“Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields…”
The immortal opening lines to the Beatles famous “Strawberry Fields, Forever” 1967 classic.
When John Lennon wrote the song he wasn’t referring to distant ‘pick your own’ memories. He was drawing on childhood memories of playing in the garden of a nearby local children’s home called… Strawberry Field.
The Victorian house was gifted to the Salvation Army in 1934. In 1936 it opened as a children’s home.
The young John Lennon played in the grounds, enjoying fetes held there in Summer and carefree days messing about, climbing trees.
Today the Salvation Army still owns Strawberry Field and have recently opened it to the public. There’s the garden, the cafe, a shop and a museum, making it an exciting venue for anyone interested in the Beatles story.
Entrance to the gardens are free.
They are contemplative and peaceful with plenty of spots to sit quietly and ponder over quotes from songs.
The exhibition costs £10.95. This interactive exhibition contains over 4.5 hours of content to watch, listen and experience. It takes you through the history of Strawberry Field giving you a real insight and understanding of what the children’s home must have been like in the past and when John Lennon was playing in its environs.
On display is also the piano (gifted from the estate of the late George Michael) that John Lennon composed and recorded Imagine, the iconic peace anthem.
It’s fun learning to play the intro to the song on the virtual mellotron in the museum…
You may also enjoy reading;