Remembrance Day: Knitted poppy display born out of Covid lockdown

The poppies in the display were knitted by people during Covid-19 lockdowns

A display of 2,700 knitted poppies has been added to a war memorial to commemorate Remembrance Day.

The poppies adorning the memorial in Gretton, Northamptonshire are part of the centenary of the Royal British Legion poppy appeal.

Fiona Chapman, who organised the display, said the poppies were knitted by people during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

She said the display was "a lovely way to remember people".

The Gretton memorial lists the names of 72 men from the village who served during World War One.

The war memorial features the names of 35 soldiers killed during World War One

The names of 35 of them who died during the conflict are picked out in gold.

They include Albert Coleman, who was killed in action in France on 14 March 1915, aged just 19. His brother Arthur made it home and is buried at the village's St James the Great church.

The names of those who died in later wars are also included on the monument.

Ms Chapman said she came up with the idea after seeing a similar display in Cornwall on social media.

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She said: " I thought what a lovely idea to give somebody something to do over lockdown, and people just got knitting."

The aim is to use the display in future years.

Gretton and District Royal British Legion is set to hold a Remembrance Day service at 11:00 BST on Remembrance Sunday at the USAAF Spanhoe Airfield Memorial, while an open air service will take place at Gretton war memorial at 15:00 BST on the same day.