Gladstones Library
Where you can sleep in a library!
Instead of my usual Friday post, this week I’m writing from Gladstone’s Library, near Chester.
I’m resharing a piece and some photographs I wrote about this place a while ago on my original blog. It’s such an incredible space, I wanted you to know about it too.
I’ve managed to get here once every year for the last five (ish) years since I first discovered it.
I use it as a writing retreat. Reading a huge amount, catching up with editing and writing or, of course, researching for my next story.
A weekend away, meals cooked for me, allergies catered for, as many books as I can read, silence if I want it, conversation with interesting strangers if I want it. Perfect.
It’s around an hour from my door to the library reception, tucked away in the village of Hawarden.
If you are a writer in the North West of England, then I really suggest you try this place out. Designing your own writing retreat is much more affordable than many of the writing festivals and retreats I see marketed online.
Even if you aren’t a writer, the peace and quiet here is INCREDIBLE.
Highly recommend!
It's a lovely place. I used to go there occasionally with my mother for lunch and the food was excellent! Fun fact: Giles Lytton Strachey mentioned Hawarden in his biography of Queen Victoria: "Mr Gladstone was in his shirt-sleeves at Hawarden , cutting down a tree..."
Wow! What an absolute dream. Laura Pashby mentioned a similar place a while ago, I wonder if it's the same one? Definitely on my holiday wishlist!