 Dorset
is full of storybook towns, villages and hamlets
which can be found dotted
throughout this lovely county that, has
its own peaceful way of life that has blossomed throughout the centuries.
Stylish Sherborne, is where Sir Walter Raleigh paid court to
Elizabeth l, it also was Hardy's Sherton Abbas, and some of the
main characters of Tess of the D'Urbervilles lived at Melcombe
Bingham in the manor house, which was the Bingham's family
home for over 600 years
The wild heathland of mid-Dorset
is Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1929) country. The novelist lived all his life
here and used the landscape as the memorable
background to many of his novels. A re-reading of
The Return of the Native with its graphic
descriptions of 'Egdon Heath', adds the pleasure
of recognition to a visitor's exploration of this
beautiful, if sombre, region.
Hardy was born in Bockhampton, near Dorchester,
and the village of Stinsford is the original
'Mellstock' of his novel Under the Greenwood Tree.
Among the vast stretches of heathland, where
brackens and rare wild flowers abound, are other
towns which appear in his novels, such as
Dorchester ('Casterbridge'), Weymouth ('Budmouth'),
Bere Regis ('Kingsbere') and Puddletown ('Weatherbury').
South of Bere Regis, lonely hill country
stretches to the sea; to the west is the fertile
valley of the River Piddle, in which lies the
famous village of Tolpuddle, home of the
'Tolpuddle Martyrs'. Here, in 1834, six farm
labourers met to propose the formation of a trade
union. They were arrested, charged as a Secret
society' and sentenced to seven years'
transportation to Australia. After an outcry,
they were pardoned two years later and offered a
passage home.
South of the heathland is a region associated
with another notable English writer; it was to a
cottage north of Moreton that T. E. Lawrence,
'Lawrence of Arabia', moved in 1935 after he left
the Royal Air Force, in which he had served as
"Aircraftman Shaw". The atomic energy
station at nearby Winfrith seems to emphasise the
solitude of this isolated yet not inhospitable
countryside. Along the coast, by contrast, there
are safe, sandy beaches and the notable beauty
spot of Lulworth Cove, one of the gems of the
South.
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THE TASTY
VINNY |
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IMAGES OF
DORSET |
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Dorset blue
vinny (veiny) is an old variation
of Stilton type cheese, made from
hand skimmed milk. Dorset knobs
are crisp rolls which are best
eaten with the cheese. |
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A picture
book look at some of the
beautiful Dorset countryside,
with its 'picture-postcard'
thatched cottages, the 'quilted'
landscape and the varied
architecture associated with the
county.
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