Hi, my name is Ellie Mitchell and I’ll be writing the occasional blog post for the museum, as well as working with Sarah on a bigger project centred on local women’s history (which is hopefully coming soon). I’m a final year English Literature student at the University of Nottingham and I’m currently writing my final essay on D H Lawrence, which is what brings me to the museum and to an area so full of literary history. Some of the most interesting parts of Lawrence’s writing aren’t actually the sex scenes (contrary to popular opinion), but the incredible social realism and...

The Legend of the Hermit of Dependale The small village of Dale Abbey has, as the name would suggest, originally a religious settlement. There are no records to explain how this history began, and the founding of the Abbey at Dale Abbey are steeped in myth. There is only one manuscript giving a history of the foundation: the Dale Chronicle, written by ‘Thomas de Muscam’ probably in the 13th Century. The only surviving copy of this manuscript is bound into the back of a later document, a Chartulary (or register) of the Abbey from the early 14th Century, now held in...

Sarah our student intern from University of Nottingham writes She enters through the main door, its stained glass windows reflecting the sunlight. Walking through the hallway, she's transported to the 1950's; a sweetshop appears, decorated with brightly coloured wrappers coating the larger chocolate of the past. Her eyes widen as she looks at the candy canes leaning in the tall jars and the round sweets glittering appetizingly. Before she gets even more excited, she reminds herself that they're not real. Only if they were though. Another few steps and she arrives in the Lally Gallery; there is something interactive about this...

Coal was one of the main reasons Britain’s industries developed quicker than any others’ during the Industrial Revolution. At coal mining’s peak in 1913, this industry consisted of about 2600 mines, producing 287 million tons of coal per year and employing a million people. The history of Erewash and surrounding areas is tied to coal to an extent easy to under-estimate today. Mining communities in the area were tight-knit: many collieries had their own sports teams, and miner’s brass bands were common. The Ilkeston Miner’s Welfare club opened in 1924, standing on the corner of Bristol Road and Manners Road; offering...