John Lennon and Yoko Ono fly to Aalborg, Denmark

John Lennon and Yoko Ono flew to the small city of Aalborg in Denmark on this day.

They stayed with Ono’s first husband Tony Cox, his new wife Melinde, and Kyoko, Cox and Ono’s six-year-old daughter. Lennon and Ono remained with the Coxes in their farmhouse in Ellidsbølvej over the new year period, returning to England on 25 January 1970.

The address of the farmhouse was Ellidsbølvej 37, near Vust in the Hanherred area of North Jutland in Denmark. For a time Lennon revelled in the anonymity of being out of the public eye.

Their presence in the village eventually attracted interest, however, and a press conference was held on 5 January. They performed a Danish folk song called O Kirstelighed, and pledged to donate all their future royalties to their peace campaign.

During his stay in Denmark, Lennon decided to withdraw his support for the International Peace Festival, announced to be held in Canada in 1970 but which never took place, unless the promoters agreed to waive an entrance fee. He also decided to crop his hair to an inch. He and Ono did this in Denmark on 20 January.

Lennon gave Cox a cassette containing 25 minutes of compositional demos for ‘She Said She Said’. This was auctioned at Christie’s on 30 April 2002 for £58,750. Lennon also gave him a second tape containing recordings of him and Kyoko singing and improvising stories, which later sold for £75,250.

Two further tapes from this period, known as Denmark III and Denmark IV, were auctioned in 2003. The first contained 16 minutes of recordings from the Lennons’ stay, including Kyoko singing with John and Yoko.

Denmark IV lasts for 30 minutes, including 13 of Tony Cox playing a Jew’s harp. The remaining 17 minutes contained Lennon and Kyoko inventing stories and songs together.