DH Lawrence's 100-year-old novel Sons and Lovers celebrated

A still from a 1981 BBC dramatisation of Sons and Lovers starring Lynn Dearth and Karl Johnson

Events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of DH Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers are due to take place in a Nottinghamshire town.

The writer, who also penned Lady Chatterley's Lover, grew up in Eastwood and used its people and places in his work as inspiration.

The 1913 novel is regarded by some critics as the author's finest work.

Events on Saturday and Sunday include a Lawrence walking tour, a street performance and a film screening.

Sons and Lovers was DH Lawrence's third published novel and told the story of Paul Morel and his relationships with two women, and his mother.

It is thought to be semi-autobiographical in its nature and based on Lawrence's relationship with his own mother, Lydia.

'Pioneering and controversial'

DH Lawrence is considered a hugely influential but controversial writer.

His most notorious work, Lady Chatterley's Lover, could not be published until 1960 in the UK because of its sexually explicit content.

The book sold out on its first day of publication.

Lawrence is the favourite novelist of many modern writers including William Ivory, who adapted Women in Love for BBC Four in 2010.

Mr Ivory said the Eastwood scribe, who died in France in 1930, was both great and brave.

Elizabeth Moran, House and Collections Officer at DH Lawrence Heritage, said Sons and Lovers was one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century.

She said: "He was a pioneering and controversial writer and one of the first people to write about working class life from an authentic 'insiders' perspective."

A 1960 film adaptation of Sons and Lovers, directed by Jack Cardiff, and starring Dean Stockwell, was filmed around Eastwood and Brinsley.

Some local people were used as extras during filming and have been encouraged to attend the weekend's events.

The BBC also adapted the book for TV in 1981, it starred Lynn Dearth and Karl Johnson.

The Breach House, known as The Bottoms in Sons and Lovers, is scheduled to open its doors on Saturday and Sunday.

All the events are part the National Heritage Open weekend and the annual DH Lawrence Festival, which runs until 21 September.