Fact or fiction - faction or fict?

The market town of Dorchester is more than simply the county capital of Dorset. It was home to one of Englands most revered novelists - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928).



Hardy was responsible for penning such works as 'Far From the Madding Crowd', 'Jude The Obscure', 'The Mayor of Casterbridge', 'The Return of the Native' and'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' among others. All of these generally shared the common themes of rural life, oppresive Victorian society and tragic,
alienated heros and heroines. Cheerful stuff !!




The County Museum in Dorchester has a huge collection of hardy artefacts including this re-constuction of his study.

One of the most interesting aspects of Hardys work is that he based many of his characters, locations and stories on fact. The fictional county of 'Wessex' appears in many of his books and is based on real locations in SW England. Similarly, some of the tragic incidents and events in his novels come directly from newspaper clippings of the time.

Thomas Hardy died on January 11, 1928 at his house in Dorchester. He had expressed the wish to be buried beside his first wife, Emma, but his wishes were only partly regarded; his body was interred in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, and only his heart was buried in Emma's grave at Stinsford...
...Did You Know?
A rumour has persisted since Hardy's death that it is not the author's heart that was buried beside Emma. The story goes that Hardy's housekeeper placed his heart on the kitchen table, where it was promptly devoured by her cat. Apparently a pig's heart was used to replace Hardy's own. Truth? Fiction? We will probably never know.


Nastasija Kinski in the film adaptation, "Tess".

"Back-Off !!!!!" - It's Mine!!!

Driving round the winding lanes of Dorset, I was totally taken aback to find this classic American car parked beside my friends house. I, of course, fell in love with it on first sight (perfect for towing that Airstream trailer i've got my eye on). My friend, on the other hand, considers it to be a monstrous eye-sore. What do you think?
After many 'hours' of research, I've uncovered a few RamFactoids-

The Dodge Ramcharger was a large sport utility vehicle built by Dodge from 1974 to 1993. It's now considered to be a rare bird indeed!

• The Ramcharger was primarily produced as a two-door, fulltime four wheel drive vehicle although a two wheel drive version was available beginning in 1975. It went out of production in 1993 when 4-door SUV's became more desirable.

Like many vehicles, the Ramcharger was used in rallying and is often customized for competitions.

This one appears to be in its original form, apart from British number plates that look distinctly odd - the owner told me it originally came from Michigan. My guess is that it is a late 80's model (1987?).

The Ram Head statue appeared exclusively on trucks from '81-'96. During the mid-eighties, thefts of these cast aluminium trophies exceeded those of the popular Mercedes-Benz star.











I was enlightened to discover that these mudflaps are an example of popular mud-flap culture!
Yosemite Sam (here in his alter ego as Sea-Going Sam) warns drivers to keep their distance - or else!




So..... Classic cars .....American or European, Whats your favourite model?