Schoolchildren create display of poppies from recycled plastic bottles ahead of Remembrance services
Dryburgh Abbey is waiving its admission fees to allow public to view...
Our region is set to fall silent this weekend as it stops to remember its fallen from two world wars, and the conflicts in between.
Remembrance services are set to take place across the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland on Sunday.
Local schoolchildren have created more than 1,300 poppies from recycled plastic bottles for a special display at Dryburgh Abbey - the final resting place of Lady Haig, who ran the first poppy factory in Scotland.
The poppy as a symbol of remembrance was started by the American humanitarian Moina Michael, who was inspired by Lt Colonel John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields, describing the small plants growing on the graves of soldiers buried in northern France and Belgium during World War One.
The schools involved were: Earlston Primary School (P6/7), St Peters Primary School (P6/7), Melrose Primary School (P6/7), Tweedbank Primary School (P6/7), St Boswells Primary School (P6/7), Edenside Primary School (P4/5), Langlee Primary School (P6/7), Denholm Primary School (P4/5 and P6/7), Burgh Primary School (P7), Lauder Primary School (P6/7), Knowepark Primary School (P7), Newtown Primary School (P6/7), and Drumlanrig Primary School (P6/7).
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Michael Kay, District Visitor Community Manager for the South Region at Historic Environment Scotland, said: “Our first trial of the Poppy Appeal Project has been incredibly successful, and we’re definitely looking to do it again. It’s been wonderful getting to work so closely with the communities and to show them that Dryburgh Abbey is relevant in many different ways.
“I am very grateful that my team here at Dryburgh and so many fantastic teachers and pupils across the Borders have really embraced this project. There’s been so much enthusiasm, both within our team and from everyone we met, and it’s just been an absolute joy to work on.
"Getting to speak to so many schools about Earl and Lady Haig, and the incredible story of the remembrance poppy, has been a privilege.”
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To ensure that everyone who participated in the project can view the final display and pay their respects if they so wish, Dryburgh Abbey will be free for admission from Saturday, November 9th, to Sunday, November 17th.
The display will be taken down from Monday, November 18th, and regular admission fees will be in place from then.
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