Eastwood: Deep clean under way at D.H. Lawrence museum

A big deep clean always requires some elbow grease - and that is certainly the case for volunteers and staff at the birthplace of D.H. Lawrence.

The building in Victoria Street, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, is now a museum in the writer's honour.

But it takes hard work to keep the venue as it was when Lawrence was born.

The range in the kitchen and a piece of mahogany furniture are proving particularly arduous to clean ahead of the museum's reopening on 18 January.

"Cleaning the range is by far the dirtiest job," said Carolyn Melbourne, who is a museum and collections officer at the museum.

She added: "You need a mask, gloves and apron and still somehow you get black smudges somewhere on you.

"We do it yearly as part of our annual deep clean, but Lydia Lawrence, D.H. Lawrence's mother, would have done it every week."

A chiffonier, which is a type of sideboard, is also receiving the five-star cleaning treatment.

"It's made of solid mahogany and is quite a grand piece for a working-class family," Ms Melbourne added.

"I'm sure they would have been very proud of it, so the officers and volunteers undertaking the cleaning will ensure it is given the respect the family would have wanted for it.

"We have to check for any changes, such as deepening cracks, and inspect the environment for insects that might want to munch on it, like furniture beetles."

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