Worcestershire village knit over 6,000 poppies as a tribute for Remembrance and Armistice Day

The design is on display at St Peter's Church in Inkberrow

St Peter's church in Inkberrow has seen over 200 people help with the design
Author: Elliot BurrowPublished 11th Nov 2024

A church in Worcestershire has made their own special tribute for this year's Remembrance and Armistice Day by knitting over 6,000 poppies, and displaying them from the top of their tower.

Over 200 people in total have teamed up to create the design which is at St Peter's in the village of Inkberrow.

The idea, which was originally started by Melanie Hart and Tina Hill, aimed to have 4,000 poppies created, but by the end of March they had already received 1,000, before eventually hitting their target in April.

Since being put on display to the public the church say they've had over 1,000 visitors, with people coming from all over to see it.

"We just can't believe the interest," Melanie said.

"I think it's really important we remember our fallen, and I had seen the cascade at the Tower of London, and after hearing the reverend here at the church speak about it I thought that could be something we could do.

"After holding our first get together in March and getting those first 1,000 poppies, we just thought wow, we're a quarter of the way there, but we soon realised when we got to the 4,000 mark and started sewing them on that 4,000 actually wasn't going to be enough."

Both Melanie and Tina approached Reverend Ian Perry last December to ask for permission to produce the design for the church before setting out on the project in January this year.

"We've met so many different people in the village that we've never met before," Tina said.

"Everyone has joined in, knitted poppies, sewn on poppies, the Inkberrow Women's Institute have been great with their support as well, it's just been amazing."

Reverend Ian Perry says it's an incredibly moving piece that has been produced.

"When you saw the actual poppies in bags of a hundred, you never realised how big it was going to spread," he said.

"At the various different times you come down, you see it in a different light, whether that be early night or dusk, if there's a slight breeze and the netting is rippling.

"I never expected it to be so big and to have the impact it has had, we've had people from Cardiff come to visit, we've had contact from over in America asking for knitting patterns for the poppies, it's just been absolutely amazing seeing everyone get involved."

Events to mark Armistice Day are taking place across Herefordshire and Worcestershire today, with some being held in Worcester and Hereford, along with Leominster, Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye and Bromyard.

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