Visitors are invited to join in birthday celebrations for Lawrence of Arabia.

August 16 marks 130 years since the birth of T.E. Lawrence.

Visitors to the tiny cottage he made his home at Clouds Hill, near Bovington, will be invited to join volunteers for birthday cake and Arabic coffee, served in an authentic Bedouin tent.

The tent was brought over to the UK by volunteer Theresa Jenkins-Teague.

Lawrence, who was living under the name T E Shaw while in the Tank Corps, chose to live in simple and frugal fashion at the cottage, to try to escape the fame his exploits in the Middle East had brought him.

The many famous friends who visited him were often bemused by being served cold food out of tins, but he was also known to enjoy cream cakes, as he related in a letter to Charlotte Shaw: "I bought an éclair and split it down its length, like two little dug-out canoes."

Mrs Shaw would also send him luxurious hampers from Fortnum & Mason, much to his delight.

This partiality might explain the many gold teeth he had by the end of his life, and the reward to his dentist of a subscriber's edition of Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Clouds Hill became a refuge for Lawrence and one to which he planned to retire, but he was fatally injured less than 400 yards from the cottage in a motorbike accident when he was just 46 years old. It is the only home lived in by Lawrence which is open to the public and it is open between March and October each year.

The National Trust, which looks after Clouds Hill, needs more volunteers to look after the property so it can be opened to the public each day.

If you would enjoy being part of the team contact Rachael Raine on 01305 262366 or rachael.raine@nationaltrust.org.uk