Max Gate, The National Trust and Hardy's House

What are the National Trust's plans for Max Gate?

Some alarming news in The Telegraph on Saturday August 6 ("Sorry tale, Trust accused of neglecting Hardy's home"), and in this letter too. Today I made a visit to Max Gate and to Hardy's Cottage at Higher Bockhampton. National Trust volunteers at both venues were unable to enlighten me further. They had not read the article; they had not been briefed.

It seemed not very long ago that the house had a bright future

NT volunteers' response, Dorset Echo, 13 August 2011:

What on earth would Thomas Hardy have to say? "Get on your bike!"

Update, 14 August, 2011. Richard Brooks, writing in The Sunday Times Culture section, asks "Why doesn't the National Trust turn Hardy's home into a decent 'shrine' to the great writer?" "The Trust has shilly-shallied for far too long". He comments that "Julian Fellowes...rightly believes that the trust should work hard to bring back the author's old study, currently reconstructed at the Dorset County Museum..." "Trouble is, the trust's heart is not really in Max Gate- a Victorian middle-class villa".

I'm alarmed about developments at another National Trust property in Dorset too, at Burton Bradstock beach.

It seems that all the fields leading to this wonderful stretch of Chesil beach have become a giant car park, largely to serve the clients and customers of the ever-expanding (and undeniably popular) "Beach Cafe" - or seafood taverna (?), which is leased from the National Trust.

I much preferred the atmosphere and sense of respect for the natural environment in the old days, when the cafe was not much more than a simple wooden shack, and the car park was a fraction of its present size- surely more in keeping with the Mission of The National Trust and  the UNESCO World Heritage Site status of the Jurassic Coast as an area of outstanding unspoilt natural beauty?

From the Beach Cafe's website:

Preparing for the Olympics

Plans for the Hive in 2011 and beyond include upgrading the kitchen facilities, making some of the older awnings a more permanent and sunnier structure, providing new toilet and shower facilities and investigating other local opportunities for business expansion

I won't comment on the other West Dorset landmark (Admiral Hardy's Monument) which is cared for by the National Trust. It's still closed for its long refurbishment. I sometimes wonder if it will ever open again.

"Monument to Vice-Admiral Hardy, Flag-Captain of HMS Victory at Trafalger. Note: Closed this year".