hardy's dorset.

oh hi, hello there. would you like to see what i was up to yesterday? okay.

i went to dorchester to check out the area author and poet, thomas hardy used to live and write about. he's the author of one of my favourite books, tess of the d'urbervilles. he wrote about life in dorchester and used real places in dorchester, but gave them all new, fictitious names. people in the area have studied each of his novels and have cleverly matched up the descriptions in his books to real places within the area. i went to the tourist office and purchased a booklet that takes you on a tour of the places mentioned in his book. i know, kinda cool, right?

high street. it was market day. but i didn't see any market-action happening. hmm.

this musician was playing bluegrass/folk on the banjo. i love the banjo.

william barnes statue outside st. peter's church.

st. peter's church.

inside st peter's church.

then it was a short walk up the street to the dorset county museum for the hardy exhibit. my admission gave me access to the whole museum so i walked around reading up on artifacts collected dating from roman britain to early twentieth century.

inside the museum.

early english loo. it was discovered by some dorset guy who threw dirt, sand, can't remember now what it was and then three weeks later he had compost. and it took care of the smell too. the compost loo!

some posh kid's dollhouse.

some silliness. it's to be expected, come on now.

and this too.

a present for the knitter.

now for the real reason why i came. the hardy exhibit. meet the man.

this is what his study would have looked like. some of his possessions were taken from his home, max gate.

statue in town.

i thought this was kinda funny.

hardy's cottage. it was closed the day i went. but, it still pretty just the same.

walk back to the car. so pretty!!

hardy's grave in stinson at st. michael's church. apparently he wanted to be buried with his first wife, emma, but westminster abbey wanted his ashes for their poet's corner. so, his heart was buried with emma instead. how romantic!!!

the church. a lot the rural village-esque churches are open during the day, so you can just wander in and have a nosey. (oh man, i'm turning english). i love the feeling of discovery and exploration this allows. i have a dream to just drive wherever the road takes me, and the only rule is to stop at each town/village i come across and go inside each church i see. it's kinda romantic. 

and your parting gift is a photo of me...and a very awkward stance. over and out! thanks for stopping by.