100,00 poppies display
Posted: 11 May 2015, 08:17
100,000 poppies used to create remarkable sculptures of soldiers on display in Blackburn
THEY are a symbol of remembrance.
And a total of 100,000 poppies, the type normally pinned to coats and collars in November, have been used to create some remarkable sculptures of soldiers.
The work is the painstaking effort of sculptor Martin Waters and is one of two poppy-themed exhibitions currently on display at Blackburn Cathedral.
Mr Waters’ work is entitled Fallen and depicts eight figures, each representing a soldier.
He said: “I wanted to create something large enough to describe the immense empathy people have towards those killed in or as a result of war and conflict.
“I wanted to emulate the poppies growing in the fields of Flanders after the battles of the First World War.
“As I walked through this beautiful building the words of the old memorials echo in my thoughts, ‘lest we forget’.”
Mr Waters, who is from Hull, has already shown his work in Harrogate, Whitby, Scunthorpe and Belgium.
A second exhibit, entitled Field of Poppies: Zones of Conflict: Hopes for Peace, is being displayed in the Cathedral crypt.
This features work by East Lancashire schoolchildren who have done research focusing on the Cathedral’s First World War memorial.
Ian Stockton, Canon Chancellor, said: “There has already been a strong response from schools in East Lancashire to this exhibition and some excellent artwork and poetry has been produced.”
Among the schools taking part are Simonstone St Peter’s CE Primary, St Francis CE Primary, Blackburn and Witton Park Academy, also Blackburn.
Both exhibitions are free and can be seen daily, apart from times when services are being held, until Wednesday, May 27.
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