Community Group’s Knitted Poppies Adorn Church in ‘Thankful’ Village

Approximately 2,000 Remembrance poppies, crafted through knitting and crocheting, have been installed as a striking exhibit by a local community organization. This marks the sixth consecutive year that the Shapwick Starlets Women’s Institute has adorned St Mary the Virgin church with hundreds of their handmade poppies. Shapwick, a village situated near Bridgwater in Somerset, holds the distinction of being one of the ‘thankful villages’, a designation given to communities where all soldiers survived and returned from World War One. Sue Sellick, a member of the WI, stated: “We had 32 men go off to war and thankfully 32 men come back. We have no war memorial though, so it’s really important to mark.” The organization has been gathering these poppies for the past eight years and expresses a future aspiration to create a “poppy curtain” on the church tower. Ms Sellick also mentioned: “Every year we get people donating poppies from the village.” She further added: “Quite often, I open my front door and find loads of poppies left on my door step.” Patricia McNally contributes to the display by knitting poppies, having learned the skill from her mother in her youth. She commented: “I have to be knitting – it keeps me busy.” McNally elaborated: “I spent a lot of time on my own when my husband was in the military – and I guess that’s where it started. “We’re so proud of the display.””