Harlaxton 2016: D.H. Lawrence Field Trip

By: Tyler Smith

This morning we departed from the Harlaxton Manor to travel to Eastwood, England to visit the birthplace of D.H. Lawrence. Lawrence is a realistic fiction writer from the early 1900’s who writes about the darker, more scandalous side of life. Growing up in the coal-mining town of Eastwood, he was provided with a great amount of inspiration from the rugged and distinct characters he was surrounded by. His mother was an intelligent house-wife, very intent on educating her children, and his father was a common coal-miner, hard-working and simple in lifestyle.

It was an amazing experience to see the town D.H. Lawrence grew up in as it gave me a lot of insight on what went into the novels he wrote. Like many other novelists, D.H. Lawrence wrote about what he knew, and for him, it was the life of coal-miners. One of his novels, Sons and Lovers (a novel I recently acquired and have enjoyed), is simply an autobiographical story about himself and his family with a slight fictional twist. Another piece of his work, this time a short story titled “The Odour of Chrysanthemums,” details the real story of his uncle’s death in a coal mining accident and the response of his aunt, again, with a slight fictional twist. Lawrence combined his real world experiences and dark yet engaging writing to create a number of different captivating novels and short stories, which I myself have come to greatly enjoy.

I learned all of this information about Lawrence from the museum located at Lawrence’s birthplace, and aside from taking in all this knowledge, I was also able to purchase a copy of Lawrence’s novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover, for a mere two and a half pounds, and look upon the beautiful country side that surrounded the small community of houses. It was an amazing trip, and one of my favorite we’ve taken while in England. I am glad I was able to learn so much about an author that is quickly becoming one of my favorites, and I’m glad the academy chose this as one of the stops. I believe next year’s students will enjoy this trip as much as I did.