PENSIONERS and staff at a Chippenham care home remembered our fallen troops by knitting poppies for every soldier from the town who have died in action.

Residents, staff, friends and families of The Fairways began the project with a view to producing a few poppies, possibly for sale in aid of the Royal British Legion.

However, the idea gained momentum as poppies kept being knitted and eventually it was agreed that an outdoor cascade would be a great tribute to commemorate the fallen servicemen of Chippenham.

Each poppy is labelled with the name of a man whose name is on Chippenham War Memorial. The memorial has names of men who died in service in the First World War, Second World War, Northern Ireland, The Gulf War and Iraq.

Mary Kidd, the community co-ordinator at Fairways said:

"We are delighted to have completed this wonderful project. Many of our residents have personal memories of the Second World War, and so Remembrance Day is very important to them.

"One lady remembered the amazing and moving display of poppies at the Tower of London in 2014, and suggested that our poppies should also represent particular individuals who were killed in action which is why we have included names from the war memorial.

"It has been very moving and sobering to realise just how many young men lost their lives; knitting a poppy, printing a name and attaching a poppy to the cascade for each individual really brought home to us how many left Chippenham to serve their country, and didn’t return."

The cascade of poppies is on display near to the reception of the Care Home, and can be viewed until Sunday 24th November. Any donations received will be forwarded to the Royal British Legion.