Holt’s spectacular poppy cascade shines light on community spirit

A spectacular cascade of handmade poppies has been draped from the tower of St Katharine’s Church in Holt, along with poppy displays and exhibitions around the village in honour of Remembrance.  

The community has been working together since the start of this year to crochet and knit the poppies to remember all those who died in both World Wars and to raise funds for Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion. 

In total, over 7,000 poppies are displayed around the village, with more than 4,000 forming the cascade, which was officially draped from the church tower on Friday 1st November.  

The idea was the vision of Holt resident Helen Gray, who was tasked by the local reverend to lead the project after she saw a similar display in another town. 

She said, “It looks beautiful; the whole village looks beautiful because there are 7,000 poppies around the village, on the green, right the way down the high street, all over the place. The cascade looks spectacular. It just looks amazing. 

“It is just absolutely fantastic to see a visual display of what we have been working on because it is a vision I had in my head, and it has just come together so well.” 

The project has been a community effort involving 210 residents and has involved both the younger and older generations. 47 residents learnt to crochet or knit during special lessons that were put on in aid of encouraging people to help with the project. 

“Holt is an extraordinary village and people have really come together, it’s quite amazing,” says Helen. “Some of the poppies have been knitted by 96-year-olds. 

“A lot of people have made friends that they didn’t know. It’s been all women who have made the poppies, although we had one man help sew on a single poppy; another man made a silhouette of a soldier, displayed on the green, and he also crafted a dove of peace covered in white poppies. Another resident created a heart in mauve poppies to commemorate the horses that died in the war.

“A special thanks to The Escott family and Hazel Gould who made over 1,000 stunning unique poppies each.”

The project has also been documented in a book entitled A Year to Remember, created by Holt-based company From You to Me. It also explores the history of the village, including stories about local people who died in both World Wars, facts about the war memorial and local villagers’ stories about their ancestors.    

The community plans to make the poppy exhibition an annual event. They also plan to keep knitting and crocheting and have ideas to make granny squares to form blankets for a homeless charity next year. 

“People have enjoyed this so much that they want to carry on and continue meeting up.” 

On Sunday 3rd November, the community attended a concert at St Katharine’s Church which featured performances by the West Wilts Good Afternoon Choir, the Warminster Military Wives Choir and Holt’s very own Jon Monie. 

The cascade will be displayed from the church tower until Monday 18th November.