AN ambitious homage to mark next year’s centenary of the end of the Great War has got off the ground, following the delivery of a mighty 35ft Douglas Fir replacement for the decayed flagpole on St Christopher’s Church, in Wey Hill.

Both the original flagpole and the fine arts and crafts cross, which previously sat on top of it, were taken down as part of the memorial project.

The cross will be re-gilded and restored to its original position when the new flagpole is erected, as a beacon of hope.

The project’s tour de force, however, will be a cascade of 12,000 poppies hand-made by pupils of eight schools in and around the town, which will be draped down from the church tower.

To add to the spectacle, real poppies will sown on St Christopher’s Green as a floral meadow to the fallen.

Central to the project, will be gathering information about residents of Haslemere, Grayswood, Hindhead, Shottermill, Hammer, Camelsdale and Lynchmere, who gave their lives for their country in WWI, and recording the sacrifice they made on a new Haslemere and District Memorial website.

The Royal British Legion has joined the group as a partner and members of its WWI memorial committee, chaired by Ken Griffiths, include Haslemere Mayor Malcolm Carter and his deputy mayor David Round.

The eight participating schools are Shottermill Infant and Junior, St Bartholomew’s, Camelsdale, Grayswood, Woolmer Hill, St Edmund’s and The Royal.

After taking delivery of the flagpole from Salisbury’s West Dean saw mill, Ken said: “This is the start and we are all excited.

“The flagpole will now be seasoned and painted, before being erected early in the New Year. It will be lifted by crane to the top of the tower.

“Around 2,700 pupils are taking part and they will write their names on the poppies they make, together with the names of family members who lost their lives in the Great War, or those remembered on the war memorials.

“The church tower can be seen from all around Haslemere and it will be a spectacular tribute to those who laid down their lives in the Great War. We are having a flagpole and poppy dedication ceremony in March.”

More tributes planned include RBL are riding with the group in the annual Little Lumpy event in May, a WW1 exhibition at the town museum in June, a Great War memorial flower show in St Christopher’s in September and a memorial concert at St Christopher’s in November.