Nottingham University Local History Seminars 2010-11

Nottingham University's School of History is running a series of Saturday Local History Seminars this autumn/winter. They start at 10am and admission costs £5. The programme is as follows:

• 9th October 2010 - Prof J V Beckett: The state of local history today
• 13th November 2010 - Sue Clayton: Counters and conflicts? Village shops c.1880-1954
• 11th December 2010 - Dr Kate Holland: The forgotten world of the choir-band
• 12th March 2011 - Prof David Hey: Surnames, DNA and family history

Further information is available on the School of History website.

Durban House, Eastwood, under threat again

It is depressing to read that the future of Durban House in Eastwood, home to the D H Lawrence Heritage Centre, is under threat yet again. Broxtowe Borough Council, who owns and runs the building, is trying to save money in the face of severe cuts to its budgets. Prominent figures in the arts such as Salman Rushdie, Glenda Jackson, Martin Amis, Lord Putnam and Ken Russell have published an open letter arguing "DH Lawrence is one of the world's most important writers and that he has a unique place in British culture that should be celebrated" and expressing their disquiet at the council's proposal to close the DH Lawrence heritage centre in his home town of Eastwood.

• Open letter in the Guardian
• Editorial in the Guardian
• BBC Nottingham news story

Laxton on TV

The open field system at Laxton was featured on the second episode of Michael Wood's fascinating series, the Story of England. The episode (and the previous one) can be viewed on iPlayer. Further details are available on the BBC FOUR website.
Other websites on Laxton:

• Laxton Visitor Centre
• Laxton medieval village learning resource
• Laxton Nottinghamshire