A FIELD of knitted poppies will be in a Romsey park for Remembrance Day.

More than 200 poppies will be in War Memorial Park in Romsey in memories of those who lost their lives in WW1 and WW2.

Most of the poppies for the poppy installation have been knitted by Romsey Abbey Sewing and Knitting Group, but the families of a number of men commemorated on the Romsey War Memorial have also knitted poppies for their relative.

Victoria Burbidge, of the Romsey War Memorial Archive, said: "I didn’t even need to ask if they’d like to take part.

"As soon as they heard what we were doing, they volunteered their services.

"We had over 200 poppies to knit and assemble and it would have been impossible to do it without the help of the ladies of the Sewing and Knitting Group.

"They were fantastic and so enthusiastic - Maureen Batten in particular - she even designed the pattern."

The poppies will take to the field next week and will remain until the weekend after Remembrance Sunday, November 18.

The poppies are just one of two events the War Memorial Archive are doing, with The Remembrance Trail also taking place.

The Remembrance Trail was instigated last year by Councillor Dorothy Baverstock to help mark the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice.

With material supplied and written by Victoria Burbidge and Marc Thompson of the Romsey War Memorial Archive, almost 30 A4 photo frames were distributed around Romsey’s shops and businesses.

It was such a huge hit with both the public and the businesses themselves, it was decided to run it again this year.

Victoria added: "This year we will be including some of our Second World War casualties, but only those for whom we have photographs.

"Photos of our men are very rare and therefore like gold dust when we do manage to obtain them.

"They turn a name back into a living, breathing person and that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve.

"There’s an amazing, heart-breaking story behind every man. Our aim is to ensure that each story is accurately told."

The Remembrance Trail will also continue until Sunday, November 18 with trail leaflets being available from Romsey Visitor Centre.