I volunteered months ago to plant some of the 888,246 ceramic poppies around the moat at the Tower of London. Each one is dedicated to a Commonwealth life lost in WW1, my great uncle Robert Macmillan amongst them. The exhibition is temporary, and after Armistice Day, 11th November, they will be removed. They are all for sale at £25 each, and much of the money will go to charity.
On 16th October, my day had finally come, and thankfully the forecast was for dry (ish) weather..... no guarantees. I took the train from Wokingham to Waterloo laden with waterproof trousers, jacket, kneeling pad, gardening gloves, and of course 3 cameras! Gardening gloves? I know they are not real poppies, but for the purposes of protecting hands, they were recommended.
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Not bad weather when I first arrived and the chance to admire the moat from above. A difficult subject to photograph
with shadows from the substantial walls of the Tower, and bright skies above.
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I overheard this policeman tell one visitor "only part of the Tower was currently open, but
it would all be open today after 1.00pm........ after the Royal Party had left." What Royal party?
We had just missed The Queen and Prince Philip laying a wreath! |
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The Royal Party were by now inside the Tower, but Press and the Beefeater who presented the
wreath for the Queen to lay down were still in the moat. |
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| The Police were in evidence and enjoying the Royal visit. |
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| Hundreds of tourist were hanging around, wondering if they might see the Royals leave. |
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| Tourists from around the globe..... |
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| .....all trying to get a decent photograph. It wasn't easy! |
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| I'm sure I've seen this one somewhere before. He seems to appear in several of my blogs! |
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| A view through the balustrade of the steps. |
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| The morning shift of Volunteers in the moat. |
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| That's the perfect shot in the bag. |
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| They are both using DSLRS........... |
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| But then she does the same as most others, and uses out her mobile phone..... just to be sure. |
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| And at 1.30pm my chance to get few difference angles. Up close and personal, down in the moat! |
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| Looking back to Tower Bridge. |
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| Red if definitely NOT my colour. |
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One more ready for planting. Every poppy petal is hand shaped, and so all slightly different.
The poppy heads were packed in cardboard crates, but put in whist the glaze was not quite hard, so they
stuck to the cardboard. Getting them out of their packaging was a struggle, whilst of course trying not to break any!
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Planting a poppy for my Great Uncle, Lance Corporal Robert Macmillan.
2057, "A" Coy, 1st/5th Bn, Royal Scots who died aged 30 on 3rd June 1915. |
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| Loved this curve of lower poppies. |
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Beefeater Jim Duncan, who only a couple of hours before was presenting
a wreath for Her Majesty the Queen to lay. |
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| Some of my fellow volunteers heading back on duty. |
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It was hard work. The rubber washers were a nightmare to push on to the metal stems.
You will notice that no one is wearing gloves........... it just didn't work which is why we all had sore fingers. |
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| Well, she thought it was funny! |
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| I wonder how many thousands of times the Beefeater has done this? |
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| Around the other side of the Tower, facing the Thames. |
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After planting was over, I had a meal with a friend who co-incidentally was also planting today, and
we returned to listen to the role call, and the last post. This is done each evening at sundown.
Very moving, as the many visitors all stood in silence, |
A memorable day for many reasons, and very glad I volunteered to take part. Left home at
08.30, got home at 21.30. Tired and aching fingers, but all for a great cause.
