Коханець леді Чаттерлей

           Andnottillthelorrieswerepastcouldhesaluteherladyship.

           Soitwas.Upontheoldcrookedburgessstreetshordesofoldishblackenedminers’dwellingscrowded,liningtheroadsout.Andimmediatelyafterthesecamethenewer,pinkerrowsofratherlargerhouses,plasteringthevalley:thehomesofmoremodernworkmen.Andbeyondthatagain,inthewiderollingregionsofthecastles,smokewavedagainststeam,andpatchafterpatchofrawreddishbrickshowedthenewerminingsettlements,sometimesinthehollows,sometimesgruesomelyuglyalongthesky-lineoftheslopes.Andbetween,inbetween,werethetatteredremnantsoftheoldcoachingandcottageEngland,eventheEnglandofRobinHood,wheretheminersprowledwiththedismalnessofsuppressedsportinginstincts,whentheywerenotatwork.

           England,myEngland!ButwhichismyEngland?ThestatelyhomesofEnglandmakegoodphotographs,andcreatetheillusionofaconnexionwiththeElizabethans.Thehandsomeoldhallsarethere,fromthedaysofGoodQueenAnneandTomJones.Butsmutsfallandblackenonthedrabstucco,thathaslongceasedtobegolden.Andonebyone,likethestatelyhomes,theywereabandoned.Nowtheyarebeingpulleddown.AsforthecottagesofEngland--theretheyare--greatplasteringsofbrickdwellingsonthehopelesscountryside.

           ’Nowtheyarepullingdownthestatelyhomes,theGeorgianhallsaregoing.Fritchley,aperfectoldGeorgianmansion,wasevennow,asConniepassedinthecar,beingdemolished.Itwasinperfectrepair:tillthewartheWeatherleyshadlivedinstylethere.