Tuesday 21 May 2013

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Heartlands
A Guide to D.H. Lawrence’s Midlands Roots

 Eighty years after his death D.H. Lawrence has become a celebrity, the subject of passionate dispute, possibly more discussed than read. It is time to put the emphasis back on the novels and short stories, by exploring the context that led to their creation - Lawrence’s upbringing and influences.

 Although he led a wandering life, Lawrence’s best work is located in the countryside of his youth, in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. An understanding of this district can help readers understand and enjoy Lawrence’s work more fully, and this book aims to guide the visitor, either in person or in spirit, around Lawrence’s ‘Heartlands’.

Heartlands also provides the reader with a biography of Lawrence’s early life, and examines the complex cultural forces that inspired the young man, revealing  the profound influences of home, school and chapel in Eastwood that led to such masterpieces as The Rainbow and Women in Love.

 Five key areas are examined in detail, with maps and illustrations:

·         Eastwood and Brinsley

·         Moorgreen and Greasley

·         Cossall

·         Nottingham

·         Derbyshire

 The role of walking in developing Lawrence’s feelings for his ‘Heartlands’ is also explored, and five walks which are described in Sons and Lovers are followed in the modern context, illustrating some of the changes that have affected the district in the past century.

The Authors first met in the 1960s as pupils at Nottingham High School for Boys, which was Lawrence’s old school, although this connection was rarely mentioned at the time.

 Stephen Bailey taught English to international students for many years, in Barcelona, Tokyo, London and Prague. He is the author of Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students, Academic Writing for International Students of Business, and more locally, The Derbyshire Portway. He lives in Whatstandwell with his wife and daughter.

 Chris Nottingham is Emeritus Reader in Contemporary History at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is the author of The Pursuit of Serenity: Havelock Ellis and the New Politics and he writes mainly on the history of health and welfare. He lives in Ilkley with his wife and their well-behaved labrador.
 
Our book is a guide to this district, and these pages give a taste of the contents. The posts on our blog provide extra insights into some places that were important to his development.

Use the 'Pages' links (top right) to see the contents of the book, to read excerpts from Chapters 1 & 4 and to order the book for £9.75, including postage.
 

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Was Lawrence proud of being an 'Old Nottinghamian'?



Lawrence went to Nottingham High School in 1898, when he won a county scholarship at the age of 13. He stayed there for three years, until he left to find work in 1901. Although the school records show him doing well in many subjects, it was clearly a financial strain for the family to pay for his season ticket and other expenses. At this time the school was much smaller than it is today, although its academic reputation was growing.

It is puzzling that Lawrence makes little use of his experience there in his novels. In the most autobiographical, Sons and Lovers, Paul seems to go straight from Board School to work, and it is only in The Rainbow when Ursula goes to school in Nottingham that his experiences seem to have been re-created, when she feels elation at escaping from the confines of her limited local school.

It has been suggested that Lawrence was unhappy in the middle-class atmosphere of the school, but this idea may be false. He was not the only boy on a scholarship, and it seems that he was part of a group who travelled together from Kimberley ever day.

This year the High School celebrates its 500th anniversary, and it now highlights the fact that Lawrence was a student there - something that it has not always mentioned. But How he felt about the school remains something of a mystery.