Seas of red: poppies at the Tower of London

When I first heard about the poppies at the Tower of London, I thought it sounded like it would be a beautiful way to remember the centenary of the First World War.

Volunteers have been ‘planting’ the ceramic poppies – 888,246 of them – in the moat around the Tower since earlier this summer. Each poppy represents a British Military fatality during the war. Eventually, they will fill the moat – the last one will be placed on Remembrance Day (11 November).

With my mum visiting this week, I thought it would be a good opportunity to play tourist and the poppies were the first thing on my list to see. As we approached the Tower from the DLR station, I thought I knew what to expect. But what I saw was actually quite overwhelming.

The poppies – hundreds of thousands of them by this point – were glistening in the sun in a thick carpet of red. Most of the pictures I had seen online and in the news had only shown the moat along the side of the Tower, but the one at the back was filling up fast and it was difficult to comprehend the sheer number of poppies.

It became even harder to take it all in once I remembered that every one of the poppies represented a life – most likely a young one – that ended too soon.

A number of volunteer ‘planters’ were out, including several in military uniforms. As well as actually planting the poppies, the volunteers also assemble them on site.

I pulled Pumpkin out of her pram so she could see the poppies. The bright colours were certainly interesting to her, but she preferred playing with the posts on the fence behind us.

One of my favourite features of the memorial where they appear to be spilling out of an opening in the Tower wall.

It’s as if the Tower wall is bleeding.

Then, the poppies ‘flow’ down the side moat and over the bridge that most visitors use to enter the fortress.

The name of the installation is “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red”. This evocative line came from a letter written by an unknown soldier.

The blood swept lands and seas of red,

Where angels dare to tread.

As God cried a tear of pain as the angels fell,

Again and again.

Once we finished looking at the poppies, we went for a walk – first to St Katherine’s Docks, where the Royal Rowing Barge is currently moored.

Then we walked across Tower Bridge. Just as we got to the other side, the bridge was raised. I’ve only seen the bridge raised one other time since I’ve lived in London, and the last time, I saw it from London Bridge – so it was quite far away.

I’m always surprised by how different London looks since my first visit 11 years ago. Back then, the only tall building you would have seen in this picture was the Gherkin. Now it’s dwarfed by all of the other buildings that have grown up around it.

We walked further along the south bank, and I snapped a few more pictures of Tower Bridge – it’s always lovely, but it’s a treat to see it with the sun out and such a bright blue sky behind it.

Pumpkin was very excited to be sightseeing.

Finally, we took a break at Hays Galleria before heading home.

Have you been to see the poppies at the Tower yet? I definitely recommend a visit it if it’s at all possible. They’ll be there until November.

You can also buy one of the poppies online at the Historic Royal Palaces website. They ship to locations all over the world and you can expect delivery sometime in February.

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