THS Conference: Sunday 26th July

Sunday 26th July 2026
All day event

The 27th International Thomas Hardy Conference and Festival

Sunday, 26th July 2026

Scroll down to view and book events taking place on the 2nd day of the THS Conference

Visit Oxford - Hardy's Christminster
Exploring Jude the Obscure – Marygreen and Christminster

All Day Coach Tour

Time: The coach leaves Top o Town car park at 8.30am, returning around 6.30pm.

Cost: £35 - THS Conference Ticket Holders

£40 - THS Members

£45 - Non-members

This coach tour is included in the 2026 THS Conference & Festival Programme

Priority booking for Full Conference Ticket Holders

Booking Open to THS members from 2nd June 2026 and Non-members from 9th June 2026 (Subject to availability)

Led by Dr Tony Fincham and Leonor-Jo Barnard, the first stop on this all-day coach trip is Fawley (Hardy’s Marygreen), where Jude lodges with his Great Aunt Drusilla.

Other stops include Farmer Troutham’s field and the location identified as the Brown House, with reference to their place in the opening phase of the novel.

The tour then proceeds to Oxford (Hardy’s Christminster). Beginning in Jericho, the group will visit St Barnabas Church and St Sepulchre’s Cemetery (Hardy’s Beersheba).

The tour will then move into central Oxford to identify sites associated with Jude’s experiences within the university environment that frame his attempts to enter academic life. It will also include the public house linked to his meeting with Arabella and the route of the Remembrance Day procession described in the novel.

Total walking distance in Oxford is approximately two miles.

Please wear weather-appropriate clothing and comfortable footwear.

Participants should bring a packed lunch.

BOOK ONLINE

THS Conference Delegates - Booking OPEN

Other Tickets available from 2nd June (subject to availability)

Wey Valley Walk

Explore the Wey Valley on Foot

Walk guides, Byron Silver and Mark North

Time: 10.15am

Cost: £10 (not including bus/train fare)

Meet: By the Dray Horse Statue in Brewery Square, Dorchester

Included in the 2026 THS Conference & Festival Programme

Priority booking for Full Conference Ticket Holders

Booking Open to THS Members from 2nd June 2026 and Non-members from 9th June 2026 (Subject to availability)

Please meet at Brewery Square, Dorchester (by the Dray Horse statue) at 10:15 am. We will then take a bus to Elwell St, Upwey, where our walk will commence.

Image: Derek Harper / Boats in Weymouth Harbour / CC BY-SA 2.0

The walk will follow the course of the river Wey from source-to-sea, as closely and as safely as possible, and will pass through Nottington and Radipole villages en route to Weymouth Harbour. Sites of specific historical interest and/or relevance to Hardy’s life will be pointed out and enlarged upon. At the conclusion of our walk, the group will be taken back to the King’s Statue bus stop, where they will be able to board a number 10 bus back to Dorchester. The service is very frequent. Anyone preferring to use the train can be directed to the local train station. Those who wish to remain in ‘Budmouth’ a little longer, to sample the many delights of this historic seaside town, will be at liberty to catch a later bus or train back to Dorchester, or to make other arrangements.

Walkers will need to bring bottled water with them, and to wear appropriate footwear (i.e. boots).

The terrain is uneven in places, and there will be some gradients and stiles to negotiate, so walkers will also be required to have good mobility.

The walk will last approximately 5 hours and will include a stop in Nottington, around 1:00 pm, for light refreshments in the Pear Tree Produce Tea Garden (GF can be catered for, but not vegan). Walkers will be able to use the facilities on site.

BOOK ONLINE

THS Conference Delegates - Booking OPEN

Other Tickets available from 2nd June (subject to availability)

Hardy & Clothing Workshop

Rural Working-Class Clothing and Change in Victorian England

Rachel Worth

Rachel will describe how the rural poor dressed in the nineteenth century with reference to Dorset and in the context of her knowledge of the economies of fabrics and clothes. She will demonstrate the historical sources that help us create a clearer picture of a neglected topic: for example, rare surviving examples of dress; photographs; works of art; fictional literature, particularly the work of Thomas Hardy.

Biography

Rachel Worth is Professor Emerita at the Arts University Bournemouth, UK, where she was Course Leader for the undergraduate degree in ‘Fashion Studies’ and, latterly, Head of Research and Professor of Dress History.

She studied history at Newnham College, University of Cambridge; obtained a PGCE in History / English Literature at University of Bristol and then an MA and PhD in History of Dress at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Alongside a career in teaching and fashion education, she has researched widely the history of non-elite clothing, in particular, issues around democratisation and the relationship between clothing and class. She is the author of Dress and Textiles (Dovecote Press, 2002); Fashion for the People: A History of Clothing at Marks & Spencer (Berg, 2007); Clothing and Landscape in Victorian England: Working-Class Dress and Rural Life (I. B. Tauris, 2018), Fashion and Class (Bloomsbury, 2020) and, most recently, The Hidden Life of Clothing: Historical Perspectives on Fashion and Sustainability (Bloomsbury, 2023).

Rachel sews and is a passionate advocate of ‘slow fashion’ and sustainable practices in clothing design and making.