HARDY FORUM ARCHIVE H01024 2/28/01 "HARDY COUNTRY WEBSITE" ==================================================== ========== Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 13:03:01 -0500 From: Robert Schweik Subject: Dave Sands' Web Site In a brief exchange of messages recently, I was in touch with Dave Sands. For those of you who might not know, he is the owner of a web site that the TTHA site is linked to (it's our Links A 116, ). It's devoted to Hardy Country news and full of useful information. For anyone wanting to keep up with what's going on in Hardy country--particularly in the Dorchester area--Dave's site is a delight--including its "Jim Gibson" page and frequently changing news about goings-on in Dorchester. He mentioned that for some reason he was unable to post a message to the Forum, so let me include here the relevant part of what he might have mentioned in that post: He has pictures of a "winter warmer" held at Max Gate, a page about the celebration of the 200th anniversary of William Barnes's birth, including videotape of the bells at Lydlinch church ringing for the event and also a local man reading a verse of a Barnes poem in Dorset dialect. For those of you who may never have heard that old Dorset dialect with which Hardy was thoroughly familiar, here's a chance to get a bit of it. Cheers for Dave! Bob Schweik ========== From: "Dave Sands" Subject: Re: Hardy Country Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 22:37:50 -0000 > Bob - you are a hard taskmaster! When I got your e-mail I went back to >my keyboard and finished the loading of the complete first verse of >Lydlinch Bells. While I was doing that I also added the written words with >William Barnes original spelling punctuation etc. so you viewers can >follow the text at the times when Reg is a bit hard to understand. The >layout still needs attention, but darn it, it can wait a little longer! >The most important part is complete. Thanks for sending the mail for me to >the other members and thanks for your kind words of praise! The Winter >Warmer was a very convivial occasion as you can see from the pictures >everybody was made to feel at home at Hardy's hearth with good food and >drink combined with pleasant company. Such a privilege! It is on these >rather exclusive occasions that I think of our friends overseas who would >love to be able join us but due to circumstances cannot. Maybe the camera >helps? ========== Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 16:16:51 -0800 From: Betty Cortus Subject: Re: Hardy Country Dear Dave, I found the links on your website http://www.thomashardy.co.uk but could not get the bells to ring or the voice to speak the poem. It seems that I, and perhaps others, need to have a program to make the sound possible. In spite of that I am sure that the other Forum members are as grateful as I am to you for bringing Dorchester right to us in this way, no matter isolated from that wonderful place we may be. Congratulations! Betty Cortus ========== From: "Dave Sands" Subject: Re: Hardy Country sound files. Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2001 15:13:30 -0000 Dear Betty I am pleased to say that the sound files on my pages have aroused a great deal of interest, but I have had a number of e-mails fromÊpeople like yourself who cannotÊopen the files. I went to the local library and tested them myself on the machine there and they worked perfectly. It looks like these people who cannot receive the sound files may not have the appropriate software. The software required is 'Microsoft Media Player', this can be downloaded free from the Microsoft site on the web. Usually if the machine does not have this software a free download will be offered when an attempt is made to open sound files. Some of you may have Macintosh machines and I do not know how these machines handle sound files. I will look further into this problem, if any of you have any suggestions please let me know. Dave Sands ==========Ê Ê Ê Ê