Under the Greenwood Tree - or Hardygate

That's what we have all been waiting for so long, "fans" of Thomas Hardy especially, the "transformation" of this dreary old cottage. Just look at that picture - how old fashioned it looks. One just can't imagine how the great man managed to live there, let alone write a book or two. Jeffrey Archer would never have put up with it. Apparently Mrs H. wanted to do something about it but the old stick-in-the-mud wouldn't budge. Just because he'd been born there for heavens' sake! The things that poor woman must have had to put up with! You can tell how hopelessly behind the times he was if you ever dip into one of his books: you really can see he wasn't at all part of the aspiration nation. People in his books just didn't seem to get on - for some quite peculiar reasons. I hope they know what sort of toilets to install - last time I went the loo was in a shed at the bottom of the garden. The kitchen was beyond belief. And the beds were a disgrace. Why don't they get a decent interior designer in? The place does have potential even though it's not well presented at the moment. "Some retail space" - I hope there's going to be enough so that those dreary books don't crowd out the mugs and tea towels. Well done, National Trust and Dorset County Council, I say. Not before time. There's plenty of space in that garden. How about a conservatory? How were we ever expected to understand anything about the local landscape without some information? They could even make it interactive, with virtual walks through the woods - with commentary of course.