Poppies....

A few weeks ago I had cause to visit the Tower of London to see the new art installation "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" to commemorate the British war dead of the First World War... it seemed apt on this specific day to show the pictures....

Over the course of this summer the moat of the Tower of London has been filled, day by day, with 888,246 ceramic poppies - one for each of the British casualties in the war - designed by ceramic artist Paul Cummins and laid out to a design by stage designer Tom Piper..  the final poppy will be planted before the two-minute silence at 11am on the 11th.

What has impressed me so much though, and gladdened my heart, is the reception that the installation has received with the general public - we live in cynical times unfortunately, but this display will have been seen by up to four million people by the 12th November when it is expected to close (there are calls for it to remain for an extra week to allow people to see it)

All the poppies have been sold (my Dad has bought one) and the money will be distributed amongst six charities providing support to service personnel, veterans and their families; these include the Royal British Legion, and Help for Heroes - the government has said that it will waive value added tax on any sales - and it is expected that the sale of the poppies will raise in excess of £15m.

More here [clicky]