10,000 woollen poppies go on display in Nailsworth

 

Photo: Simon Jones

The town’s clocktower and a nearby tree have been draped with poppies voluntarily knitted by the town’s residents to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War.

 

Photo: Simon Jones

Nailsworth is twinned with French town Lèves, so there are also blue poppies in honour of their soldiers.

Firefighters took on the intricate task of putting up the poppies on Sunday, to the gratitude of Bob Warner and Jane Luff of the Daisy Jane clothing shop.

 

They have been coordinating the thousands of poppies they have had sent in to them by the community - many via the Tourist Information Centre - and have helped attach them to the strips now on the clocktower.
Mike Weager has made sure the poppies will survive the winter by waterproofing them.
He also painted the wood for the letters, which are a new addition to the display this year.

The idea for a knitted poppy display came last year from Tony Evans, the town crier for Nailsworth, and his wife Jenny.
They enlisted the help of Margaret Marshall, who runs Nailsworth Knitters, a small group that meets monthly. 
They put a call out on the Facebook group Nailsworth Chat & Information in about April 2017 and the response was overwhelming.
Members of the public were able to use a template pattern to help make the poppies, which are mostly made of red wool and black buttons, but knitters have also provided green woollen leaves. 
This year's display uses some of the poppies from last year's.
They had been stored by the fire service.

Jane Luff with the big poppy on the front of the clocktower

The final touch to the display - red lighting provided by Chinnick Theatre Services free of charge - will be installed on Thursday.

And then poppies on sticks will be 'planted' at the base of the clock tower on Sunday afternoon.
The display will be front and centre on the town's Remembrance Day in November.