A Wave of Poppies

[Horus]

You folks have probably read on here many times of how I enjoy my country walks with Annie and how I love to see our national heritage preserved. You will have seen in many posts of mine over the years where I will drive to a place several miles away just to walk along a particular stretch of the Trent & Mersey canal. I do this because it passes through the heart of what used to be many famous pottery making factories, sadly most have now gone, the one in the video is now a working heritage museum. The majority depended upon this canal to transport their wares onward to the rest of the world and to bring in raw materials and it is this canal shown in this short video that I often walk along to take photographs of the old buildings and bottle kilns, in particular the one shown here. I had intended to go along and take some photographs myself and do a little write up about this event, but sadly time got in the way. So I have found this interesting video that hopefully says it all to you.
PS. I like to watch it full screen by clicking the square icon on the video

phpBB [video]

[Grandad]

Fantastic H and appropriate for the poppies to be at the heart of our industrial heritage. Thanks for the link to the lovely video...
Four years ago there was a similar display at The Tower of London to mark the centenary of the start of WWI. I believe there are several similar displays this year around the country, like the one at Middleport, to mark the centenary of the end of WWI.
We will be in Staffs for the last weekend in October. I would have liked to visit Middleport Pottery but time will be limited and our daughter and SiL want to go to The National Memorial Arboretum and Fradley Junction. But still on the Trent Mersey canal. Both are places that we have been to in the past and they are keen to see both places as we told them how we enjoyed our visit.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Beautiful H! Thanks for sharing.

[Horus]

Grandad, I believe that the poppies are from the Tower of London display

[Mad Dilys]

I have a friend who made me a video of the Windsor Poppy Memorial, a superb work of art. She told me that all the individual flowers would be sold and no more would be available.

I've just checked here: https://www.wherearethepoppiesnow.org.uk/faqs/ and they do say that as each poppy represented an individual life, no more could be made as part of this display.

888,246 Poppies were sold, one for each life and raising millions of pounds for charity.


The beautiful new Weeping Window has it's own Poppies.

[Grandad]

Not wishing to intrude on your thread H, this is a video about the Tower of London poppies.
https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/ ... gs._w1o6JE
As MD says, they were all sold at £25 each raising many millions for specified charities. One of those would have been for my maternal grandfather who was torpedoed in the north sea on 22 September 1914, just 56 days after the start of the war. And that was 8 days before my mothers first birthday; had she survived until today she would have been 105, a pointless observation really.

[Mad Dilys]

Not pointless at all Grandad, It's personal touches like that emphasise the horrendous scale of suffering that war brings in it's wake. The brave soldier/sailor gave his life and the agony of losing him brought about another kind of tragedy, the family survive but the dynamic is changed for generations. God Bless them all wherever they may be.


The proof is that over 100 years later, we are still talking and remembering personal things about those who were lost AND those who loved them.

[Horus]

Sorry to correct you both, but they are poppies from the Tower of London display regardless of what you were told about them all being sold. Many of them were made locally to where this display was actually held, so they were returning home again as a part of this and several other displays being held around the country, London does not have a monopoly on them, you may read about it in this article.
https://www.signal1.co.uk/news/local/hu ... c-display/

[Grandad]

I stand corrected. I was just speaking from memory of how long it took to get all the poppies packed and posted in 2014/5.

[Mad Dilys]

Well Grandad I'm confused too it seems

The Radio Station says they went back, but the organisation making a current map of where the purchased Windsor Poppies ended up has a Facts Page where it says

Can I add my story to the website even if I do not own a poppy?

The site is designed for those who own a poppy to plant it and share their story. However, those who do not own a poppy can still browse the site, comment & like others’ stories and share with their friends.

Can I still buy a poppy?

All the poppies from the original artwork were sold to members of the public in 2014. As each one represented a life, there will be no new poppies made or available to buy. The two sculptures which formed part of the original installation were purchased for the nation in the same way as the individual poppies by the Backstage Trust and Clore Duffield Foundation. At the end of the tour in 2018 they will go into the long term ownership of the Imperial War Museum.

https://www.wherearethepoppiesnow.org.uk/faqs/
So I guess you pays your money and takes your choice - I'm sure in the Great Importance of Things it doesn't matter at all.

[Horus]

I post a video of the weeping poppies and it turns into a debate as to whether or not they are the real ones from London They may have been sold off to the public and they may have only made a certain amount, but no one had any claim on who could actually buy one and neither does it mean they were all sold to individuals and therefore there are none left. Many plans were made for these future displays and as such they will have set aside a sufficient amount (of the original quantity) for display elsewhere. As I said, it doesn’t all revolve around London, many others fought and died for this country including relatives of mine so why should their local poppy display not contain the real ones?

[Grandad]

I don't think it really matters where the poppies in the touring displays came from. What does seem to be clear is that the poppies from the two displays, Wave and Weeping Window, will all go into the keeping of the IWM.
Whatever the facts of who owns what, I believe that the displays over the last 4 years have been a fitting reminder of that 'War to end All Wars' and no doubt added to the historical knowledge of younger generations.

[Hurghadapat]

Sorry to correct you both, but they are poppies from the Tower of London display regardless of what you were told about them all being sold. Many of them were made locally to where this display was actually held, so they were returning home again as a part of this and several other displays being held around the country, London does not have a monopoly on them, you may read about it in this article.
https://www.signal1.co.uk/news/local/hu ... c-display/

Sorry to butt in but thought you might be interested in this as it tells you what poppies have been kept..........https://www.1418now.org.uk/commissions/poppies/about/

[Mad Dilys]

Ah I didn't know what the two statues were - so they were poppies at the Tower, is that right?

So three sets of poppies, two as "statues" and one as a field for the fallen?


Amazingly ingenious concept most beautifully created, a new classic methinks.


PS Nice to see you here Pat.

[Grandad]

Thanks Pat. Your link clears up any confusion about where the touring poppies came from. Hope you will look in more often.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I wish we had something here where there were displays of poppies. I think they're beautiful and a very dramatic reminder of what was before.

[Mad Dilys]

When I was a child there were always poppies in the corn fields until the advent of chemical weed control when they quietly slipped out of view except for a very few around the field edges. Until...……………..

Motorways were cut across the country and the latent poppy seeds sprang into life on the verges and embankments, more poppies than I had ever seen in my life. It only lasted a couple of years as although poppy seed remains viable for a very long time it only starts into growth when it's very near the surface. I'm so glad I Had the chance to see it.

[Mad Dilys]

Oooops! Double post.

[Horus]

Thanks Pat that confirms what I said about them being a part of the London display, it would have been the surrounding 'field of poppies' that were sold off whilst the central displays were kept for the nation.
As others have said it would be nice to see you post on here more often

[Hurghadapat]

Thanks for your welcome.......have looked in here on almost a daily basis for quite a long time now and enjoy your banter,so maybe i will participate more.... now i've broken the ice.