Floral tribute in Matlock's Hall Leys Park for Armistice centenary

The Matlock in Bloom committee has unveiled the final stage of its First World War memorial flower bed at Hall Leys Park.
The Matlock in Bloom committee has completed its final changes to the evolving First World War memorial flower bed in Hall Leys Park ahead of the Armistice centenary on November 11The Matlock in Bloom committee has completed its final changes to the evolving First World War memorial flower bed in Hall Leys Park ahead of the Armistice centenary on November 11
The Matlock in Bloom committee has completed its final changes to the evolving First World War memorial flower bed in Hall Leys Park ahead of the Armistice centenary on November 11

The display has evolved over the last four years to reflect different stages in the centenary of the conflict, which will conclude on Sunday, November 11, exactly 100 years on from the war’s end.

Committee spokesman Elaine Lovell said: “It has been an honour and a joy for the members of Matlock in Bloom to see the interest and appreciation of the visitors stopping and enjoying reading and understanding the object of the commemorative bed.

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“It has mirrored the events of the war each season, and what may be considered one of the most arduous periods in our history.”

She added: “The final bed aptly depicts the soldiers, who have stood in the corner of the park for the four years, carrying a cloak of poppies.”

The park will once again provide the backdrop to the traditional Remembrance Day ceremonies on Sunday.

Events will begin with a short service at the Pic Tor memorial at 11am, followed by another at the Starkholmes memorial at around 11.20am. The main Matlock service takes place at Park Head at 3pm, beginning and ending with a uniformed parade from Edgefold Road.

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As part of this year’s service, the names of 162 Matlock residents killed in the First World War will be read out.

In Wirksworth, the service will be held at St Mary’s Church at 10.50am, and will see a commemorative stone laid in the Memorial Gardens in recognition of the 120,000 headstones crafted in Middleton for war cemeteries in Belgium and France.

Darley Dale Town Council and a partnership of local churches has confirmed the final details of its Remembrance service and parade on Sunday, November 11.

The event will involve local organisations, uniformed youth groups, churches,councillors, police, schools and the town’s brass band.

At 2.40pm, the band will lead a parade from Broadwalk to a 3pm service at the Whitworth Park war memorial.