The Guildhall Arts Centre in Grantham is now adorned with remembrance poppy displays and commemorative wartime silhouettes, installed by South Kesteven District Council. These installations will serve as a vibrant backdrop for the annual Remembrance commemoration scheduled for 8th November.
The commemoration event will feature a military march past the Guildhall, following a service at St Wulfram’s Church. This year's display builds upon the community's efforts, with hundreds of handmade poppies stitched onto military camouflage netting in council-funded workshops during 2023. The first displays were installed that same year.
Grantham Arts organised the workshops and collaborated with Grantham College students on research into local military history. These students subsequently painted four distinct wooden military figures: a WWI Tommy, a WWII Para, a Land Girl, and a wartime Wren.
One of the wooden figures, a Wren silhouette, bears the name of Joan Briggs, a Grantham woman who served in the Navy during WWII and visited the display when it was first erected. Anne Marie Kerr from Grantham Arts oversaw the installation of this year’s display at the Guildhall.
