Sea of 17,000 knitted poppies cover Macduff church in remembrance display
One Macduff woman has inspired knitters from all over the world to contribute to the impressive display.
Last updated 29th Jan 2024
What started five years ago as a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the first World War has spiralled into a wild garden of thousands of red knitted poppies.
It's all thanks to one Macduff woman who inspired people from all corners of the world to put their knitting needles together to contribute to the display.
Claire Nicholson, 48, started by knitting the flowers in 2018 and now four years later, over 17,000 knitted red poppies are blanketed over the grounds of Macduff Parish Church in a special remembrance day display.
People have been donating their crafted poppies at the local library or sending them by post with some arriving from Belgium, America and even Australia.
Claire who has been coordinating the project said: "we got from a 90-year old-lady the first year from Belgium. We've got from Australia, Canada, America.
"There was a lady who messaged me on Facebook and asked if it was the same photo display that she'd seen in her local library in Buffalo, Massachusetts last year. She was too late to knit last year but she's started knitting now."
It all began with a meeting involving local youth groups as they discussed what they could do to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the first World War.
Claire initially wanted to knit 20 poppies for her Rainbows group, which she thought would take her a whole year.
After posting on social media asking for help support came flooding in.
The huge collection of poppies are attached together with fishing nets - the local coastguard help lay them into position each year.
Claire continued: "Just anyone and everyone seems to want to get involved it's just amazing.
"Last year we thought we'd have enough to cover the area and discovered that we didn't and would probably need another 13,000 because that's what we had originally.
"We had to cut all the nets and I keep looking at empty spaces and thinking I need to fill all these spaces!"
"I like to shy away but I'm just happy that people get some enjoyment from it and understand what it's about."
Claire is hoping to expand the project even further in the coming years.