Poppy display gets council cash backing

Councillors have agreed to pay nearly £22,000 towards a poignant poppy display which is expected to “put Perth on the international map”.

The city’s Black Watch Museum has been selected to host part of the Blood Swept Lands installation which drew huge crowds to the Tower of London in 2014.

The attraction, part of events to mark the World War I centenary, featured 888,246 ceramic flowers, each one commemorating a fallen soldier.

In June, the Weeping Window section of the display, will be set up at Perth’s Balhousie Castle. Around 10,000 poppies will cascade from a top floor window and spread around the grounds.

Now, members of the Perth Common Good Fund committee have agreed to support the attraction with an award of £21,375.

The total cost of the display, which will be free to see, is £42,750.

Perth City South councillor Alexander Stewart said: “This will be a huge benefit to Perth but it will also be a real boost to the Black Watch Museum which has had something of a regeneration in the past few years.”

Councillor John Flynn, who represents Perth City North, added: “This is a marvellous opportunity to promote Perth as a city of culture.”

The application for common good funding was also welcomed by Councillor Willie Wilson. “This will act as a magnet to bring people to Perth and it will really put the city on the international map,” he said.

The poppies’ UK tour, which will also take in Lincoln and Caernarfon in Wales, was made possible with £2.5 million of UK Government funding.

Poppies became a symbol of remembrance because they were the only plants to grow on the barren battlefields after the fighting.

Locals have been asked to get involved with the project by signing up to the Volunteer Poppy Partner Scheme.

To find out more, www.theblackwatch.co.uk

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