A new book published this month by Roving Press looks at part of Dorchester immortalised in Thomas Hardy’s novel The Mayor of Casterbridge.
On 4 Nov there is a presentation with displays of old Dorchester, 10 am to 4 pm in the Corn Exchange. Light refreshments are available. A celebratory book launch is also being held at St George’s Church Hall, Fordington, on Sat 7 Nov, 5.30–7 pm. David will be signing books, and there will be displays, and drinks and nibbles courtesy of the publisher (Roving Press, www.rovingpress.co.uk). All welcome.
‘The lane and its surrounding thicket of thatched cottages stretched out like a spit into the moist and misty lowland. Much that was sad, much that was low, some things that were baneful, could be seen in Mixen Lane.’ Mixen Lane was Hardy’s name for Mill Street in Fordington.
Since early 2014, the local community, with Mill Street Housing Society, has been recording people’s memories of old Mill Street and its remarkable history since the 1850s. Together they form a fascinating story of the life and hard times of the people living there.
The resulting book by author David J. Forrester has royalties shared between two local charities – the Women’s Refuge and Mill Street Housing Society.
In his first book, Fordington Remembered, David reminisces about growing up in and around Dorchester during the 1940s/50s. In Mill Street he takes you further back in time to this troubled area of Dorchester. He describes the remarkable achievements of the Mill Street Mission and later Housing Society, which were instrumental in helping the poor living there.
Terry Hearing comments in the Foreword: ‘The wealth of feeling evident in the words of those who were there creates an emotional atmosphere that brings home a vivid picture of a different world.’ David says, ‘To myself and other like-minded people, it is important that this part of our local history is recorded, before it is lost forever down the mill stream.’
Julie Musk
