Take Me To The Lakes Retreat - It's here!

Take Me To The Lakes Retreat: a soulful sanctuary in the Lake District to rest, create, and awaken your imagination with kindred spirits.

This is where the poets came to remember who they were….

Dear Enchanted Ones,

When I first dreamt up the Academy of the Enchanted Arts, it was more than an online school. I wanted it to be a living love letter to art, music and literature. A vow to create something soul-led and reverent. A sanctuary for those who feel deeply, a reverent space to study, to feel, to express and where the sacred and the scholarly entwine. I knew I didn’t just want to teach the arts, I wanted to create immersive experiences that would become art in themselves.

Because in a modern world so relentlessly fast and noisy, enchantment is no longer a luxury: it is a form of remembering. To enchant literally means “to sing into” and I wanted to create spaces that might just sing you back to life.

And that’s where Take Me To The Lakes The Retreat was born!

Nearly a year ago, I had a quiet dream: to create a retreat that would bring the Academy of the Enchanted Arts out of the screen and into the light and the flesh of the world. I imagined it not as something grand or far-flung, but something rooted, gentle, and true.

However, in 2024, when I developed dysphagia from my Scleroderma, I slowly began to retreat. Not just from people or places, but from the version of myself I thought I had to be.

It was such a paradoxical year because 2024 had been the year I chose the word ‘shine’, and yet here life gently, and sometimes not so gently, turned me inward instead. But ultimately I came to understand what shining really means: not the outward glow, but the quiet illumination of truth. By the end of the year, I saw everything I truly wanted to do with this one wildly precious life of mine, as Mary Oliver asked so piercingly, lit up before me with more clarity than ever before.

And so, in 2025, I chose ‘sanctuary’ as my guiding word. Not just as a place, but as a way of being. I realised: less movement often brings more vulnerability. Fewer places to disappear into means I am prone to find out a lot more about who I am and what I truly need. With nowhere left to hide, I’ve had to sit beside myself with radical compassion. Letting people in, allowing myself to be witnessed in my full complexity, takes courage. But it is, I think, the beginning of a fresh start.

I no longer want to leave behind the wholeness of my being: the fragile, the fierce, the longing, the luminous. I just want to share the grace of survival. To channel this sacred, defiant grace of life into something that might reach someone else. To infuse another soul with hope. When we are given a blessing, we’re meant to pass it on, “like a string of pearls,” as Caroline Myss says.

Take Me To The Lakes is the string I want to offer you. Because the Lake District has been that blessing for me. A place of refuge and reflection, from Wordsworth to Beatrix Potter, from Coleridge to Taylor Swift, it’s long been a landscape for the sensitive soul. And now, I want to welcome you there, too.

The Inspiration

Why the Lakes? Why now?

Because The Lake District has long been a place of refuge and reflection for centuries.
From William and Dorothy Wordsworth to Beatrix Potter to John Ruskin. Even now, they keep calling. Taylor Swift wandered these very hills and wrote aching poetry about The Lakes about not fitting in, about longing for quiet, about the romance of another time.

I began to walk the paths they once walked and tested routes in my little blue car, Bluebell (playing Folklore and Evermore, of course!), wherever I could. I sat by the shorelines with my handheld blender for my Gastroparesis, a quiet ritual of nourishment in the open air. And there, at Lake Coniston, I wept as I read the journals and letters of Dorothy Wordswort, her descriptions of beauty made keener by her own experiences of chronic illness.

In her words, I felt a quiet kinship, a shared ache and awe. I saw how she too had turned to this land for solace, and how her attentiveness made the smallest things shimmer with meaning. I fell in love with the Lakes more than ever, with the land that raised me, again and again. And slowly, through these pilgrimages and pauses, the vision began to take form.

Take Me To The Lakes is the most embodied expression of the Academy of the Enchanted Arts I have ever created. A sanctuary, not only for me, but for you.

Set in the sublime beauty of the English Lake District,home of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Potter, and Ruskin, this retreat is not just a journey to a physical place, but to an inner one.

There is something about this land, the ancient light, the wild daffodils, the hush of woods and rain-slick stone, that calls the soul home.

In the early 1800s, William and Dorothy Wordsworth made their lives here not only in search of beauty, but of solace. William believed nature could heal the spirit, that the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling” found in poetry was born in tranquil recollection.

