Poppies

We arrived at around 11 am this morning . Yes it was busy but managed to have a good view at all the vantage points. It was all very civilised no pushing or shoving after people had viewed and taken photos they moved away to enable others to get to the front. Very moving and really glad we went. We came away at about 2pm and it was really starting to get very busy.

We went today and arrived at 9.30. It was easy to see them but by the time we left the crowd was very big. I found it a very moving experience but you do need to be up there early.

A friend who was a volunteer "planter" was told that they will repeat the installation in 2018, but I have not been able to find any official confirmation of that. The aerial photos of it look magnificent though.

Are there any white ones there? It says one for every person who died, and there were a few conscientious objectors who died at the front.

We went last weekend and it was VERY busy. We were staying in the nearby Tower hotel so we went back after dark and it was much quieter. Very peaceful and you could still see them as they were very well floodlit. They looked quite stunning and we were able to take some clear photographs.

At our local Tesco, the lady with the poppies had some of the crocheted wool ones like those on Countryfile last night. She saw those and thought, I can make those, so she made a load and sold them all today.

Hearing this I am glad that we went in September when it was still relatively quiet. We are often in London and the Tower area is always crowded, so this is not surprising. Should be a little better this week than last as half term holiday is over, but with only a week left and it being dark by 4pm...???

We tried to get into the WW1 exhibition at the Imperial War Museum last week but all the tickets had gone so we drowned our sorrows with Dim Sum in ChinaTown instead.

Just seen on FB that a cake DD3 made for this weekend was for a christening that took place in the Tower. Does anyone know who is allowed that privilege?

Oh crikey! Thanks for the advice will let you know how we get on.

Hope you do better than DD & SIL, they tried to see them Friday but the crowds were so enormous was just not possible .

They were quite disappointed !

for them !

Chloe get there early, the crowds are unbelievable. It's an extraordinary sight, not least the number of visitors from every nation on earth. There are marshals and CSOs but not really enough. Added to that Tower Hill station is undergoing work. The best way to arrive is by river.

I am going tomorrow fingers crossed we get to see them

GA, was your daughter able to tell which was hers? I've seen comments like that before and didn't really take them seriously.

Icyalittle I was not missing the point, previously the Earl Haig poppy fund has been purely a British and Commonwealth event
The display of ceramic poppies has been widely shown on television here and of course France and Belguim were very affected by both WW1 and 2.
In past years i have had just had strange looks walking around wearing a poppy now people understand the significance and are asking were they can get one too.
The 11th of november is a National holiday here every year, with many commemorative events held, some towns in Flanders all traffic lights turn red at 11.00am and whole towns respect the silence.
I was just pointing out that poppies have never been part of the scene before and there is now more understanding of the wearing of them by British people.

My niece was a volunteer planter. She got the call to go at very short notice but found it a very moving experience with like minded people. Definitely a day to remember.

Well I won't be putting mine on e.bay.

I am at a loss as to the direction some media outlets have chosen to take, each to their own I suppose.

I will only have the opportunity to see it through media pictures, it must be quite powerful to see and it is surely no surprise that the timing will mean more visitors of late.

felice I think you've missed the point here.

Oh and I plan to mount each in a frame with a photo of the Tower with them in situ, and a copy of the original poem.

I think it is the most memorable commemorative art installation I have seen, or could imagine. To begin with, I wished it were going to be kept for longer, but the point is that each poppy represents someone who died, and the fact that the installation is ephemeral mirrors that. Also that the War came, and went, and life moves on, leaving just memories.
Presumably too, the duration was agreed long before they fully how it would catch the public imagination and the numbers who would want to see it. Practically, when the wind blows, and the grass grows, all kinds of litter will be caught amongst the poppies, dead grass will just look messy, and the impact will be lost.
I've bought 3 poppies, for Service members of my family. They categorically won't end up on eBay.

I bought a poppy in the nearby Irish Pub last week, I was at a Ceilidh on Saturday night and was delighted by the number of people who asked me where they could get one. I usually get one at the Church but got in early this year.
Of course it is a very important year here in Belguim.

Many of them have genuinely been bought in commemoration, but I'm sure you're right janerowena and some will find their way onto ebay and similar sites. I think my daughter plans to take hers to the cemetery, but I'm not sure and she's a bit fragile this week, so I'll wait and find out in due course.

I've bought one. I'll donate it to my church for the alter on Remembrance Sunday.
I always used to do the Remembrance Day churh flowers.

They will all be on eBay a week later. Well - not all. MiL will be insisting on all of her thousands of bits of memorabilia being buried with her, I suspect. Her FB page is flooded with photos of 'her' poppy. Singly, I don't think they are all that spectacular.

Why not?

They must have their reasons, not for us to question !!