This event took place in March 2023. Thank you to everyone who came along and helped to make it a great success. You can see some photos from the event below.
| When | Where |
| Why Attend | Programme |
| Facilitators | Transport |
| Accommodation | Meals |
| What to Bring | Contact & Social Media |
| Documents | Photos |
Thank you to everyone who joined the Joint EPSRC CDT Writing Retreat in The Ammerdown Centre, March 2023. More retreats and events will take place throughout this year so keep a look out for details on those. For now, we hope you enjoy these photos to get an idea of the writing retreat experience.
Monday 27th March – Wednesday 29th March 2023
The retreat is in the lovely Ammerdown Centre.
The Ammerdown Centre
Ammerdown Park,
Radstock,
Somerset
BA3 5SW
Telephone – 01761 433709
This beautiful venue provides a tranquil setting, the perfect environment to enable creative thinking, sharing and learning – uninterrupted.
The communal areas boast a lounge, licensed bar (items to be paid for at time of purchase), dining room, library (some board games are available for use), TV room and Chapel, not forgetting the secluded garden.
You will benefit from a minimum 12 hours of structured and facilitated quiet writing time, plus goal setting and review, and of course meal times and evenings to socialise. We will expect you to commit to achievable goals and be present during all writing sessions.
Please note, the focus is on writing, not for working on data analysis or reading literature. So it is for those working on PhD/EngD stage progressions, paper writing, thesis writing etc.
Also note that you’ll need to be available for the whole retreat and inform your supervisor that you will be busy off-site for this period. Structured committed writing time in a group without distractions can be very powerful and productive.
| Day | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
| Monday 27th March | All Participants Travel to Venue | 11:45 – 12:45 Arrival at Ammerdown, room keys etc. 12:45 – 13:45 Lunch 14:00 – 15:00 Introductions & Goal Setting (The John Todd Room) 15:00 – 16:30 Writing session 1 – Dividing into 3 groups across 3 meeting rooms. 16:30 – 17:00 Tea, coffee, cake. 17:00 – 18:30 Writing session 2 | 18:30 – 20:00 Dinner: Evening Meal as a group 20:00 Group event/free time – (Bar ) |
| Tuesday 28th March | 08:00 – 09.00 Breakfast – in the dining area. 09:00 – 09:15 Writing goals for the day (Dividing into 3 meeting rooms) 09:15 – 10:45 Writing Session 1 (3 meeting rooms) 10:45 – 11:15 Mid-morning Coffee Break 11:15 – 12:45 Writing Session 2 (3 meeting rooms) | 12:45 – 13:45 Lunch 13:45 – 16:00 Optional Walk to Jack & Jill Hill/free time 16:00 – 16:30 Afternoon Tea & cake 16:30 – 18:00 Writing Session 3 (3 meeting rooms) 18:00 – 18:30 Reflection on writing achievements and setting goals for Wednesday | 18:30 – 20:00 Dinner: Evening Meal as a group 20:00 Group event/free time – (Bar ) |
| Wednesday 29th March | 08:00 – 09.00 Breakfast – in the dining area 09:00 – 09:15 Checking in on writing goals for today. (3 meeting rooms) 09:15 – 10:45 Writing Session 1 (3 meeting rooms) 10:45 – 11:15 Mid-morning Coffee Break 11:15 – 12:45 Writing Session 2 (3 meeting rooms) | 12:45 – 13:45 Lunch 14:00 – 15:00 Final group session feedback and future events 15:00 Depart Ammerdown for Bath Spa Station – taxis/coach. | All Participants Travel Home |
Please note times and activities are subject to change.
 | Prof. Nick Bryan-Kinns MAT Director – QMUL Nick is the Director of MAT and Professor of Interaction Design. He researches Interaction Design specialising in the evaluation of engagement, participatory design, and user experience. Nick is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, and founding chair of ACM Creativity, Cognition, and Arts. |
 | Dr Colin Paterson is a Lecturer in Computer Science (CS), and a member of the Institute for Safe Autonomy, at the University of York. As well as holding PhD’s in Control Theory and Computer Science, Colin spent 20 years in industry where he developed a range of software systems including: quotation systems for life assurance; printed circuit board design software; website management systems and; financial accounting software. Since returning to academia Colin has been considering how uncertainty in system models undermine guarantees of system performance and compromise system safety. Colin is the post graduate research training officer in CS at York and is passionate about making research collaborative, impactful and enjoyable. |
 | Prof Peter Hall CDE Co-Director – University of Bath My research interest is computer vision, especially its application to computer graphics. I am interested in automatically processing real photographs and videos into art or into 3D animated models. I also work on automatically locating and identifying objects, whether photographed, drawn, painted, etc. and reconstructing complex dynamic phenomena from video (e.g. trees). |
For those travelling from outside of the Bath area, your local administrator will arrange travel to Bath. Taxi transfers have been arranged to collect attendees from outside the Royal Hotel, opposite Bath Spa station (departures at 12.00 and 12.30) to the Ammerdown Centre.
Taxi transfers have been arranged with V Cars and will be available from 12.00pm on Monday 27th March 2023:
When you arrive at Bath Spa Station, please make your way towards The Royal Hotel which is a short walk from the station, BA1 1JP. The taxis will collect in front of the hotel. Zoe Leonard will be there to meet you. Note: Please remember that the clocks will go forward by one hour in the early morning of Sunday 26th March 2023.
The accommodation has been arranged at the beautiful retreat location of the Ammerdown Centre.
All meals will be provided during the retreat, and any dietary requirements or allergies will be catered for. Please do let us know if you have any dietary requirements. Approximate Meal Service Times: Breakfast between 08.00 – 09.00 Lunch 13.00 – 14.00 Dinner 18.30
Laptop and Charger
Anything you need for two nights overnight
Face Mask (optional)
Walking Boots or comfortable outdoor shoes (if you wish to take in the beautiful surroundings of Ammerdown)
Coming Soon
We would love for our attendees to post about the event on social media. For those who are active on Twitter or LinkedIn please see tag suggestions for your to include:
Twitter: @centre_digi_ent, @bournemouthuni, @BU_research, @DoctoralBath, @UniofBath, @EPSRC, @iggiPhD, @QMUL, @QMEECS
LinkedIn: @centre for digital entertainment, @university of bath, @EPSRC, @queen mary university of london, @IGGI intelligent games & games intelligence
We hope that the information provided here answers any questions you may have regarding this writing retreat, however, if you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact [email protected].