D. H. Lawrence county feels the pinch
In times of economic crisis even the string pulling power of legendary archer Robin Hood cannot protect the heritage of my home county of Nottinghamshire.
D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)
The latest potential victim of local government spending cuts is Durban House, a heritage centre dedicated to the writer D. H. Lawrence and situated in Eastwood, the coal mining town of his birth. The facility is under threat after Broxtowe, one of the local district councils, revealed plans to slash £60,000 (around US$100,000) from its budget.
Famous for his novels including Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Lawrence was a commentator on the social conditions of his time and his writing is steeped in the coal mining heritage of the East Midlands. Durban House is a venue for historical exhibitions and is popular with school study groups.
Dr Sean Matthews, of the D. H. Lawrence Society Board and head of the D. H. Lawrence Research Centre at the University of Nottingham, has called the move “short-sighted”. Speaking to the Nottingham Evening Post, he said, “There’s very little information being made available by Broxtowe Borough Council. These are discussions that seem to be taking place behind closed doors about an amenity that’s a public facility.”
The council says local people who fund Durban House from local taxes would have the opportunity to comment on the budget proposal, which will be discussed by councillors next week.
The Tales of Robin Hood, a centre dedicated to the legendary outlaw in the centre of Nottingham City, closed in 2008 because of a rent funding crisis.
Newstead Abbey, the former ancestral home of the famous Nottinghamshire writer Lord Byron, is constantly in need of costly repairs although it was bought and donated to the county by philanthropist Sir Julien Cahn in 1931.
UPDATE, February 18: The Nottingham Evening Post reports that the D. H. Lawrence heritage centre is a step closer to closing after members of Broxtowe Borough Council’s cabinet voted to cut the £60,000 it pays for the running of Durban House. Local residents who observed the budget-setting meeting were “appalled’ that the subject was not discussed and debated. It was mentioned in passing by Councillor Milan Radulovic, leader of the Labour group, who said he supported charges in council car parks before making cuts to jobs and services. The fate of the centre might now depend on the management committee finding another source of funding.
Read D. H. Lawrence’s short story A Sick Collier.
Tags: D. H. Lawrence, heritage, literature, Nottinghamshire, Robin Hood, writing
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culture, writing
