On to the third volume of songs resulting from Darren Hayman’s Thankful Villages project. The third village in this new volume is Meldon, Northumberland.

‘I’m not sure why it’s called a village’ says the landowner who finds us noodling around his silos. Crows squawk overhead and his long-eared dog licks our faces and microphones.

The theme of the school house will come to thread its way through Volume 3 of Thankful Villages and here we hear its first mention. It’s strange to imagine a school for so few houses and this idea of a remote place of learning stays with me.

David leads us into a soft fluttering melody and we leave for lunch.

Photographs by Chris Trew and Sarah Barnaby.

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Thankful Villages Vols. 1 & 2 are out now on Rivertones. You can buy physical copies here, or listen on Spotify.

Thankful Villages Volume 3 is released on 9 November, and is now available to preorder here.

Darren plays a special Thankful Villages show at the Union Chapel on 10 November.