A stunning sea of poppies has been installed in St Peter Church in Sidford to mark the season of Remembrance.

In honour of the 100th anniversary of the Sidbury and Sidford Branch of the Royal British Legion, and the 105th anniversary of the Sidford WI, members have been busy cutting, sticking, crocheting and knitting over 2500 poppies to use in the display.

Sidmouth Women's Institution issued an appeal to residents to start knitting poppies for this display, and received an overwhelming response. The poppies were collected and installed in the church in time for Remembrance Sunday 2024.

Organiser and Sidford WI Leader Beryl Kingman said, “We reached out to the local community and members of our branch have spent hours creating the display in the church to commemorate the anniversaries of our Branch and the RBL. We hope it will bring joy and hope at a time when there is so much conflict and division in our world.”

Members of the church youth group, Meeting Point, have also been involved with one young person commenting “It’s brilliant to see what everyone has done and I’m really proud to have made some poppies for our window.”

The poppies are in place until Monday November 18 and the church is open daily for visitors to view the display. The church is open daily 10.00am until 4pm with Coffee and cake available on Monday mornings (donations appreciated).

Remembrance Day is on Monday November 11. From 11am there will be a two-minute silence nationally, to remember the service people lost in wars. 

The main parade and ceremony in Sidmouth takes place on Sunday (November 11), through the High Street and ends at the war memorial at Sidmouth Parish Church at the top of Fre Street, where a two-minute silence will be observed.