01/11/2026
The Poppy display is now up!
What started as a conversation between a member of The Stokenchurch Library Crafting Group and a Councillor in May, with an expectation of maybe a few hundred poppies. Turned into one of the largest community driven events with over 2000 individual handmade poppies, which came from not only the parish of Stokenchurch but also poppies sent from neighbouring villages. Put into perspective, a knitted or crocheted poppy takes roughly 20 minutes to make. Which equates to around 40,000 hours worth of work for our display...roughly 4.5 years of work! Not to mention the sewing of each individual poppy on to the three individual nets by The Stokenchurch Library Crafting Group, The Stokenchurch Stitchers, Parish Councillors and Parishioners which has taken months. It represents an unimaginable and tireless devotion to creating a lasting tribute for the community.
This display not only commemorates the people and animals who fell in wartime but commemorates those heroes who continue to serve in the armed forces and within this very community.
We wanted an event that brought the community together and this far surpassed our expectations. We now have our own treasured poppy display, which will be cared for and put on display for years to come...and which we hope to build on in future years to come.
Dates for the Diary
On Monday 2nd of November The Stokenchurch Primary School and Nursery will be in attendance at the War Memorial, applying their own handmade plastic bottle poppies onto trellis the council has prepared.
At 11am on Friday the 6th of November we will be assembling outside the library to take a group photo for posterity and to thank those who made and attached poppies on to our nets. If you contributed in any way to this display please come.
Remembrance Day will be on the 8th of November and is held at the War Memorial, There will be also a vast display of photos and historical archives within The Memorial Hall organised by the Stokenchurch Historical Society. (Please note the road will be closed for all who wish to attend.)
Our sincere thanks also go to:
The Stokenchurch fete, who this year will be helping set up and providing their own microphone and speaker system to the Parish Council. This is to assist with all parishioners being able to hear the entire event. This has saved the Parish Council over ÂŁ600.00.
Bob Rendle for supplying the many faces of wartime in the form of the Silhouette giants attached to the memorial railings. And someone who goes above and beyond in helping keep our village memorial welcoming and vibrant throughout the year.
From the bottom of our hearts we thank the community and parishioners who helped bring this to fruition.
'In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky'.
🙏
