Rites of Way with Mr Hardy

Spring: a new beginning. With a pathway out of lockdown and isolation we can feel the promise of Spring but Winter still comes back to bite us. Lie or sit by an ash tree or imagine a huge straight ash above you. Close your eyes and take a deep breath…

Winter: As life retreats into the Earth, we too are drawn back into our bodies. Take some deep meditative breaths as Sharon talks you through ways of relaxing and letting go of stress. Rod Drew reads The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy. Music: Bonnie Schwarz and Pete Shaw. Coming up: Spring: A new beginning

October. It is time to look inwards. Leaves are falling, days are darkening and it just will not stop raining. Perwina Whitmore reads the Farm Womans Winter by Thomas Hardy, and Ian Higginworth talks about the tree known by the Celts as the witches tree - the Elder. Next: Winter Meditation

Poems and extracts of writing by Thomas Hardy recorded in and around his birthplace, the cottage between heath and forest built by his grandfather at Higher Bockhampton near Dorchester. Actors Rod Drew and Perweena Whitmore are the voices of Thomas Hardy and his second wife Florence. Original music by Bonnie Schwarz and Pete Shaw. Next: Autumn in the wood

Dorset Countryside Ranger Claire Platten talk to Alastair about the history of Thorncombe Woods and what they would have looked like when Hardy was a young man. Rod Drew reads from his novel Under the Greenwood Tree in which he describes Yalbury Wood, his name for nearby Yellowham Wood. Next: In the cottage where Hardy was born.

When you have an illness that's going to affect your life it makes you appreciate the beauty around us… Artist Maggie Curtis talks to Sharon Hayden about her art, her health and living in lockdown in rural Dorset. Next: We meet Rod Drew from the New Hardy Players - our Mr Hardy. Next: We meet Countryside Ranger Claire Platten

Woodman Alan Brown, pictured here at Thorncombe Woods in 2006 was the sixth generation of his family to make wattle hurdles out of split rods from a hazel coppice. The family tradition now continues with his son Steve. In this podcast, Alastair Nisbet discusses the ancient craft whose roots go back to the days of the flint axe. Next: When you have an illness that's going to affect your life it makes you appreciate the beauty around you…

Dramatherapist and ScreenPLAY artist Sharon Hayden discusses why green spaces make us feel relaxed, help us reduce our stress and anxiety and generally make us feel better about ourselves. Next: The Hazel Coppice

Come for a walk in the woods where Thomas Hardy spent his youth with ScreenPLAY artists Sharon Hayden and Alastair Nisbet. Reflect, relax and enjoy the green space. They will guide you through the ancient woodland of Thorncombe Woods with readings from the work of Thomas Hardy and Environmental Arts Therapy by Ian Heginworth. In this episode Sharon and Alastair spot grass snakes in Rushy Pond. Mr Hardy - voiced by actor Rod Drew - reads the poem Weathers while a curious blackbird looks on. Hardy once said he would come back as a blackbird - perhaps it was him. Original music by Bonnie Schwarz and Pete Shaw. Next: Why Green is Good