Bramhall Flower Festival Commemorates Centenary of WW1

The countdown is on to the largest flower festival of its kind to be staged in Cheshire to commemorate the centenary of the end of WW1

Preparations are well underway in Bramhall, Stockport, for one of the largest flower festivals of its kind to be staged in Cheshire this year.

The festival – entitled ‘A Stillness Heard Around the World’ – is being staged by the local Methodist church to commemorate the centenary of the World War 1 Armistice.

It will take place between November 08 and 11.

The church frontage has already been decked out with two five-metre waves of poppies fashioned from discarded plastic bottles – and two Tommies have taken up position above the church centre entrance to flag up the event.

Meanwhile thousands of blooms from around the world and being sourced for the 50 themed floral installations that will take centre stage when the festival opens. The displays – which are being designed and assembled by leading lights from the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies in Cheshire – will depict WW1 poems, scenes and people.

The festival will also feature a meandering swathe of hundreds of knitted poppies, a large-scale mock-up of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, replica Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and Cenotaph memorials, a life-size walk-through trench and an electro-folk concert by acclaimed WW1 storytellers Harp and A Monkey.

It will close with a dedicated 10am service of remembrance on November 11 to honour the estimated 700,000 men and women who lost their lives in the First World War, almost 50 of whom lived locally. Those who died in subsequent conflicts will also be remembered.

The event will be open to the general public – with conducted tours for local schools and youth organisations – between 10am and 8pm (last entry 7pm) Thursday to Saturday and 12 noon to 4pm on Sunday. The electro-folk concert will be held on Friday, November 09 starting at 7pm.

Visitors who wish to pay personal tributes to the fallen will be able to plant wooden poppy crosses in the church’s front lawn.

Bramhall Methodist Church, one of the largest Methodist churches in the UK, is located next to the local shopping centre on Bramhall Lane South, SK7 1AL.