Teversal Manor

Teversal Manor, near Mansfield, is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Wragby Hall In DH Lawrence's 1928 novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover. Constance Chatterley lives there. And the gardener, Oliver Mellors, is the lover in question.

In a trip to England that was sponsored by British Airways we journalists were given a tour of some of the literary sights. Teversal Manor was a place that inspired me to take this picture using Kodak Infrared Film in a swivel lens panoramic camera, a Widelux.

We had been previously taken to Eastwood which was D.H. Lawrence’s place of birth. It had been at one time a bustling mining town. The place sort of depressed me. It was at Teversal Manor that my spirits picked up. Perhaps part of my melancholy is that Lawrence has always reminded me of my writer father who also drank as Lawrence did.

I have a friend who lives in Buenos Aires who writes in beautiful Spanish. Of my blogs she writes below:

Me encanta leerte y ver como entrelazas activamente tus hilos, por nimios que parezcan en el momento, para crear una tela coherente, reflexionada y consciente. Creo que pocas personas lo hacen. Creo que todos deberíamos hacerlo. Pero supongo que cada uno tiene capacidades distintas, y misiones acorde.

In short she likes the fact that I connect stuff that at first might not seem like anything is in common.

As I read her letter I immediately thought of that garden and of librarians. Not too long ago retired bookseller Celia Duthie who lives in Saltspring Island in British Columbia took me to show me the brand new public library. There was a lovely and young woman at the desk. She was wearing glasses. I could not resist. I asked her, “Do you have a copy of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover?” She asked me to repeat the author’s name. She looked him up and told me, “No we have nothing on on him."

I have this fantasy (It has been with me for many years) of bespectacled women librarians wearing sturdy Dr. School’s shoes who upon leaving the establishment become the swans they really are.

My friend in Buenos Aires wears black eyeglasses.