Tyneham lost village

I have long been fascinated by lost and abandoned communities, stemming, I think, from my childhood when the valley near to the hamlet where we had a house was flooded to provide drinking water for the city of Leeds. The family of my friend Hilary, the farmer's daughter, were buried in the churchyard and we attended the final service before the church was deconsecrated. I think that some tombs were moved but the majority remained to be lost to the rising water. I don't know how long it took for the valley to fill but I remember some time later picking gooseberries from an abandoned garden. Since then I've walked around a number of abandonded villages. All of them seem to have been built in beautiful places and have the same quality of stillness and loss about them. One we have returned to many times is in Corfu. On our first visit, many years ago in springtime, we had to push our way through wildflowers and clouds of butterflies. With each return visit more and more houses were being reoccupied and the last time we were there a small café had opened and was doing good business, but somewhat spoiling the atmosphere that had once captured my heart! Last week we went to explore the village of Tyneham, its history quite different from that of the Corfiots, who left their homes of their own volition. Tyneham village was requisitioned by the army during the Second World War. The villagers were promised that they could return to their homes after the war but this never happened and the whole area remains with the military and is open to the public only on certain days. The former village life has been well documented.

The church remains in service.

John Gould's letter tells us how the villagers felt about the loss of their homes and community. It must be heartbreaking to see your former home reduced to a shell.