my photos

the birthplace of Thomas Hardy ...

Thomas Hardy was born in this cottage at Higher Bockhampton in Dorset on 2nd June 1840, and lived here until the age of 34.



It faces West, and round the back and sides
High beeches bending, hang a veil of boughs
-Domicilium

On the day we were passing the cottage was closed, but fortunately for us you can see much of the exterior and gardens from the track, so at least we were able to have a nose over the wall!



The cottage is the fictional Tranter Dewy's House in the novel 'Under The Greenwood Tree', written at the window seat of Hardy's bedroom.



Remember the 1978 dramatisation of The Mayor of Casterbridge. Alan Bates plays Michael Henchard, a man who under the influence of rum-laced furmity, sells his wife and baby for five guineas.

I'd watch it religiously with my Mum, and after we'd utter, many thankies, in the fictional county of Wessex dialect!

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my photos

the pearl of dorset ...

Lyme Regis, fit for a king, and Jane Austin! She spent a considerable time in Lyme Regis in the first years of the 19th century, and a plaque marks her residence.



A view of the famous stone Cobb, an ancient harbour wall which has sheltered seafarers for centuries and has long inspired artists, and writers like Jane Austen. Scenes from Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are set in the area, and the opening scene from the film The French Lieutenant's Woman, based on the novel by John Fowles, was shot here too.



Overlooking Lyme Bay, from beautiful public gardens created a few years back, and since our last visit has greatly matured. An ideal place to sit, or stand, to take in views of Lyme Regis.

The town is a mosaic of narrow, windy streets rising steeply up from the sea.

As someone who takes photos just for pleasure, I was pleased with the photo used in my last post, (a postcard from Worthing), of how perfect it looks (positioning, colour etc), in an amateur's eyes anyway. In this photo no manipulation was used at all, and it got me thinking, and later tinkering with recent holidays snapshots.

With many packages available nowadays for manipulating photos, often one touch of a button, and thinking back to another post of mine of snaps taken by family of Port Isaac in Cornwall back in the '50s, I decided to save a few snaps in black and white.

Does black and white photography offer a more creative view to the world? Do you prefer black and white to colour? Please leave a vote in my July poll?



Back to colour. Bunting in monochrome just don't look quite the same!
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