We are so happy to say hello to you today from Hardy's Cottage here in Dorset!
Yeah.
This is the birthplace of Thomas Hardy.
Yes.
The famous English novelist and poet.
And we thought we would dedicate this whole day, this video to Thomas Hardy.
Yeah, so we will show you his birthplace - hmm - we'll show you the house where he lived
and died.
Yes, Max Gate.
Yeah.
Yes.
And then we go to to the church where his - heart is buried.
Yes where his heart is buried.
And and something very special.
We will stay at a hotel in Dorchester - yeah, where he was a regular.
Yes.
So we think it will be very nice and we hope you enjoy it.
But first let's check out the cottage because it's so stunning.
This dreamy cob & thatch cottage is Thomas Hardy's childhood home where he was born in
1840.
It has a traditional cottage garden and you feel so inspired and
at peace here.
And what you see here is Max Gate, a very beautiful Victorian home, the home Thomas
Hardy built and designed himself in 1885.
I think it looks beautiful.
And this is also where he wrote 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
I think it's a lovely Victorian home.
And now you can hear traffic - yeah - but back in the day it was very secluded and quiet.
It's a beautiful home.
And think - hmm - Thomas Hardy was an architect so - yes - he planned and built the house.
Yes.
Very special.
This house is beautiful as well.
And it's big.
It's very big.
Compared to the cottage the complete opposite but we love both.
Very Victorian, you can just feel it.
Yeah.
And it was here at
Max Gate that Thomas Hardy wrote 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles.
It's the only book I read by him but I really love it.
I'm currently listening to the audiobook version that I will link for you because I really
enjoy it.
So here you have Max Gate and what they told us from the National Trust, this is a pet
cemetery - yeah - and they particularly mentioned Wessex which was uh, I think his wife's dog
and they said it was very naughty.
Yeah, yeah.
It used to bite postmen, like everyone, except Lawrence of Arabia.
Yeah, who stear him down.
Yes.
So that's quite an interesting story.
Look at the lambs.
They are so young.
They were just born or recently.
How cute.
And we're now in Stinsford which looks like such a wonderful tiny picturesque village.
Yeah, to me it looks very nice.
Yes.
And it's just a five-minute drive from Max Gate.
Yeah.
And this is where where you will find the grave of Thomas Hardy.
Yeah and we will try to find it now.
So this is Saint Michael's church and it looks wonderful.
See here's a Thomas Hardy.
Yeah.
But - it's not the Thomas Hardy we're looking for.
No he was born in - 1776.
Yeah.
That can't be him.
No.
There are several Hardys, see.
Yeah but it's Mary - yes - wife - yes - of Thomas Hardy.
Let me look up here.
Yeah, the bigger ones here.
Yeah.
Ah!
Thomas Hardy.
Yes!
Yes, yes, yes.
See, son of Thomas and Jemima Hardy.
That's him.
And he was at Upper Buckhampton in, on June 2nd 1840.
That's him, yeah.
The interesting thing about the grave here is it only contains this heart.
Yes, yes.
His ashes are in the Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.
We went there - yeah - many years ago.
And the thing is at first I thought his heart was buried here because it was his wish.
It sounds a bit like it.
No, he wanted to be buried here - yeah - but the public wanted, let's say him to be buried
in Westminster.
Yeah.
So that was like their compromise - yeah - basically.
Yeah.
I thought because he loved Dorset so much that this is where his heart belonged.
Yeah.
Maybe maybe the public is, that was the decision of the public.
To me that's a good compromise.
It is.
So what we have here - yeah - is a map from the National Trust website.
Yeah, there was a link on the website.
Yes, yes.
And this shows uh, a walk from Max Gate - yes - to Stinsford.
Yes, so we're we're uh, behind the church - yeah - in Stinsford and we are now on the
so-called Hardy Way.
Yes.
What we heard and what we read is that Thomas Hardy was a very keen walker.
Yeah, he walked very often from Max Gate to Hardy's Cottage.
Yes.
And now it's time to go to our hotel in Dorchester.
We are both quite hungry.
Yeah.
I think Jörg is actually, I think you're starving, aren't you?
No, no no.
I'm fine.
Yeah.
And we have another 45 minutes of daylight so hopefully we can film when we check in
and show you the room.
We just checked in and thought we film this live.
We haven't been to the room yet.
So this is room 106.
Wow, it's big.
Big?
It's.
It's big.
It's huge.
I think this is the the room category 'Plush'.
I'm not entirely sure.
To me it's the room category 'Extra Large'.
They have several room categories and yes, that's big.
Oh oh.
Let's see.
It's really big.
That's good.
You can get lost in the bathroom.
Oh wow.
So that's a really big shower, isn't it?
Yeah.
It's a very big shower.
Jörg?
Yeah?
Can you turn off the music, please?
I'd love to say something about, just a little fun fact about Thomas Hardy.
Can you find it?
Perfect.
So this is from another angle.
No, honestly this is big.
We can dance here.
Yes.
We can do the waltz.
This place is called The King's Arms.
It's a boutique hotel but to us it sounds, the name - yeah - sounds like a proper pub.
King's Arms is usually a pub.
Yes.
It is.
And it's actually, the moment we stepped in we thought it was very big.
I'm not entirely sure how many rooms they have but I think 20 something.
I would say a lot.
Yeah, I don't know.
It's not like a huge hotel or something.
And it's in the middle of Dorchester on the High Street.
And a fun fact is that it said that Thomas Hardy has devised or at least written parts
of his novel the 'Mayor of Casterbridge' here.
In this house?
Yes, in this house.
In this room?
Well, it says in in one of the rooms so maybe this is the room.
Who knows.
It's a quiet room so it could be.
Yeah, yes.
It's in the is in the back of the house, is it?
Yes.
And yeah, so that's really interesting.
And Dorchester, well, Casterbridge is the fictionaliSed Dorchester.
Ah, I never knew that.
And we haven't been to Dorchester yet so we will probably film it tomorrow morning because
I think it's quite nice so we're in the middle of Thomas Hardy country.
And we're having dinner in 45 minutes so - so we have to get ready.
Yes, we have to get ready so we'll see you later.
Yeah.
And a big bed.
Let's hope it's comfortable.
It looks like it.
And we're about to leave Dorchester.
We're going to another wonderful spot here in Dorset.
Be surprised and wait for the next video.
Bye.
Goodbye guys.
Until next time.