Hundreds of knitted poppies make up village tribute

The tribute has took 85 local people four months to complete

Hundreds of hand-crafted poppies poppies have been hung outside a church to commemorate Armistice Day and the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

The tribute is made up of 1,752 poppies attached to 25 square metres of camouflage netting and has been installed in Goring-on-Thames' Rectory Gardens in Oxfordshire.

More than 110 balls of red wool were used and each poppy was hand knitted as part of the project that began in July.

It was created by Cleeve by Goring Women's Institute, the Goring Gap Local History Society, Goring and Streatley Arts and Goring Parish Council.

Parish councillor Barbara Newman said: "This is a really beautiful and we think very moving tribute for Remembrance Day.

"The seed of the idea was much earlier this year when the clerk and the chair of parish council were talking about what we could do for this year, especially as it was the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two and that prompted them to get in touch with some local groups."

She added: "What you see is a wonderful community effort. I think it's been amazing from the councils' point of view just to see how the community has come together.

"It sounds excessive, but in a way a bit like the Blitz spirit, this is something that caught people's imagination and we hope it will become something of a legacy project as well."

Local people were taught to how to make the poppies during two community workshops run by Goring and Streatley Arts at St Thomas' church and Belleme Room at the village hall.

More than 110 balls of red wool were used for the project

Janet Hurst from the Goring Gap Local History Society said: "This village was very active, particularly in World War One because the demographics were that a lot of the age to serve were actually called up so there were many soldiers and people in the Navy and RAF.

"We didn't realise how important it was to the community but so many people got involved. It's far more important to the community than we actually realised and it's absolutely fantastic and we're really thrilled with the response that we got."