise twenty-four childfree hours!
The Writers Workshop Members get a discount at The Little Gem - get in touch to find out more!
