Non Fiction
ISBN: 9781781727171
Publication date: April 17, 2023
Price: £12.99
Real Dorset is a discursive, humorous, idiosyncratic and personal look at Dorset. The county is famous for spectacular coastlines, historic towns, its eco-foodie reputation, for Hardy and Fowles. Yet there’s much more behind the tourist-friendly façade – subversion, rebellion and revolt, wealth and poverty, ghost stories, rich folklore, film and music.
Criss-crossing the county, Woolcott makes connections, uncovers the hidden and the forgotten. A huge and lost Neolithic earthwork contrasts with Victorian pleasure gardens and nightlife in Bournemouth. The legacy of the black GIs, the Cerne Abbas Giant, the model village of Milton Abbas, vie for attention with the importance of Dorset for writers and artists including William Barnes, T.E. Lawrence and Sylvia Townsend Warner, John Piper and Elisabeth Frink.
Tombstoning at Durdle Door, exploring the beguiling strangeness of Portland, climbing the famous Gold Hill, delving into holloways: Real Dorset covers all aspects of life past and present in this richly historical and much-visited edge of south west England. Locals and tourists alike may think they know Dorset: Jon Woolcott’s book proves that there is plenty more to learn about it.
Jon Woolcott
Jon Woolcott is a writer and publisher, who has lived in Dorset for twelve years, and grew up nearby in southern Wiltshire. He currently works for the acclaimed independent publisher, Little Toller, where he also edits The Clearing, the online journal for new writing about place and nature. He has been Communications Officer for Cranborne Chase AONB, (straddling Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset), and held senior marketing and buying roles for Stanfords, Waterstones and Ottakar’s. His writing, which often focuses on Dorset, has appeared widely, including for The Guardian, Caught by the River, The Bookseller, Sightly Foxed, Echtrai Journal and History Press.
Pamela Petro, author of '‘he Long Field’, ‘Travels in an Old Tongue’ and ‘The Slow Breath of Stone’
Woolcott makes a point of seeking out the quirky and the overlooked; places that rarely make the glossy county guide books, but which nonetheless capture the essence of Dorset. In Real Dorset Woolcott travels the byways of his home county finding the topographical threads to tug at in order to reveal the temporal layers beneath…he has an uncanny knack for finding overlooked turnings and unearthing odd human stories…a worthy addition to Peter Finch’s series of alternative guide books. The pleasure of reading the text is enhanced by Jon Woolcott’s often offbeat black and white photographs.
Bobby Seal, Psychogeographic Review
“A fabulously dry sense of humour permeates the narrative … a fresh and original travel book that I will take with me on future visits. For the armchair explorer, a fun and fascinating read.”
Jackie Law, neverimitate
“The delight behind this book is going to places that I knew of, but didn’t know much about and learning more about the county I love.”
Half Man, Half Book
“Jon has found the time… to travel around Dorset, examining it both in broad sweeps and minute details and the result is an energetic, fascinating work.”
Phil, ReviewsRevues
‘Dorset is southern England’s finest (and often weirdest) county… Jon Woolcott has done it proud in the latest iteration of Seren’s Real series. It’s a brilliant read, full of as many odd byways and beguiling tangents as the county itself.’
Mike Parker
“…what kept me reading to the very end, was Jon’s mastery of storytelling. Real Dorset isn’t a dull ramble through country lanes, villages and towns. Instead its stories are full of humour, unexpected details and an engaging quirkiness… you can’t help but feel you’re there, walking with the author, seeing Dorset with fresh eyes.” – Jane Adams, The BV Magazine
The BV Magazine
