'Far From the Madding Crowd...'

But not THAT far! 

And, yes, Dorset!

Not quite Hardy's Dorset. a little north of his literary area, AND not that far from the madding crowd that was Shaftesbury on Christmas Eve. 

Seems there are ****heads in all walks of life and in every place where a human being exists, but the narrow, steep streets of this ancient north east Dorset town, with even narrower pavements just begged someone to scream "get me outta here!"

That was me but after just a few minutes, found myself strolling down this winding country lane, that to me so typifies perfect Dorset. 

To all our friends in countries where their highways are BIG, yes, this does actually constitute a road, though woe betide if a car meets a pedestrian, let alone car meeting car! (or horse, or tractor, or bigger!) 

Optimistically, at the end, a sign simply says "not suitable for heavy vehicles"... You're telling me!

In the Extra is a really modern high tech signpost that may or may not be pointing in the direction I had walked from/walking to. It does give an idea just how up with the times the place is.... (this is unedited)

I hope you've all been able to escape from the Madding Crowd yourselves today, too!