Our Remembrance Display is growing!

We are absolutely delighted by the enormous response to our Remembrance display. Across the village, people have been knitting, crocheting and felting poppies, in groups, with friends and family, and at home.

We now have more than 700 poppies, and the response has been truly incredible.

This is becoming a remarkable community undertaking, and our ambition is to create the largest Remembrance poppy display in the area.

And we’re not stopping there!

Alongside our traditional red poppies, we are creating several other colours, each helping us remember a different aspect of wartime history.

YELLOW POPPIES – REMEMBERING THE CANARY GIRLS

During both World Wars, huge numbers of women worked in Britain’s munitions factories, producing the ammunition and explosives desperately needed by the armed forces. Many of these women were known as the Canary Girls because their skin could become stained yellow by exposure to TNT. Their hair could also turn yellow, and the effects of working with toxic chemicals could be extremely serious.

The work was dangerous. Women handled explosives and other hazardous substances for long hours, often in difficult conditions. There were explosions and accidents in factories across the country, and some workers were killed instantly.

But the danger didn’t end when their shifts did. Exposure to TNT and other chemicals could cause serious long-term health problems. Some women developed toxic jaundice, which could be fatal, while others suffered lasting health consequences.

The Canary Girls played a vital role in Britain’s war effort, yet their contribution and the sacrifices they made are often less well known than those of soldiers on the battlefield. Our yellow poppies are a small way of remembering them.

WHITE POPPIES — REMEMBERING PEACE

White poppies represent the hope for peace and a world where future generations don’t have to experience the suffering and loss caused by war.

PURPLE POPPIES — REMEMBERING THE ANIMALS

Animals have served alongside people in wars for centuries, often putting themselves in extraordinary danger.

Our purple poppies remember all the animals who served, suffered and died in wartime. From Dogs to cats to horses and other less well known animals such as:

WOJTEK THE BEAR

Yes… a bear!

Wojtek was a Syrian brown bear adopted by Polish soldiers during the Second World War. He became part of their unit, travelled with them and was eventually officially enlisted. He is famously remembered for carrying ammunition during the Battle of Monte Cassino.

His story is extraordinary and absolutely worth reading.

CHER AMI — THE HEROIC CARRIER PIGEON

During the First World War, Cher Ami carried a desperately important message through enemy fire to help save around 200 American soldiers who had become trapped. He was badly wounded while making the journey but successfully delivered the message.

Cher Ami was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his bravery.

KEEP THOSE POPPIES COMING!

We now have over 700 poppies, but we’d love to see hundreds more!

(We plan to begin sewing the poppies onto our display net from 1ST OCTOBER, but please keep knitting, crocheting and felting right through until our deadline of the 1ST NOVEMBER.)

Every poppy helps us remember someone, whether a loved one, a soldier, a munition worker, a civilian, a peacemaker, or one of the countless animals that served alongside us.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has already contributed, whether you’ve made one poppy or dozens.

This is becoming something truly special and it’s being created by our community, one poppy at a time.

Let’s see just how big we can make it!