Our Song of the Day is the wonderfully pastoral Rookery Wood from the album Tyneham House that was jointly released by two very excellent small independent labels: Clay Pipe Music and Second Language back in January 2012. The artwork was by the ilustrator Frances Castle who also runs Clay Pipe Music. The musicians have all featured on Second Language but remained anonymous on this release, a symbolic response possibly to the now derelict Tyneham. This is in the release notes:
The musicians are happy, however, to let it be known that these recordings have been around for some years (many of them complied from old cassettes) and that they take inspiration from the 1960s/’70s/’80s work of the Children’s Film Foundation – a body who really ought to have made a film about this mysterious West Country curio. At least now we have its endlessly poignant soundtrack.
Tyneham is a small village based on the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset that has been left frozen in time. In 1943 the 225 residents were ordered to leave their village under secrecy so the government could take it over for military training on the run-up to D-Day. Despite being promised they could return the cold war and Atlee government kept the village on for military purposes.
According to the release notes “Land access around Tyneham was opened up in the 1970s, but admission to the house remains strictly verboten. Those who’ve been found around the premises, especially anyone wielding a camera, have felt the full weight of military trespass law. Tyneham today is regarded as a nature reserve by some – as a national embarrassment by others. It’s still a political hot potato, in Dorset at least.”
The album is now Sold Out but you can still obtain the album digitally via Bandcamp.
www.claypipemusic.co.uk
www.secondlanguagemusic.com