And Dorothy, gentle, observant, luminous in her diaries, gathered enchantment from the simplest things: a line of geese overhead, a moonrise over Grasmere. They walked daily, sometimes for hours, letting landscape and language knit together the fragile edges of their inner lives.

Later, Samuel Taylor Coleridge came; restless, brilliant, troubled. He wandered these same hills to soothe his tormented mind. The rhythm of the fells steadied him. The waterfalls stirred his imagination. In his journals, he writes of wild walks that left him breathless, of visions, of quiet restoration in the face of grief and addiction.

And then Beatrix Potter, artist, storyteller, naturalist, who fled the constraints of Victorian London for these crags and cottages. It was here that she painted, preserved farmland, and wrote her beloved tales. Her art bloomed beside the very hedgerows we’ll pass. She didn’t just find peace here: she protected it for generations to come.

John Ruskin, too, came seeking truth and beauty. At Brantwood, overlooking Coniston Water, he wrote of art, social justice, and the moral power of beauty. He believed, fiercely, that to study beauty was not a luxury; but a duty. That art could change the soul, and the soul could change the world.

And in more recent times, Taylor Swift sought out the same balm, walking where they walked, writing aching lyrics about fame fatigue and fragile love. Her song The Lakes is a whisper of that yearning: for quiet, for meaning, for a place to rest from the performance of life.

And it is here, beside lapping shorelines and whispering woods, that we’ll invite magic back into our senses: through art, music, poetry, and connection.

All About The Retreat

Five days of rest, reverence, and return.

From Monday afternoon (1st June 2026) to Friday morning (5th June 2026), we will gather at Lanehead: a historic lakeside house in Coniston, once beloved by artists and philosophers.

Built in 1840, Lanehead was once the home of William Gershom Collingwood: painter, novelist, antiquarian, and the devoted assistant to Ruskin himself. These rooms have known the company of artists, poets, thinkers and dreamers, and, perhaps, still echo with the ghosts of inspiration. In fact, Arthur Ransome is said to have found his first spark for Swallows and Amazons within these very walls!

Today, Lanehead remains a place of quiet grandeur and creative soul: a large, historic home filled with wooden floors, velvet chairs, weathered portraits, and rugs that whisper underfoot. There are sun-drenched reading rooms and shadowy stairwells, writing desks tucked beneath eaves and long dining tables made for candlelight and conversation. Outside, a garden path winds toward a secluded sauna: a hidden haven for gentle restoration, should you fancy it!

Each bedroom is unique vintage, charming, and soulful, with its own en-suite bathroom. Some look out over the shimmering lake, others are tucked gently beneath the rafters, offering a cosy refuge from the world.

Your days will unfold gently, like pages of a well-loved book.

Mornings begin softly. You’ll wake to nourishing breakfasts, lake light spilling through the windows, and the sound of birdsong filtering through the trees. Each day, I’ll lead a creative, heartfelt lecture inviting you into the inner worlds of the enchanted artists of the Lakes we will meet in our themed days:
William and Dorothy Wordsworth. Beatrix Potter. John Ruskin. Taylor Swift.
These sessions are intimate and inspiring and filled with art, poetry, and the kind of conversation that kindles your imagination.

Afternoons take us into the land that shaped them.

Together, we’ll explore:

– Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount, the homes of William Wordsworth, where we’ll enjoy a private tour and poetry reading with Wordsworth’s descendants, as well as time to wander the gardens that inspired so many verses.
– Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s beloved farmhouse, where the pages of her stories first bloomed.
– Brantwood, the lakeside sanctuary of John Ruskin, filled with paintings, sea shells, and soul philosophy.
– The storybook villages of Grasmere, Ambleside, and the surrounding fells, where you can pause for a slice of gingerbread or sit beside a mossy stream.

Evenings are a time for return to the quiet magic of Lanehead.

After candlelit dinners, we’ll gather for storytelling, gentle reflection, and creative play. One evening might bring a lecture on Folklore and The Lakes another, a guided journaling session or poetry salon. Our final night will be crowned with a private string quartet performance by Dolce Strings, playing the music of Taylor Swift in honour of the landscapes that inspired her.

