The world from my window

Mapperton is one of the loveliest places on earth. This part of West Dorset is sublime. And it's one of the reasons why I call my village Lush Places. Dorset is beautiful, wherever you go...

They're playing Drink Up Thy Zider at Bristol City's ground, Ashton Gate. It's their song. So we drink up our cider and head for our seats, having gone through the turnstiles in a numbered entry system devised by the Romans for the Coliseum and other public buildings like it. But, unlike Ancient Rome, we're not segregated, we're all in this together. So we're sitting in front of a row of people in wheelchairs, a mother and young child two seats away... ...and, next to us, wafting across the stadium, are the strong smells of body odour, pasties and something with the aroma of Marmite (which, in this context, you wouldn't like at all even if you usually loved this foul, black yeast extract on your toast). It's approaching three o'clock and the crowd behind us starts singing. Their musical programme begins with the adaptation of a song by 70s glam rock group Slade, which starts off with an expletive followed by the words  Swindon Town  an...

Here's Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, president of the Thomas Hardy Society and Bridport Electric Palace patron, saying a few words before Far From The Madding Crowd was unveiled to its Dorset audience at last night's gala screening. Here's a review by my alter ego. Go to see it if you can. That's about it. Love Maddie x

There is great excitement in this neck of the woods as Dorset prepares for the local premiere of Far From The Madding Crowd on Friday. Based on Thomas Hardy's book of the same name, it stars Carey Mulligan as the wilful heroine, Bathsheba Everdene, and is due for general release on 1 May. Much of the film was shot here in West Dorset, with the lovely Mapperton doubling up as Bathsheba's manor house. Having lived and worked on this estate , I can vouch for its beauty. There is nowhere quite like it. So when others are wondering how the film will compare with its 1967 predecessor, directed by John Schlesinger and starring Julie Christie, Alan Bates and Peter Finch, I know I'll be just gazing at the real star of the show: the West Dorset landscape. Here's a taster: That's about it. Love Maddie x

Once upon a time I had a dream. I was seven years old and wanted to be a zookeeper.  It was Johnny Morris's fault. I loved Animal Magic . By the age of eight, I had a guinea pig. I soon learned that mucking it out was a real labour of love. And I didn't love it very much. I did love writing, though. I wrote a mini-novel with illustrations. Like most children of that age and of that era, I was very animal-centric, particularly as I was born and raised on a farm. My book was about a cat called Tom and a dog called Blackie and how the pair of them foiled a kidnapping plot. I've still got it somewhere. When I find it, I'll show you. So in my ninth year, I decided if I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, the best thing I could do was become a journalist. I'd seen a film on television and loved the fast pace and the wisecracks. I loved this remake, too, of The Front Page . My journalistic career wasn't quite like the movies, apart fr...