Walsham le Willows church ‘yarn-bombed’ with poppies

A Suffolk village church has been ‘yarn bombed’ overnight with thousands of handcrafted red poppies in the run up to Remembrance Day.

Over 5,000 woollen poppies can be seen cascading from the bell tower and over the walls of St Mary’s Church, at Walsham le Willows.

Inside the church there are 40 poppies on display to commemorate the 40 men from Walsham who died in the First and Second World Wars, whose names are listed on the War Memorial in the churchyard.

The profusion of poppies has been knitted and crocheted by more than 75 talented local crafters to mark Armistice Day and raise funds for the British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Jan Hall, who led the project with the village British Legion representative Fiona Glover, has been overwhelmed by the response to their appeal for local crafters to make poppies.

Jan said: “It has been amazing. I never imagined that so many people would get involved and it has really brought everyone together over the last year. A small group of us tied the poppies onto netting and hung it from the church tower after dark to give everyone a surprise on Sunday morning.

“It’s the first time the church has been ‘yarn-bombed’. We are grateful to the Vicar Philip Merry and the church council for allowing us to do it.”

The poppies will adorn the church for the next two weeks leading up to the Remembrance weekend, which will also feature an evening of readings of letters written in times of conflict performed by Walsham Drama Group on Saturday, November 11, at 7.30pm.

‘A Celebration of Letters’ will include letters that are poignant, sometimes amusing, thought-provoking and painful, written by leaders, soldiers and their families before the era of emails and social media. Admission is £5 on the door and all profits will go to the British Legion Poppy Appeal.