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Community Whitehaven · West Cumbria

5,000 knitted poppies are hanging off St Nicholas in Whitehaven, and it looks smashing 5,000 handmade poppies hang on St Nicholas Church in Whitehaven for Remembrance

By Kris WM, editor 3 min read From newsandstar.co.uk
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5,000 handmade poppies hang on St Nicholas Church in Whitehaven for Remembrance
Photo: Rude Health via Geograph / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

The Monday cuppa crowd at St Nicholas set out to knit a few poppies and ended up with 5,000. They're hanging on the front of the church on Lowther Street now, worth a look before Remembrance.

If you're in Whitehaven this week, get yourself down Lowther Street. It's worth seeing before Remembrance.

The front of St Nicholas Church is covered in 5,000 handmade poppies. It's for Remembrance Sunday on 8 November and Armistice Day on the 11th, remembering everyone who's died in conflicts since 1914.

It all started at Cuppa and Crack, the Monday morning drop-in at St Nicholas. Reverend Alison Dobell said: "At the beginning of the year, some of the people who attend Cuppa and Crack, which is our Monday morning drop-in at St Nicholas Church, thought about knitting and crocheting poppies for Remembrance Day."

Deacon Anne Taylor, a retired Methodist deacon, had done a poppy fall at her old parish in the North East, so she took charge and worked out how to get them all hung up. Everybody went home knitting and crocheting. They thought 3,000 would be plenty and ended up with 5,000. There's a soldier figure in the middle too, painted black so it stands out against all the red.

Have a look at the gates as well, there are purple, white and black poppies. Reverend Dobell said: "The purple are for animals, the white are for peace, and the black are for the minority ethnics who also fought in the war, people from Africa, India, and Pakistan."

She said they'd never had so many people commenting, and it's brought the church and the town closer.

So what can you do? Go and have a look, it's on Lowther Street. Sunday 8 November there are parades in Whitehaven, Workington, Cleator Moor, Egremont and Harrington, so watch for road closures. And the council's Remembrance page lists the help that's there for veterans and forces families.

People from the Parish of Whitehaven's Monday drop-in knitted and crocheted 5,000 poppies, now hanging on the front of St Nicholas Church on Lowther Street ahead of Remembrance Sunday on 8 November and Armistice Day on 11 November.

This is for anyone in Whitehaven looking for a quiet moment ahead of Remembrance, and for families who want to see something made by local hands.

The front of St Nicholas Church on Lowther Street is now covered in 5,000 handmade poppies. The display marks Remembrance Sunday on 8 November and Armistice Day on 11 November, and honours those who have lost their lives in conflicts since 1914.

It began with Cuppa and Crack, the Parish of Whitehaven's Monday morning drop-in at St Nicholas. Reverend Alison Dobell said: "At the beginning of the year, some of the people who attend Cuppa and Crack, which is our Monday morning drop-in at St Nicholas Church, thought about knitting and crocheting poppies for Remembrance Day."

Deacon Anne Taylor, a retired Methodist deacon who had made a poppy fall at her previous parish in the North East, led the idea and worked out how to fix the poppies to hanging material. People knitted and crocheted at home; there were around 3,000 at first, and the total reached 5,000. A soldier silhouette was repainted black so it stands out against the red.

On the gates there are purple, white and black poppies. Reverend Dobell explained: "The purple are for animals, the white are for peace, and the black are for the minority ethnics who also fought in the war, people from Africa, India, and Pakistan."

She said the parish had never had so many comments on a post, and that the project had strengthened links between the church and the wider community.

What you can do: walk past or call in at St Nicholas on Lowther Street to see the display. Cumberland Council's Remembrance page lists the support available to the armed forces community, and parades with road closures take place in Whitehaven, Workington, Cleator Moor, Egremont and Harrington on Sunday 8 November.