11-05-2025
- General
- Powys County Times
Powys poppy waterfall makers aiming for 27 metre display
Llanfair Caereinion's annual poppy waterfall for Remembrance Day is set to return in 2025, with an ambitious plan to reach new heights.
After debuting on St Mary's Church in 2022, a waterfall of poppy's has been an annual staple of Llanfair's Remembrance Day commemorations, but planners behind the project are hoping this year it will be more than three times as long.
As 2025 marks 100 years of the Llanfair Caereinion branch of the Royal British Legion, the group is hoping to commemorate the occasion by expanding the waterfall from a height of nine metres to 27 metres.
That height increase would take the waterfall from its current position on St Mary's Church tower, hanging from the window below the tower's clockface, to the very top of the tower to the ground.
Organisers say the project already has the necessary poppies to reach that height and has already held an event as part of an effort to assemble them all for the finished display.
Commenting via social media, a spokesperson for the group said: 'This year, the Llanfair Caereinion Branch of the Royal British Legion proudly celebrates its 100th anniversary.
'To commemorate this milestone, we are aiming to expand the Poppy Waterfall from 9 metres to an impressive 27 metres, cascading from the top of St Mary's Church Tower.
'Thanks to the incredible efforts of the Llanfair and Buttington Knit and Natter groups — along with dedicated knitters from as far away as Rochdale — hundreds of poppies have already been lovingly created. Now, it's time for the next step: attaching the poppies to the net, ready for this year's Poppy Appeal in October.
The session was held at the Llanfair Caereinion Institute on May 2, with volunteers invited down to be part of the project that Llanfair's Royal British Legion branch called 'a lasting legacy for our community'.
The project was first put together to coincide with the 2022 poppy appeal organised by the Royal British Legion.
The groups began their collaboration after Samantha Webster, chair of Llanfair Caereinion and District Royal British Legion, attended a coffee morning at the Llanfair Institute that also included the 'Knit and Knatter' group and approached Shirley with the idea of a knitted poppy display.
Over 60 people were involved in the project, covering a range of ages with the youngest being 10 years old and the oldest aged 90.
