Just over two weeks ago something rather special started to happen at the Tower of London. To mark 100 years since Britain entered the First World War the dry moat that surrounds the Tower is being progressively filled with 888,246 ceramic red poppies. Each poppy representing one of the British or Colonial soldiers that died. Each one hand made by 1 of 30 artists in Derby. Each one planted by a team of volunteers, like me, honoured to play a small part in this historic and emotive project.
It’s peaceful in the moat.
With just the gentle tapping of hammers against metal posts it’s easy to forget the thousands of tourists watching from the viewing areas high above. Many of us lost in our own thoughts, silently taking in the 100,000 poppies already in place, a reminder of the fallen.
Called ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’, this installation has been created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins and stage designer Tom Piper. Paul, who has himself already made 50,000 poppies in his Derbyshire studio, joins us in the moat to see how the planting is going. Tom’s daughter Rachel is one of the team leaders walking us through how best to plant the poppies to maintain a stunning visual throughout the construction phase.
It’s exciting to talk to both of them but really this is a large-scale community art project and it’s the people working quietly alongside me that make the day truly special. The man from Birmingham who caught a coach at 3am to make sure he arrived in plenty of time for his 9am shift and is already planning another visit later in the year. The lady who describes each poppy as being ‘as unique as the person it represents’, teary eyed, her voice trembling slightly. Everyone that I speak to feels privileged to be involved. This doesn’t feel like volunteering. We feel we're getting more out of this than we're putting back.
We work in small teams. There are general instructions about which size of poppy should be used and where. My team is working close to the section where the flowers tumble from the Tower wall to fill the moat below. We are using the smallest size stalk and asked to plant them approximately 15 cm apart in a non-uniform way. Other than that it's up to us. If we feel inclined we can choose to place a taller poppy to break up the section. My teammate is right when she describes them as unique. Each flower is different and as I plant them I too begin to see them as the soldiers they portray. This band of red flowers becomes a band of brothers. Standing shoulder to shoulder. Side by side. Marching forwards, united in a single goal. It is overwhelmingly emotional and eerily quiet. And then someone speaks and we're back in the present day. Planting flowers in a moat to say thank you to those whose hands we can longer shake. To acknowledge the sacrifice they made for us all. To maintain our promise to remember them. Lest we forget.
All too soon our shift is over. We take photos of the poppies, our teammates, of the crowds and each other. We’re reluctant to leave. Making our way slowly back to the site office we wish each other a safe journey, sneaking last glances at what is sure to become an iconic reminder of the centennial commemorations.
Later on that day I walk past the Tower again as I head to the tube station, making my way home to Norfolk. The next shift of volunteers has now taken our place and I feel a connection with a group of people that I don’t even know. Aware that I have been replaced by the next wave but wearing my volunteer t-shirt like a medal of honour. They are adding to a section that clearly depicts going over the top. I head over to look at the patch of poppies that I planted and pause to take in the view one last time. Just a spectator now I feel proud to have been involved and as I head home I can't help but smile. Yes there is sadness in the scene we're creating but there's also great joy. Red may well be the colour associated with danger but it also symbolises passion and warmth; it's the colour of love.
In his now famous poem, In Flanders Fields, John McCrae wrote ‘…the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row’.
Today, working safely in a different kind of trench, I watched as the poppies grew. Row on row, between the walls, and like those all around me I remembered.
Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red will be launched officially on August 5th and throughout the next 14 weeks volunteers will continue to plant poppies in the moat. The last poppy will be planted on Armistice Day.
Every evening at dusk the names of 180 soldiers will be read out before the Last Post is played.
You can buy a poppy from the HRP website and a % of the purchase price will be shared by six service charities.
If you would like to volunteer you can register your interest here.
#TowerPoppies
