Cossall: Through the Fields to St. Catherine's Church

The day before, I'd been shown round the inside of St. Catherine's church by a very kind man and woman, chatting about how it had helped to inspire pivotal scenes from D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow.

During the chat, my kind hosts advised me to visit St. Catherine's again but this time by walking through the fields:

As it would again give me a sense of why Lawrence loved this area so much (during his courtship with Louie Burrows - often viewed as the inspiration for Ursula Brangwen, the heroine of The Rainbow and Women in Love).

When I reached St. Catherine's the second time round, outside, I found myself noticing other things such as a small wooden cross:

And the Yew trees:

Which seemed to form a boundary separating the church from Church Cottage where Louie Burrows had lived, all those years ago.

Yeah, it was satisfying to visit this church a second time:

To help visualise key scenes from The Rainbow (e.g. Anna laughing at Will's singing during a church service, and Tom Brangwen giving Anna away to Will on their wedding day).

Upon leaving St. Catherine's this time round:

I spent more time observing the Willoughby Almhouses:

Marvelling at how much rich English culture and history Cossall contains, as a small village.

Walking back up the lane away from the heart of Cossall, I took my last shot of St. Catherine's church from a distance:

It was a pleasure to have visited the place twice. 

Lawrence Country: Nottingham and Erewash Canals

In and around Cossall village (famous for sites that inspired D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow) recently, I enjoyed walking at the side of the canal, imagining that Lawrence must've done the same during his courtship with Louie Burrows.

Have just discovered that it is Nottingham Canal that passes through the Cossall area:

While the Erewash Canal runs through Ilkeston nearby:

Much prefer a canal making its way through the countryside, it must be said.

Cossall Marsh: Visualising D.H. Lawrence's Prose Poem

From a distance, on a busy road, I glimpsed an old railway track towering above what seemed to be Cossall Marsh, with the canal weaving its way through the marshland.

Taking in this incredible scene, I was inevitably taken back to the incredible prose poem that starts The Rainbow, D.H. Lawrence's masterpiece, which describes how the railway and mines (as signs of industrial/social progress) start to encroach on and threaten the traditional agricultural land/lifestyle at Cossethay (Cossall).  

It was for this kind of sight/experience that I'd travelled from my hometown, Bury (Lancashire), and current city, Warsaw (Poland), to visit Cossall and Ilkeston (major parts of Lawrence Country on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border).

Ilkeston Town Centre: Interesting/Varied Architecture

While visiting Cossall (a village of massive D.H. Lawrence significance in Nottinghamshire), I also visited the town of Ilkeston (Derbyshire) nearby as Lawrence did teacher training here between 1904 and 1906.

Walking from Ilkeston train station to the town centre, I noticed the kind of red-brick places that Lawrence sometimes mentions in The Rainbow:

And after a steep ascent in the town centre itself, I reached the Market Place Square where St. Mary's church holds pride of place:

Have just read that the church dates back to the mid-12th century.

In its high position, overlooking the Market Square, the church looked like a crown on the head of Ilkeston.

While trying to find an entrance, which bizarrely I never came upon, I came across a Memoriam to the Ilkeston men who fell during the First World War:

The whole of the top Market Place was pleasing to the eye:

But the building that possibly caught my attention the most lay a few streets away, the Scala Cinema:

Have just read that it dates back to the early 20th century.

And even an industrial-looking building, nearby, appeared photogenic:

Yeah, I found some interesting/varied architecture in Ilkeston town centre.

Camping in D.H. Lawrence Country

Before visiting the Lake District, I went for a few days in Cossall to look at a few sites which influenced D.H. Lawrence when he was writing his magnum opus, The Rainbow.

The campsite I stayed on was pricey but top notch, with state of the art bathrooms and the peace/almost solitude that I was after.

Being an organic farm, the place had a positive quirky side to it, for example, keeping chickens in a caravan:

But more than anything, it offered me the platform to explore both the Cossall countryside area and Ilkeston, the town nearby.

Saying Goodbye to the Lake District

After a hearty breakfast and passing the church building above, which seemed to have been converted into a house or flats, it was time to say goodbye to Kendal (the southern gateway to the Lake District) and the whole Lake District itself, as we made our way round to the train station:

Not being able to find a toilet at the station, I had to go looking for a suitable spot nearby to relieve myself (such is the state of modern-day Britain, sadly).

On the train journey south, we were able to reflect on our kind of circular, six-day (North-South) Lake District trip which had taken in:

* Passing through Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere, Rydal etc. 

* Keswick (Greta Hall and Derwent Water)

* A Keswick to Workington bus ride (passing Bassenthwaite Lake and through Cockermouth)

* A Workington-St. Bees train ride along the coast, passing through Whitehaven

* St. Bees (the Abbey, village, and first few miles of Wainwright's Coast-to-Coast Walk), the jewel in the crown of our trip

* St. Bees-Barrow train ride, again along the coast (seeing lots of mudflats) and Barrow-Ulverston bus ride.

* Ulverston for the Laurel and Hardy memorabilia and warm, photogenic town centre.

* An Ulverston-Coniston van ride, seeing lots of gentle hills, streams, hamlets etc.

* Coniston (Donald Campbell memorabilia, visiting the Sun Inn, a kind of wild camp etc.)

* And finally Kendal with its great architecture and Wetherspoons 

After passing through Preston, the landscape started to become much bleaker and when I got off at Bolton (heading for Bury), the demographic disaster of modern-day Britain came into full view (my friend, Dave, stayed on the train until Manchester Airport (heading back to Ireland).

Kendal Town Centre

 As far as town centres go, I was well impressed with Kendal:

The 19th century Town Hall building seems to take centre stage in Kendal town centre, and for every historical building/feature we encountered, there was usually a plaque to explain things:

What a fantastic idea to have such a system for explaining things (although I can't remember if all the pictures and explanations above correspond correctly).

Everywhere you look in Kendal town centre, there seems to be an interesting building: 

The church-type building below, next to Holy Trinity Parish Church, is now a fencing club: