A literary day out in Dorset....

On the way down to Poole to visit The Dotty Godmother, stopped off firstly at Thomas Hardy's Cottage at Higher Bockhampton.

"Few authors have such strong associations with the natural and cultural heritage of their local area as Thomas Hardy. This cottage, where Hardy was born in 1840, was built of cob and thatch by his grandfather and has been little altered since the family left.

Despite training as an architect, writing was Hardy's first love, and it was from here that he wrote several of his early short stories, poetry and novels including 'Under the Greenwood Tree' and 'Far from the Madding Crowd'." National Trust

Second stop of the day was Clouds Hill near Bovington, a tiny isolated brick and tile cottage in the heart of Dorset, which was the peaceful retreat of T. E. Lawrence ('Lawrence of Arabia').


On the way down to Dorset I received a text informing me that tomorrow's ferry would be leaving Guernsey 90 minutes later than scheduled, due to adverse weather conditons. Good I thought, an extra hour and a half ashore!

Arriving at Hardy's Cottage, I received a second text informing me that the departure from Poole had been put back 90 minutes due to adverse weather conditions. So no extra time ashore after all!

But that's not the end of the story! To be continued....