Ascot purple poppies remember war animals

An artist has created a blanket of purple poppies which light up a war memorial opposite Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot. 

Jenna Fox created the installation in conjunction with the War Horse Memorial – a charity remembering the lives of service animals used during the First World War. The installation will be up for the duration of November.

“I drove around the roundabout six or seven times,” said Jenna, “I thought ‘wow’ and was impressed by the colour and the nobility of Poppy the Horse. 

“I contacted the charity and told them my idea of creating the poppy meadow.”

The installation is created using 15 individual poppy elements. Each poppy, bud and leaf is made of three layers to give the piece a striking 3D effect.

The project started as a mark-up at Chobham Common with only a handful of poppies before being moved to the war memorial and increased in number.

Jenna hopes that for those passing the installation, seeing the poppies will raise the profile of the charity and aid in its fundraising efforts.

“The charity is dedicated to remembering the horses, mules and donkeys, but is also about the here and now," she said. 

“It is my absolute joy to be part of the War Horse Memorial and just for a short time be part of that remembrance.

"My poppies show the flower in all its life stages as I wanted to show how resilient we are and how much hope there remains."