The poppies, which hung from the ceiling and lined every wall and window sill, decorated the space in numbers far too great for organiser Diana Arundale to know exactly how many there were.
‘I have absolutely no idea. We have far too many to count now,’ she said. ‘Initially, we had a very minimal display by the altar, and then it’s just grown and grown each year.’
Making the space even more mesmerising this year was the addition of a flock of white paper doves hanging from the ceiling, and the additional displays set up by children from the church’s Sunday school and La Houguette primary school, which sat in the side chapel alongside with Mrs Arundale’s own display, bedecked in purple poppies.
‘It’s about animals in war, both in World War One and World War Two,’ she said.
‘Where the human losses are recorded with red poppies, they’re recorded with purple ones.’
The decorations also caught the eye of the four Chelsea pensioners visiting the island for remembrance week this year.
‘The decorations are absolutely gorgeous. They really are,’ said Mike Tanser, one of the visiting pensioners.
‘And the people here are lovely. They just want to talk, come and have a word, see what we do. It really is nice, everyone’s very, very friendly,’ he added.
One of those present for the tea party keen to say hello to Mr Tanser and his colleagues from the Royal Hospital Chelsea was 4-year-old Faith Solway and her mother, Gemma Lewin.
‘My daughter comes every single year to meet the Chelsea pensioners. Or, the special soldiers in the red coats, as she calls them. We have a traditional photo every year with them. She really loves it, and she understands the importance of it all,’ she said.
As parish churchgoers, she and her daughter will have further opportunities to mark remembrance with their congregation at the Sunday service, which will involve a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial by the church.
You need to be logged in to comment.