Poppies at the Tower of London

I was at work today and spent part of the time in and around the Tower of London. An inspirational concept from artist Paul Cummins, set by stage designer Tom Piper has led to the 'planting' of 888,000 ceramic poppies, one representing each British Serviceman that was killed in the Great War. Clearly this does not include those injured or who died from their wounds later. The scale and number of poppies is truly humbling, more than a few tourists were close to tears when I explained what they represented. You can buy a Poppy for £25 with the money going officers Charities such as Help For Heroes and Combat Stress. If you go to the Tower website you can also ask for names of relatives who fell in that conflict to be read out when the poppies,are planted. I took this photo and more by luck than anything else caught the poppies by the wall in the shade of the Tower. From a distance it looks like the wall is bleeding. The intention is to plant all the poppies by Armistice Day in November. If you are in London take a detour and have a look, it is a really brilliant idea to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of that awful conflict.