Hospital patients in Dorchester can visit the woods around Thomas Hardy’s birthplace without leaving their beds, thanks to a partnership between arts organisation ScreenPLAY and Arts in Hospital.

ScreenPLAY’s wellbeing journey Rites of Way with Mr Hardy is now available through the Arts in Hospital website so patients can listen to stories and poems from the woods and imagine they are there.

Dramatherapist Sharon Hayden (pictured), co-creator of Rites of Way, explained the thinking behind the project.
“Through listening to the stories, poems and songs you can imagine you’re in the woods, surrounded by trees or standing by the pond, maybe visiting Hardy’s birthplace and that sense of being there can be a still moment in your day. For those in hospital, we hope the app can bring a sense of the woods and the relaxing feeling of being there.”

Arts in Hospital manager Suzy Rushbrook said they were delighted to be able to make Rites of Way available. “People are often surprised to learn that we manage the biggest collection of contemporary prints, paintings and sculpture in Dorset, but when you’re a patient sometimes you just want to lie back and listen.”
The app is optimised for mobile phones so people can listen on their headphones and choose stories and poems through the seasons linked to four locations in the wood – Hardy’s cottage, rushy pond, the wood and the coppice.

The website dchartsinhospital.org.uk includes links to a series of podcasts expanding on the themes in the app. All the work was recorded in and around Hardy’s Cottage and includes specially commissioned music by alt-folk band Good Habits, comprising Bonnie Schwarz on cello and Pete Shaw on accordion. Poems are read by actors Rod Drew, Perwina Whitmore and Bethany Baskett and the stories of the trees told by environmental arts therapist Ian Siddons Heginworth.

The project was developed by ScreenPLAY artists Sharon Hayden and Alastair Nisbet in partnership with the Thomas Hardy Society and Dorset Council, with funding from the Heritage Lottery, Dorset Council and Gulbenkian Rural Fund.