Community Chat

[Say Nay]

You're welcome everyone

Odd about your post colliemom. I love poppies too. It still blows me away that each one was hand made.

[pitdakota]

I love these pictures. How touching. And equally hard to fathom that the Brits lost over 888,000 people in WWI.

Of course we lost close to that many in our Civil War, but those numbers are just hard to grasp.

[dooBdoo]

Incredibly moving. Thanks for sharing this, Gato. I'll pass it along to my friends and family.

[scotttie]

Gato, just STUNNING!

Thank you so much for sharing. I don't think I realized before the poppies were ceramic.

I have sent this on to many of my friends and family.

[scotttie]

Gato, does anyone know how long they will remain in the moat and what will happen to them once the commemoration is done?

[Say Nay]

On 11/12/2014 scotttie said:

Gato, does anyone know how long they will remain in the moat and what will happen to them once the commemoration is done?

scottie, I believe they will be removed soon. The poppies were available for sale online at a cost of about $40. They are completely sold out. The proceeds went to 6 armed forces charities.

[dooBdoo]

Here's a bit of follow-up info: "Dozens of volunteers began the long and painstaking task of removing and packing the 888,246 ceramic poppies that have so gripped the British public’s imagination at the Tower of London.

Even the rain stopped as the first poppies were taken off their sticks at about 9am on Wednesday, the day after Armistice Day. Each will be carefully placed in white cardboard boxes in preparation for their delivery to the hundreds and thousands of people who paid £25. Six charities are each expected to benefit to the tune of £1.2m.

About 1,000 people a day, many of whom were among the 19,000 who put the flowers in the Tower moat between July and Armistice Day, will spend two weeks pulling and packing the flowers, with 8,000 people expected to take part overall.

More than 5 million people are estimated to have visited the art installation, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, since the first ceramic flower was placed in the moat in July. . .

. . .Two parts of the installation – the Weeping Willow, a cascade of poppies which spills from a window of the castle, and the Wave, which swirls out of the moat to form an arch over the entrance to the Tower - will remain in place until the end of the month. They will then go on tour around the country until 2018, when they will be gifted to the Imperial War Museums in London and Manchester."

article: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/12/volunteers-begin-packing-away-tower-of-londons-888246-...

About the display: Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

link: https://poppies.hrp.org.uk/buy-a-poppy/

Thanks again for the heads up about this magnificent, moving tribute, Gato.

[Say Nay]

Thanks for the info dooBs and YW.

I really wish I could see it in person. I don't think anything like it will be done again.

[scotttie]

On 11/12/2014 MomTo2Dogs said:

On 11/12/2014 scotttie said:

Gato, does anyone know how long they will remain in the moat and what will happen to them once the commemoration is done?

scottie, I believe they will be removed soon. The poppies were available for sale online at a cost of about $40. They are completely sold out. The proceeds went to 6 armed forces charities.

Thanks, gato.

Wish I had ordered one!

[dooBdoo]

On 11/12/2014 MomTo2Dogs said:

Thanks for the info dooBs and YW.

I really wish I could see it in person. I don't think anything like it will be done again.

YW, right back atcha!

Wouldn't that have been breathtaking and bittersweet to see in person? I guess we can be glad we have today's technology to experience these things from a distance in a way we couldn't have in years past.