Planning for the Poppy Installation for 2025 began back in the spring. Following the success of last year’s installation at St Werburgh’s Church in Blackwell, we held a session to reflect on what had worked well and what could be improved with the Greater Creative working party to gather ideas for the year ahead. At this meeting the decision was made to follow the initial hopes for the project and tour the poppies.
The locations were decided out of a hat to ensure a fair choice for the 4 remaining villages. The group decided that two locations would be done each year over the next two years, allowing each village to have the poppies once. The 2025 poppies would be shared between Blackwell and Westhouses.
A consultation event at Blackwell Community Centre was arranged, inviting local residents and groups to help shape how and where the poppies would be used.
The consultation event allowed residents to suggest locations for the installation and the popular choice for Blackwell was for them to be placed at ‘The Cottage’, a site with deep heritage significance for the local area. The Cottage had once served as a World War I hospital, funded by local miners and Blackwell Colliery company, and had treated up to 100 soldiers during the war. This local history made it a meaningful and fitting location for the poppies.
Meanwhile, residents from Westhouses Community Association were keen to build on their existing display rather than relocate it. Their vision was to enhance what they already had, using the poppies for greater impact throughout the village. They created a striking scene using meadow poppies arranged around a soldier they had made themselves, seated on a bench. Additional poppies were installed along trees throughout the village, creating a trail that showcasing the work along the main road.
Words from Pam Stocks from the Knit and Natter Group in Westhouses:
Without having a community centre or building suitable to use, we were determined to place the poppies where they were sure to catch the eye of passersby. Some of the group couldn’t quite visualise what the end result would be while sewing a sea of poppies together on a table, but were all very pleased how they turned out. We had some lovely feedback from residents saying how pleased they were with the display and how stunning they looked.
The poppies were distributed between the two communities to reflect these plans. In Blackwell, however, there was no single group able to take ownership of creating the installation. To ensure residents could still be actively involved, we commissioned creative practitioner Keeley Turton, who led three sessions at BRAG Café during the Blackwell Residents Association coffee morning. Residents worked together to create hanging baskets and sew poppies onto one of the larger installation pieces, chatting together as they worked.
Once complete, the installation was ready to be put in place at the Cottage. Installation day itself was not without its challenges. It was extremely windy and rain clouds were ominous in the sky, and climbing a ladder in those conditions was a little nerve-wracking. Despite this, the team worked carefully and safely, and the installation came together beautifully.
While we were there, several residents stopped to talk to us. Many shared how pleased they were to see the poppies being reused from the previous year, rather than discarded. Others spoke about how much they loved the new design and how meaningful it felt to see the poppies raising awareness of the Cottage’s history and the role local miners played in funding the hospital during the war.
The 2025 Poppy Installation became a stunning visual display. It was a reminder of shared heritage of the local community and the incredible community collaboration on the original 2024 project.