Villagers make poppy soldier to remember war dead

A group of villagers have created a life-size model of a soldier, decorated with knitted poppies, to mark Remembrance Sunday.

Members of Roses of Ryedale Women’s Institute in North Yorkshire saw the idea on social media and decided they wanted a soldier for their own village, Barton-le-Street.

President of the group, Susan Hall, said she was proud of the creation.

“I hope he’s going to last quite a few years. In the winter we’ll wrap him up, put him away, make sure he’s warm,” she said.

"And then we’ll look after him and hopefully he’ll come out next year.

“Maybe we’ll make a horse to go with him.”

The group named the statue Billy Barton after their village, and one of the creators - Bill Bishop.

“A few of us got together, we had a couple of bottles of prosecco and we had a naming ceremony for him," said Mrs Hall.

"We called him Billy – after Bill – and Barton, so Billy Barton."

She said one of the inspirations behind the project was her husband’s service with the Coldstream Guards.

“He was very passionate about Remembrance Day and poppies and he’s done duties at the Royal Albert Hall, he always went to the Cenotaph if he could get there,” she said.

“It’s been eight years this year since he died, so I feel, as if by doing these poppies it’s a little bit of something for him. I’m sure he’d be proud.”

Mr Bishop, who made the man out of a wooden frame and chicken mesh, said he was pleased with how he turned out.

“I measured parts of my body to get the proportions right,” he said.

“I used to do it one or two hours at a time in the evening.

“I cut the wire and moulded it by hand and supported them with metal brackets.

“It’s important that we have something like this to remember people who were killed in the war.”

Linda Cook, who made Billy’s face, said despite never having created a human face before, she was “really pleased” with her handiwork.

“We’ve all really enjoyed it, we’ve all come together and all helped. It’s wonderful,” she said.

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