Beatles' Strawberry Fields to Close ForeverPosted by Susan R at January 17, 2005 07:48 AM
AFPJan. 14, 2005 — Strawberry Fields, the English orphanage immortalized in the famous Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever," is to close soon.
The facility in the Woolton district of Liverpool in northwest England, where John Lennon played as a child in the wooded park, has been ordered to close, the Salvation Army said Wednesday.
The site inspired the words of "Strawberry Fields Forever," written by John Lennon in 1966 and released as a single on Feb. 17, 1967.
On Wednesday, the British Beatles Fan Club called for Lennon's widow Yoko Ono to intervene to save what it said has become "a pilgrimage site for many Beatles fans."
In 1984, Ono had donated 50,000 pounds (98,000 euros) to keep it open.
However the fate of the orphanage, where only three children are currently housed, appears to have been decided. Liverpool's city council and British National Heritage have said they would not save Strawberry Fields this time.