Calderdale communities get creative to mark Remembrance Sunday

Parades and services may have been curtailed this year due to Covid-19 but that doesn’t mean we can’t commemorate the fallen.

Local people have come up with new ways of marking this most solemn - but important - of occasions.

In Shelf, handyman Andrew Walker has put up giant poppies on lampposts, a vivid reminder of those who gave their lives in war.

And inside St Michael’s & All Angels Church in the village, the names of those local men who made the ultimate sacrifice are remembered on four decorative panels created by Barbara Pritchard.

Barbara’s grandson Ben Stables spent several years researching names on Shelf war memorials.

Those names are now on textile panels on display in the church and Ben hopes that it won’t be long before relatives can visit to see his grandmother’s work in person.

The church has also been decorated with poppies. Knitted and crocheted flowers adorn the pulpit.

The processional cross has been covered in purple poppies to remember the animals killed in war. This was organised by Krys Lyon.

Calderdale Council is urging people to be creative while staying safe and adhering to Covid restrictions and social distancing at the same time.

The council suggests holding a small Remembrance service in your garden with your household or support bubble or creating a Remembrance space in your own garden.

Another idea is to create your own Remembrance artwork, perhaps using the poppy symbol to display in windows.

Poppies or other Remembrance scenes could also be painted on to a large pebble or piece of wood.

Whilst the normal services and public events are unable to go ahead this year, the council’s Civic Office, which normally organises the requirements for Remembrance services across the borough, has co-ordinated the process for wreaths to be distributed to each war memorial in the district.

These will be respectfully lain over Remembrance weekend, although it isn’t possible for normal ceremonies to take place. The council’s Bereavement Services team will be ensuring that the borough’s war memorials are cleaned and tidied in the run up to Remembrance Sunday.

On Remembrance Sunday, a pre-recorded service of the wreath laying at the Cenotaph in Halifax will be live-streamed on the council’s social media accounts, marking a two-minute silence at 11am.