Heaven only knows what Thomas Hardy would have made of it. On Saturday, protesters will arrive at the Bridehead estate in Dorset, hop across a low stone wall and take part in a “peaceful trespass” to express their anger and sadness at the loss of access to a spot in the sort of landscape Hardy wrote about so evocatively.
They will picnic near a lake, listen to songs and some will join a writing workshop, while drawing attention to the closure of a permissive path that local people and visitors have used for generations.
