The label of Wealden studios, of Tonbridge. To judge by the few of its products that googling turns up, Wealden appears to have been a custom recording concern. Among all the records by school and church bands, however, it was responsible for at least a couple of collectable LPs, 'Let It Shine' by Christian / Folk band Wyndrush (WS-116; 1972) and Craig McLearie's 'Warp Factor' (WS-187; 1979). As far as 7" records are concerned, I have only been able to track down three. One was an EP of organ music by Richard Townend, 'The Parish Church Of St. Margaret, Lothbury' (WS-162; 1976), which was pressed by Pye. The other two were the first and third records in a Folk Dance EP series called 'Kentish Hops'. Numbering of these last EPs was in the KH-0s. KH-1 featured 'Trip To Tunbridge' and four other tracks by (Jim) Coleman, (Norman) Ellacott and (Rose) Sears, while KH-3 showcased six tracks by The Uplanders. The latter record dates from 1978; the former is reported to have been recorded in 1962, and may be the same EP which was issued without artist identification by the EDFSS as PR EP-315 in the first half of the 1960s. If the Wealden record exists - I haven't seen a picture of it - it may perhaps be a reissue. There was no label identification on KH-2, an EP by The Journeymen, and it appears to have been recorded in a different studio, so I have had to file it under 'Kentish Hops' (q.v.). Wealden LPs and EPs (and presumably singles, if there were any) shared the same WS-100 series. The company seems to have made records throughout the 1970s and at least into the mid '80s, by which time catalogue numbers had reached 230. Thanks to Sporidium of the 45cat site for permission to use his 'Uplanders' scan here.
Copyright 2014 Robert Lyons.