Great Things – Hardy’s Hostelries with Dr Tracy Hayes

This talk will recount how the book ‘Great Things – Hardy’s Hostelries’ came to be. From an idea in a pub during a casual conversation to travelling to almost fifty pubs across six counties which feature in Hardy’s works, this project was a labour of love involving much research and collation, not only of the elbow-bending kind! Hostelries, bars, inns and hotels play a pivotal role for Hardy’s characters throughout his novels, short stories and poems; from the iconic Peter’s Finger on Mixen Lane in The Mayor of Casterbridge to the Buck’s Head in Far From the Madding Crowd where Joseph Poorgrass suffers from ‘multiplying eye’. Our book is a celebration of Hardy’s pubs and their denizens, many still trading and able to be visited today.

After a career in financial services Syd Braham decided to spend more time getting to know Hardy and his works. He joined the Thomas Hardy Society where he met fellow enthusiasts, and he and his wife spend as much time in Dorset as possible.

A former Secretary of the Thomas Hardy Society, Dr Tracy Hayes has a PhD in Thomas Hardy studies and has published numerous articles and book chapters on his life and works, along with those of M.R. James and Edgar Allan Poe. She has spoken at numerous conferences and is a Tutor in English Literature and Language, as well as in History. Originally from Australia she now lives in Hardy’s Budmouth.