Thousands of handmade poppies will adorn Ulverston’s Coronation Hall to mark this year’s Remembrance.
The red and black yarn flower display will be installed this week after being created by dozens of knitting and crochet enthusiasts at home and during workshops at The Coro, which is owned and run by Westmorland and Furness Council.
Originally the crafters had hoped to create a waterfall of 10,000 poppies stitched onto a giant net to cascade down the town’s hilltop landmark, the Sir John Barrow Monument.
Their plans changed after Ulverston Town Councillor Graham Scrogham calculated that a tonne’s weight of wet wool could be whipped about in bad weather, plus five tonnes of wind load [force exerted by the wind] – causing potential damage to the historic Monument and injury to people.
Cllr Scrogham said: “The top of Hoad Hill is a windy place, even on the calmest day. It was felt that using the outside of the Coronation Hall as a place to display the poppies and also the war memorial – to put a very respectful display in that area – was more achievable.”
With poppy-making workshops already taking place at The Coro, hosted by Amy Whelan from the venue’s team alongside her regular Coro Craft Club, the idea made perfect sense. Rather than one large, heavy cascade, the front of the building will be decorated with individual wreaths of knitted and crocheted flowers, and the balcony will be covered in thousands of poppies.
The handiwork has been months in the making. Facebook group Poppies for Ulverston has more than 350 members and is run by Clare Parkin, a dinner lady and lollipop lady at Croftlands School, Ulverston – praised as “an unstoppable force of nature” by Cllr Scrogham.
“It will look gorgeous,” Clare said. “I stopped counting at 10,000 poppies and we are still getting them coming through. I reckon we have at least 15 to 16,000 from all over the world – Queensland in Australia, Spain, down south, up north.”
After this year’s Remembrance, Clare hopes to keep the momentum going with a knit-and-natter group so that people can continue to “get together and get out in the community”.
Councillor Helen Chaffey, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Customer Services, Culture and Communications, said she was delighted The Coro could offer a prominent backdrop for the display, to support the efforts of the poppy group.
“It is heart-warming to think of the community spirit that has gone into the making of all these poppies,” she said. “They are going to look wonderful and they will be seen by so many people as the town pays tribute to our Armed Forces community past and present this November.”
Many crafters have supplied their own yarn and Ulverston Town Council has given £1,000 for supplies, including packs for schools.
The Monument on Hoad Hill will still be part of the town’s Remembrance commemorations as it will be lit up with red patterns to evoke the look of poppies.