What’s Included

Five days of accommodation at Lanehead, with breathtaking lake views
All plant-based, gluten-free meals inspired by the region
A hand-curated goodie bag with local artisan gifts, poetry, art supplies & more
A printed creative workbook to guide your reflections
Private guided tours of Dove Cottage, Rydal Mount, Brantwood, and Hill Top
Daily creative lectures and optional craft activities
Access to an online portal with extra lectures, guidance, and a private community
A live concert on the final evening
Free time for journaling, writing, reading, walking, painting, or doing nothing at all!

What’s Not Included

Transport to and from the venue
Travel insurance (required for all guests)
Extras like paddleboarding which can be arranged at the house
Visas or other travel documents, if you’re travelling from overseas

(There is parking available at Lanehead, and for those arriving by train, you can travel to Windermere and take a taxi or bus to Coniston.)

Cost & Payment

£1450 for a solo room
£1150 for a shared twin room (bring a friend or be gently matched)

✨ Payment plans are available in four monthly instalments for all bookings made before March 2026. After that date, full payment is due upon booking.

There are very limited places (just 15) on this retreat to preserve its intimacy and gentleness.

→ Click here to learn more or reserve your place.

Who Is Take Me To The Lakes For?

In a world full of wellness retreats, yoga workshops, and art getaways, where do the poetic souls go? Where do those whose hearts beat in verse, who see the world through a lens of wonder and quiet yearning, find a place to gather and be truly seen?

Take Me To The Lakes is for these souls. For those who seek not just rest or creativity, but a home for their inner dreamer, a sanctuary where the arts and nature entwine to nourish the whole self.

This is a space made for the enchantment seekers, the story keepers, and the quiet-hearted who long for more than surface-level escape. It’s also a space for those who…..

✓ Feel a soul-pull to England’s rich literary and artistic history, yearning to walk where the greats once wandered.

✓ Are seeking beauty, depth, solitude, and softness and a gentle space to slow, breathe, and be fully present.

✓ Love Folklore, Evermore, or The Lakes and dream of visiting the landscapes that stirred Taylor Swift’s aching, tender lyrics.

✓ Crave time away to write, rest, reflect, or begin again and a sanctuary for your inner life and creative yearnings.

✓ Long to be held among kindred spirits who are fellow seekers who cherish art, nature, and reverence as much as you do.

✓ Wish to weave grace and wonder back into their art, life, and breath and to restore enchantment as a vital force in their days.

✓ Know the quiet power of retreat and how slowing down can unlock new layers of insight, healing, and imagination.

✓ Carry the weight of modern life and need a pause steeped in creativity, ritual, and soulful restoration.

✓ Believe in the sacredness of creative devotion, and want to honour their inner muse alongside others who understand the call.

A Final Note from Me

This retreat is something I have carried in my heart for years.

It is the place I longed for when I was lost. The experience I craved when the world felt too fast, too loud. A cottage by the water, a notebook in my lap, a community of fellow dreamers. I made it because I needed it first.

And now, I offer it to you with all my heart.

I invite you to a place where the soul keeps time differently. Where poetry feels like prayer. Where the study of beauty, awe, wonder and enchantment is not indulgent but absolutely essential.

More than ever, everyone I meet seems to carry so much: invisible burdens, quiet struggles, and restless hearts. In times like these, when the world feels hurried and fractured, that ache for true stillness and deep beauty grows stronger in all of us.

More than ever, we long for places that invite us to breathe, to feel, to remember who we really are beneath the noise.

Maybe, just maybe, if you’re still reading this, you already know. You know that the Lake District will do something sacred and small for you, too. A balm for your soul. A spark for your imagination. A homecoming for your heart.

Because art heals wounds words cannot reach.
Because the world rushes, and we ache for slowness.
And because, for centuries, the Lake District has been just such a place: a refuge for the weary, a cradle for the poetic, a sanctuary where stillness and soulfulness entwine.

From Wordsworth’s rapturous verses to Beatrix Potter’s tender worlds, from Ruskin’s contemplations of beauty to Taylor Swift’s lyrical longing: this land has always called to those seeking to awaken something deeper within. So, what might it awaken in you?

This retreat was made with every aching heart and dreaming soul in mind.
With lake light and poetry, with beauty and balm.
But most of all, I want this retreat…..not without you.

With love and enchantment,
Georgie xoxo

Click here to join us in the Lake District in June 2026

Categories: : Academy Of The Enchanted Art Retreats