On this day 80 years ago, 16th November 1943, the villagers of Tyneham near Lulworth was evacuated to allow Allied military forces to prepare for D-Day. Despite promises that the evacuation was temporary, the UK lurched directly from the second world war into the Cold War and decided to keep the land to practice against the new “enemy” and former ally, the Soviet Union. Tyneham remains uninhabited, and remains within a live firing range. People may only visit when the Ministry of Defence are ready for them.
In a time when people are still being displaced by war across the world, we remember the villagers of Tyneham, and an occasion when the country displaced its own citizens. The ten tracks on this album contain music, song, and storytelling from around Dorset. With no voices left in Tyneham, all parts are performed by the same person, but throughout we hear the message from the locals: “We shall return one day”.
Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/user-343604096/sets/we-shall-return-one-day
It was a similar story in Wales at Epynt:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epynt_clearance