Like DH Lawrence, I was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, which is situated approximately 500 metres west of Giltbrook, where I now live.
In 1974, just after I got married, I noticed that the house where D.H. Lawrence was born had been put up for sale for £2,000. As soon as I saw it, I decided I wanted to live there, so I went to the estate agents and told them I wanted to buy it. Unfortunately, the local council had beaten me to it, deciding that they wanted to turn it into a museum, and they were going to convert the property to how it would have looked when Lawrence was a child. This was perhaps a wise move by the council, as I had plans to install central heating, and double glazing.