#casterbridge

Broken Soul

Pastoral

How does Casterbridge appear from the air on this coppery evening, the mayor having dined, the clock sounding eight, emptying the square?

Stone of as many greys as tree bark has browns, or like the fur of a hare, grey and brown mixed. And as the bird arcs

higher, it sees how compact is this box of chimneys, roofs, certain windows earmarked to be rubied by the sun, church towers whose flocks

of pigeons grow sleepy. Acres of coomb, cornland and down display the orthodox gold and green of the season, but it’s the blooms

of the town’s back gardens which delight the bee who uses them as his stockroom. Like a merchant with the feel of samite

lingering on finger and thumb, the satisfied bee sashays through a town as much his birthright as the surrounding meads, so countrified

is Casterbridge. But to choose between the bird and the bee, wait for Allhallowtide and the southerly storms which leave the air furred

like the velvet of a rose – refined – and which the dozing bee misses, while the bird treats the sky like a page it has signed.

Helen Farish

The Mayor of Casterbridge 1921

Dorset Life … and leading actors Fred Groves (Michael Henchard) and Pauline Peters (Susan Henchard) at Maiden Castle in 1921 on the set of The Mayor of Casterbridge

A man sells his wife and child to a sailor, remarries on becoming mayor, and learns his daughter is actually the sailor’s. Director: Sidney Morgan Writers: Thomas Hardy (novel), Sidney Morgan (screenplay) Stars: Fred Groves, Pauline…

I Vote Casterbridge For Father’s Day

As I was looking for content for this edition, I decided to explore Casterbridge in White River Mpumalanga.