Thousands of knitted poppies created for display

Thousands of knitted poppies have been displayed on the front of West Hallam Village Hall ahead of Remembrance Day.

About 6,000 poppies were created for the display in the Derbyshire village, organised by the West Hallam Women's Institute.

The poppies have been sewn into a net that hangs from one of the building's chimneys.

Organiser Janet Wainwright said she was 'absolutely thrilled to bits' by how it looked and she was 'emotional' when it first went up.

"I was inspired by the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when they took the cut-out figures of the soldiers to Normandy and the plinths (of the statues) were surrounded by poppies knitted by the WI," she said.

"I knew we could all knit poppies and I had seen other examples of cascades and I thought, 'Well, I am sure we could do one in our village'."

The poppies have been knitted by WI members, residents, and friends of those involved.

"There is an important message behind it," Mrs Wainwright, 79, added.

"Most people my age might have fathers who fought in the war and families who lost somebody in the war.

"I think it is really important that we remember them."

Lynn Orme, 69, from the West Hallam WI, knitted several of the poppies.

"It is absolutely fabulous. I have been away at our granddaughter's and couldn't wait to get back to have a look at it," she said.

"This is a good reason to remember the fallen."

The cascade was put up on Saturday and Helen Patenall, 58, a WI member, helped sew the poppies on to the display.

She said: "There has been a nice atmosphere and it has been really meaningful for the village.

"It's beautiful and I am very proud of it."

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