Eastwood, Greasley, Moorgreen Reservoir and Colliers Wood

Eastwood, the 'Bestwood' of his novel Sons and Lovers, is a bustling little town. Close behind the busy shops of Nottingham Road is Victoria Street - the walk begins here at number 8A, the Lawrence Birthplace Museum, where the author was born in 1885.

The house has been carefully restored to reflect the lifestyle of the Victorian working class, and Lawrence's own early childhood. Displays in the adjoining building provide a good introduction to the places Lawrence knew and wrote about, and the life of a coal miner in the 1880's. Lawrence's father, Arthur, worked at nearby Brinsley Colliery from the age of seven.

Along Nottingham Road is a modern public library. A local studies room houses an extensive collection of books by and about Lawrence, including the first editions which belonged to his friend William Hopkin. On display are various letters and Lawrence's desk.

The route next passes 8 Walker Street, where the Lawrence family lived from 1891 to 1902. From here, they moved to 97 Lynncroft Road, where Lawrence's beloved mother, Lydia, died in 1910. Young David attended the Beauvale Board School, now the Greasley Beauvale Infants School, from 1892 to 1898. He was the first pupil from the school to win a scholarship to Nottingham High School.

On your way out of Eastwood, you pass the Ram Inn of his first novel, The White Peacock, though the Ram Inn of Lawrence's Day was in the building opposite the present pub. Next, you reach countryside. The fields around the village of Greasley were where Love Among The Haystacks was played out, and still makes an attractive setting for Greasley's church. St Mary's has a 15th century tower, though much of today's building dates from the 19th century. Inside the church are two medieval glass roundels, depicting St Lucy and St Agatha, that were rescued from ruined Beauvale Priory. Nearby, one of the most interesting graves in the churchyard is that of Benjamin Drawwater, whose circumnavigated the world with Captain Cook.

Greasley was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and the Cantelupes of Greasley were a prominent local family in the 13th century. Edward III gave them permission to fortify their manor, which became known as Greasley Castle, and stood on the site of the present day, Greasley Castle Farm.

The route continues through the fields towards High Park Wood and the ruins of Carthusian Beauvale Priory, founded by Nicholas de Cantelupe in 1343. It flourished until 1535, when the priors John Houghton and Robert Lawrence, were executed at Tyburn for their refusal to renounce the Pope in favour of Henry VIII. All that remains now of the priory are fragments of the walls and a window above the buildings of Beauvale Abbey Farm. To view the ruins at close quarters, you must ask for permission at the farm.

On the other side of the wood, there are good views of Haggs Farm, a collection of low red buildings which nestle into the hillside up to Underwood. This was the home of the Chambers family, and Lawrence frequently visited there between 1901 and 1908. His relationship with young Jessie Chambers was a great influence on his early life and writing. The character of Miriam Leivers in Sons and Lovers was based on her. In the novel Haggs Farm became 'Willey Farm'.

The path descends to Felley Mill, the 'Strelley Mill' of The White Peacock. Only the foundations of some buildings are still visible and the millpond is overgrown, but is still a pretty spot.

Moorgreen Reservoir was built to supply the local canal network, and appears in several of Lawrence's novels as 'Nethermere' - in The White Peacock and Sons and Lovers and as 'Willey Water' in Women In Love. Lawrence based the drowning incident in Women In Love on a real life tragedy here. A bridleway goes through the wood alongside the reservoir.

You returned to Eastwood through Moorgreen Industrial Park, the site of Moorgreen Colliery, closed in 1985. The pit-head buildings have been demolished, and the winding wheel stands as a memorial at the entrance by the Moorgreen road. This was 'Minton Colliery' in Sons And Lovers, where it was described as a large mine among cornfields. The Colliers Wood site of 'rewilding' is also to be enjoyed on this section of the walk.

Back in Eastwood, you pass Garden Road, where the Lawrence family lived from 1887 to 1891, in the part of Eastwood known as 'The Breach'. The Morel family home in Sons And Lovers was based on this house, and the area renamed 'The Bottoms'. Quadrangles of terraced miners cottages, (the Squares, in Sons And Lovers), line the last part of the walk. Their size gives the idea of the life of the Victorian miners, but the houses have been modernised and their dim alleyw paved and set with trees.