Real Dorset is a personal, detailed, discursive, humorous and idiosyncratic look at Dorset. The county is famous for its spectacular coastline, for its historic towns, for its eco-foodie reputation, for Hardy and Fowles. But there's much more behind the tourist-friendly facade - subversion, rebellion and revolt, wealth and poverty, ghost stories and rich folklore. Dorset is home to the largest, but now lost, Neolithic earthwork in Britain.

Woolcott criss-crosses the county, making connections, uncovering the hidden and the forgotten. Stone circles and ancient hillforts contrast with Victorian pleasure gardens and nightlife in Bournemouth. Trade unionism originating from Tolpuddle, the model village of Milton Abbas, vie for the reader's attention with the importance of Dorset for writers like William Barnes, TE Lawrence, Hardy, Fowles and Sylvia Townsend Warner and artists John Piper, Rena Gardiner and Elisabeth Frink. Tombstoning at Lulworth, exploring Chesil Beach and the Fleet, boat trips along the coast, the modern pagan celebration of the Filly-Loo: Real Dorset covers all aspects of life past and present in this richly historical and much-visited edge of south west England.

Real Dorset is a personal, detailed, discursive, humorous and idiosyncratic look at Dorset.

About the Author
Jon Woolcott is a writer and publisher, who has lived in Dorset for twelve years, and grew up nearby in southern Wiltshire. He currently works for the acclaimed independent publisher, Little Toller, where he also edits The Clearing, the online journal for new writing about place and nature. He has been Communications Officer for Cranborne Chase AONB, (straddling Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset), and held senior marketing and buying roles for Stanfords, Waterstones and Ottakar's. His writing, which often focuses on Dorset, has appeared widely, including for The Guardian, Caught by the River, The Bookseller, Sightly Foxed, Echtrai Journal and History Press.


Book Information
ISBN 9781781727171
Author Jon Woolcott
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Seren
Publisher Poetry Wales Press
Weight(grams) 338g