Ferndown care home resident reconnects with lifelong passion

A resident at a care home in Ferndown has found inspiration after embarking on a trip far from the madding crowd.

When the team at Care UK’s Ferndown Manor, on Golf Links Road, heard about an exhibition of Pam Clarke’s favourite poet, they set to work on a special visit.

 

Having grown up in Dorchester, where Thomas Hardy also used to call home, Pam developed a love for his literary legacy and admired the town that inspired his poetry.

As a young girl, his works encouraged her to pick up a pen and write poetry herself. Even now at 86, she continues to let her creativity shine at Ferndown Manor, writing new poems about her day-to-day life or significant world events.

Pam said: “I always have a pen and paper ready to write my own poems about my life and Dorchester, much like Hardy.”

Among Hardy’s extensive collection of works, Pam finds it nearly impossible to choose a single favourite. Her connection to his writing is not just through shared geography, but the contrast of seeing Dorchester through his eyes and her own.   

To fuel Pam’s creativity, the care home team organised a visit to Dorset Museum & Art Gallery. Pam particularly enjoyed the recreated study of Thomas Hardy, viewing his original manuscripts and reading his personal letters.

The exhibition showed which areas of Dorset influenced Hardy’s writing, causing Pam to reminisce about the landscapes they had both visited, but seen from different views.

Pam, who also loves other art forms, got to enjoy the work of another Dorchester-born artist close to her heart: Elisabeth Frink’s sculptures. She was fascinated to see how she transformed bronze into different humans, animals and birds.

Pam said: “My favourite parts of the museum was the entrance, Hardy’s timeline and where they showed his original clothing. I enjoyed trying to picture how different life must have been back then. The trip definitely inspired me to continue writing poems about my life.”  

The special visit was part of Care UK’s Wishing Tree initiative, which encourages residents to put their dreams forward and allow them to reconnect with a past career or hobby or try something completely new.

Sara Muslin, Home Manager at Ferndown Manor, said: “It was fantastic to see Pam in her element and draw on her expertise to explain all the different meanings within the poems.

“It’s incredibly important to us that residents lead independent and rewarding lives, either through activities at Ferndown Manor or planned days out. Reading or simply listening to poetry has plenty of therapeutic benefits for older people, increasing social interaction, promoting creativity and improving relaxation. Poems also offer great ways to encourage residents to reminisce and share memories from their younger days as they reflect on the writing.

“We would like to thank the team at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery for helping make Pam’s wish come true – she hasn’t stopped talking about it since we returned home!”

Ferndown Manor has been designed to deliver the very best standards of care and to enable residents to live active and fulfilling lives in a luxury environment. The home provides full-time residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care, and there is plenty of space both indoors and out for relaxation and recreation.