Leigh984, The creative portfolio of Leigh Spencer

As part of the " Newbold Remembers " Remembrance Sunday commemorations the Girlguiding groups in the village created a beautiful display at The Church Of St James in the village using the base of plastic bottles painted red and mounted on green sticks, recycling and helping the village to mark an important date at the same time.  

  On BBC East Midlands Today a Weather Watcher photo from a viewer featured a spectacular bright red Poppy field noting its location as Witherley a small village in Leicestershire and only 20 mins drive from home one evening we set off to find and capture the stunning sight. As we arrived on the edge of the village the low hum of drones and sight of multiple parked cars told us we where close, sure enough through glimpses in the hedge we saw flashes of red colour, parking in an open gateway we where greeted by a spectacular carpet of bright red poppies stretching as far as our eyes could see. In the distance the village church spire could just be seen over the hedges and the birds where singing in the hedgerows and trees around us. Soon as the evening sun began to cast long shadows and back lit the flowers, bees moved buzzing between them and various smaller insects completed the scene. Overhead a plane makes a trail through a near cloudless sky as the warm graduations of sunset ...

The Newbold Knitsys !, Have once again been decorating the village Post Box in Newbold Verdon.  The topper theme is Remembrance and pays tribute to the many brave soldiers who fought for our freedoms in wars both historic and current, revealed in time for Remembrance Sunday the topper features a black silhouette of a soldier wearing a helmet surrounded at it`s base with knitted poppies in red, black and purple, Poppies also surround the edge of the postbox attached to a grass green base.

As Remembrance Day approaches and we remember all who have served in conflicts both historic and current, the Yarnbomb team in Cosby have pulled out all the stops to create a spectacular display in tribute to those brave people who fought for our freedoms. Featuring many Poppies and a banner reading "Lest We Forget" a postbox topper with a pair of well marched boots, perhaps the most spectacular part of the display is the knitted Spitfire plane flying past whilst releasing a trail of Poppies behind it.  We end with a skirt of poppies around the Cosby village sign beside the victory park and village hall. 

In 2022 the Stoney Stanton Yarnbombers in Leicestershire created a display of knitted Poppies to remember the fallen and all who served their county in various conflicts through history. I visited on Armistice Day to see the display which featured Red, Purple and white Poppies alongside square knitted silhouette details of soldiers and horses. The 17 large panels where hung across the wall of the St Michael`s Church and featured a middle panel with the words #wewillrememberthem.

To those in battle, And those who fell, To all who served their country well, We will remember them. I visited the Poppies: Wave installation by Paul Cummins Artist & Tom Piper Designer. Presented by 14-18 NOW the poppies where initially conceived as part of the piece Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the tower of London but where on display at CWGC Memorial Plymouth as part of #PoppiesTour the work sees the Poppies cascade down the steps of the memorial and are intended to prompt a new dialog around the legacy of the First World War.

Leigh984 Snapshots are short videos etc in which I look at a particular topic or visual idea, in this film I look at the movement of a wheat field in the breeze. I`ve always found the movement of wheat blowing in the wind to be quite amazing the whole field almost seems to move as one like a body of water. In this snapshot I look at this movement in a Leicestershire field beneath a blue sky. Also look out for a wind turbine and a splash of color from poppies dotted among the wheat.