Welcome to the Witchwood Records website
Witchwood Records was set up by David Cousins, singer-songwriter and leader and a founding member of Strawbs to make, promote, and release his remaining works after his death, which sadly occurred in July 2025.
Working together with Strawbsweb and his own and Strawbs FaceBook pages, this website will be posting information about upcoming initiatives, as well as David’s songs and other memories. Please send any relevant information to admin@witchwoodrecords.com to be posted, as appropriate.
David Cousins
For newcomers to Strawbs, David Hindson was born on 7 January 1940. After his father was killed in action in the World War II, when David was seven months old, he was brought up by his mother and grandmother until his mother married Jack Cousins, when he was six. Taking his father’s surname, and living in Chiswick, he attended the Thames Valley Grammar School, where Tony Hooper, a future member of Strawbs. He went on to study Statistics and Pure Mathematics at the University of Leicester, before beginning his career which eventually led to his many years with Strawbs, as well as a career in radio. Later on, he founded Witchwood Media Limited, an independent record and publishing company, until its catalogue was sold to Cherry Red Limited.
David’s music and legacies
Throughout his career with Strawbs, David wrote numerous songs that appeared on his albums, both solo and in collaboration with other members of Strawbs and other musicians. Many are available on Strawbs albums such as Two Weeks Last Summer, Old School Songs, and other items in the Strawbs discography, including Grave New World, Hero and Heroine and Ghosts.
In January 2023, David was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the University of Leicester, and he made his final live appearance at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention.
During the latter years of his life, David had been a Trustee and strong supporter of the Commonwealth Medical Trust (Commat) and, as part of his legacy a David Cousins Scholarship for Emerging Arts Talents has been set up at the University of Leicester and a Music Scholarship at Bangor University. The website will provide information on initiatives in support of these during the coming months, so please check back regularly to see what is being posted.