The very last ceramic poppy was removed from the moat at the Tower of London last Friday and I was honoured to be part of it.
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| The very last poppy in the moat |
The night before a last dashed email had been sent out asking for a final batch of volunteers to clear and tidy up the moat, ‘reply if you can make it’. I rearranged things and replied “YES”.
Friday was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. Perfect. The volunteers were split into teams to tackle the last two areas of poppies. I was first tasked to clear the poppies from around the pet cemetery near Traitors Gate.
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| The view from the path before the poppies were removed |
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| The processing boxes & tables and the poppies at the base of the distant tower |
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| It was so strange when the tourists started flocking and photographing us doing the clearing up |
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| One of the first pets to be buried on the pet cemetery |
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| The Poppies and their stems were dismantled. Poppies carefully placed into boxes |
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| After the clear-up |
Following the clear up we moved to the moat at Cradle Tower where the last poppy was picked by the youngest and eldest volunteer.
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| The youngest and eldest volunteer and the last poppy: Eileen (82) and Alexandria (18) |
The latter part of my day was spent collecting money thrown into the moat at Traitors Gate. All money goes to the British Legion.
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| There is more money than you think. |
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| Some coins have left their mark |
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| Found Objects – thrown down by tourists, collected and displayed in the moat |
So much mud ! Back to get washed up. What was a brilliant experience.
