A NEW poppy trail has appeared at Kirkcudbright’s MacLellan’s Castle ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
The trail was the idea of resident Irene Henry who wanted to honour all those who have served in times of war, but she quickly realised it was not something she could tackle on her own.
Well known in the town for her imaginative and detailed postbox toppers, Irene knew that to create a stream of poppies to cascade from one of the windows in MacLellan’s Castle, she would need somewhere in the region of 2000 poppies.
So she put out an appeal to the people of Kirkcudbright and was amazed by the response, saying: “It seemed everyone who could knit or crochet, and even a few who couldn’t, wanted to help, and the poppies came streaming in – from those who managed only a few, to one record-breaking contribution of 545!
“Even visitors to the town contributed to the project and when the deadline for handing in arrived, the incredible total of over 6000 poppies was reached.”
Next came the task of sewing so many poppies onto the backing material. It took a squad of helpers meeting at St Andrew’s and St Cuthbert’s church hall across three Saturday afternoons to complete the finished panel.
A mass of red, it also contains some purple flowers to remember all the animals who served in war and also some white as hope for peace in the world.
The completed trail was installed at MacLellan’s Castle last Friday and will remain in place throughout November.
