Poppies at the Tower of London

In August 1914, in the moat of the Tower of London, 1,600 city employees were sworn into the 10th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (known as the Stockbrokers Battalion) by the Lord Mayor of London.

In July 2014, the first of 888,246 ceramic poppies  (one for each British and colonial fatality during the First World War) was ‘planted’ in the Tower of London’s moat.  The installation that has been revealed in the ensuing months commemorates the centenary of World War I.

The installation is dramatic and beautiful.  At a distance, it is easy to forget that the sea of red is made up of thousands of individual poppies.

I had been warned that the crowds would ruin the view, but for me, the sheer number of people who had turned out to see the poppies made the experience even more poignant.