A Royal British Legion branch is hoping to set a new world record with its Remembrance display formed of more than 80,000 hand-crafted poppies from around the globe.
The group in Skegness, Lincolnshire, have attached 84,673 poppies to five large nets and hoisted them up Altitude 44 – a 21m tall urban high-wire attraction in the seaside town.
Members of the community spent 10 months helping to craft the poppies, which have been knitted, crocheted and formed from the bottoms of plastic bottles.
The oldest volunteer, 99-year-old Eve Lister, knitted one poppy every three days, while one regular visitor to the group crafted 8,250 by herself.
The display is formed of more than 84,000 poppies
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TRACY TURNER/GB NEWS
The poppies have come from all over the world, including Australia, Monaco, Germany, the US, France, Belgium and every county in Britain.
It has more than doubled last year’s effort, which saw 37,082 poppies surround the clock tower in Skegness.
This year, the Royal British Legion branch hope to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest display of Remembrance poppies.
Vice-chair of the group, Tracy Turner, said: “Last year was really, really good and we tapped something into the community that maybe nobody knew was needed or wanted.
Tracy Turner said members of the community have spent 10 months helping to put together the display
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TRACY TURNER/GB NEWS“You have people from all walks of life, all age groups, all generations coming together in a situation they would never normally be in all for Remembrance.
“After last year I think somebody said ‘oh what are you going to do next year’ and I said ‘we’ll be bigger and better next year – we’ll be twice as big’.
The display was unveiled to the community on Saturday, alongside a large horse statute decorated with poppies by local school Skegness Academy.
Ms Turner said: “It was incredible. People were moved to tears. The horse especially got a lot of admiring comments and it was lovely that the school put it on the curriculum.
The poppies have been tied to five large nets
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TRACY TURNER/GB NEWS
“The installations go up at this time every year all around the country and it is just wonderful to see.
“Nobody’s in competition with anybody. It’s not about who’s got the biggest, the best or anything else, it is about remembrance and that is the important message.”
The high-altitude Remembrance display was put to test today as Storm Benjamin hit Skegness.
And with the exception of a few poppies, it held strong against the windy conditions.
The poppies have been knitted, crocheted or made out of the bottoms of plastic bottles
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TRACY TURNER/GB NEWS
“We’ve had the teams down there from 7.30am just making sure everything’s all right,” Ms Turner said.
“When the wind calms down, we’ll go back up and make sure it’s all nice and secure again.
“It looks lovely at the minute because when it’s flapping in the wind, it’s undulating like you see a field of flowers – it is truly spectacular.
“There was a few that came off. There was a scattering that came off but they’ve all been rounded up and they will go back up, but there was nothing major.”
