10,000 knitted and crocheted poppies will adorn Derbyshire town's church tower after two-year labour of love

For two years residents of Eckington and surrounding areas have been knitting and crocheting the flowers of remembrance which have been hand-sewn onto a camouflage net.

The eye-catching cascade will be hoisted onto the town’s St Peter and St Paul’s Church tower in good time for Armistice Day. Firefighters from Staveley will be carrying out that mission in the week beginning November 7.

Gill Parker, who served with the Territorial Army, came up with the idea for the poppy blanket. She said: “2020 was a very important year with a lot of big anniversaries but because of lockdown we missed VE Day and VJ Day as well as Armistice Day and Remembrance Day. Because we couldn’t do anything I started making poppies and got other people making poppies. My time went into asking for donations, buying wool, getting it to ladies in the community making poppies, picking up poppies – all while social distancing.”

"Poppies have been crocheted and knitted in all different sizes and shades as everyone that died in the wars were individual and not the same.”

Eckington Poppy Club members Kay Watson, Ellen Tyler, Sandra Riley, Diane Richards, Susan Rose, Meg Ridley, JuliaCarr, Sara Brazil and Kathy Clegg began sewing the flowers onto the camouflage net in August last year. Gill, who is part of the sewing team, estimates the club has dedicated 235 hours to that task alone. She said: “We have just about finished so we are now going over it making sure we haven't missed any spaces.

“We estimate by the amount of wool bought plus ladies buying their own wool that there are 10,000 poppies on the cam net.”

Seventeen businesses and four individuals have helped fund the initiative through donations.

Gill, who has made 1690 poppies herself, said: "I would like to thank everyone that has put any time into this project – you have done a fantastic job. As it has taken two years it is very hard to name everyone involved as I don't want to miss anyone but you all know who you are.”

Pupils from Camms School will plant a field of handmade poppies in the churchyard and around the cenotaph. These poppies were created by schoolchildren in Eckington last year.

Both Gill and her husband, Paul, served in the Territorial Army’s 38th Signal Regiment for more than 30 years. They were married at St Peter and St Paul’s Church in 1996 and their daughter, April, was christened there.

The poppy cascade will be on the church tower for up to three weeks dependent on weather. Gill said: “Hopefully after some TLC it will be going back up again next year.”