THE children’s home immortalised in the classic Beatles hit Strawberry Fields Forever is to close.

John Lennon spent much of his youth playing in the orphanage’s grounds in the Woolton district of Liverpool close to the suburban home that he shared with his Aunt Mimi. Its name became the inspiration, and later a part of the band’s iconography; the song was released as a double A-side with Penny Lane in February 1967.

Beatles fans from across the world make the pilgrimage each year to take photographs outside the home’s 100-year-old wrought-iron gates. The spot has become a shrine to the late singersongwriter with messages and signatures, including those of Lennon’s sons, Sean and Julian, scrawled on the perimeter walls.

The Salvation Army, which runs the home, announced that it would close within two years, allowing time for the remaining three children to be found suitable placements. The home has been open since 1936 but the charity said that the closure reflected the changing approach to childcare: children were now being taken out of large institutions and being placed with foster families.

Major Marion Drew, the Salvation Army’s divisional leader in the North West, said: “Agencies involved in caring for children have always recognised that the best place for a child is to be brought up within a family, rather than a residential centre. Strawberry Field has served children and young people well over the years, providing accommodation and support for the future. But care for young people has moved on significantly and we are responding to that change.”

Ms Drew added that no decision had yet been made on the fate of the symbolic gates.

Strawberry Field’s overgrown flora and wildlife proved irresistible to Lennon, not least because his Aunt Mimi warned him against going there to meet his friends. Beatles experts also believe that Lennon felt a kindred spirit with the orphans of Strawberry Field because he was sent to live with his aunt in Menlove Avenue after his father walked out and his mother Julia felt that she could no longer cope.

The song, which was prevented from reaching No 1 by Engelbert Humperdinck’s Release Me, carried the line “Let me take you down ‘cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real and nothing to to get hung about, Strawberry Fields forever.”

The words “nothing to get hung about” were inspired by Aunt Mimi’s strictures not to play in the grounds. It has gone down in Beatles mythology that the young Lennon would reply: “They can’t hang you for it.”

There was bewilderment and much anguish among Beatles fans when the gates were stolen four years ago. Lennon left money to the home in his will and Yoko Ono, his widow, donated more than £50,000 in 1984 when the home was first threatened with closure.

Peter Burns, the home’s assistant manager, said: “It is very sad it should have to close, especially with its famous connection. Staff have already been saying: ‘So much for Strawberry Fields forever’.”

Mike McCartney, the brother of Sir Paul McCartney, said he would be sorry to say goodbye to such an institution. “I love the song Strawberry Fields,” he said. “It is sad the children’s home has to close.”

www.timesonline.co.uk/music
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