‘Poppies: Wave’ At Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Last year I was one of the few people who did not see the amazing poppy installation at the Tower of London. Over five million people did visit the work of art, Blood Swept Lands and Seas Of Red, created by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper, to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Each ceramic poppy planted represented the life of a British and Colonial soldier lost during the Great War. I thought that was it, I would never see them but, a year later, while visiting the family in Yorkshire, I was delighted to discover a smaller version had come to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Promising my three-year-old daughter “lots and lots of poppies”, we set off to the park located just off the M1 at junction 38 near Wakefield. Parking in the main car park, one of the first sights which greeted us was a Henry Moore sculpture with some sheep grazing next to it.


Moore was born in Castleford not far from the Sculpture Park. During his lifetime, the artist was committed to getting his artwork displayed in the open air and specifically what is now the Country Park at the outdoor museum in Yorkshire. Walking past his towering bronze sculptures set on the Yorkshire rolling hills – you can see how they befit the landscape.

The Poppies: Wave installation is around 1km from the main car park in the Lower Lake area. I’m glad I took Mrs T’s buggy – although I struggled a little on the journey back uphill. We passed many of Moore’s sculptures as we wandered downhill looking at the lake and the hills surrounding it.

The poppy exhibition was well signposted. We walked through a small woodland, across a bridge (where we saw some ducks) and along the lake before we caught sight of the bright red pop of colour interrupting the green, earthy landscape as several thousand ceramic poppies cascaded from a bridge.

Going on a weekday, it was relatively quiet at the site: what looked like a group of college students had just been, some elderly couples and parents with young children too. It meant there was a bit of space and time to collect our thoughts and think about the significance of the artwork (well, as much as you can with a three year old in tow anyway).

As we walked alongside it and up to the bridge looking down on it, each angle gave a different perspective. From the seemingly floating sea of red seen from afar to a side view of an arch of poppies flowing into the river, to each individual poppy spiralling out from the bridge on their long stalks.

My daughter seemed suitably impressed although she did keep calling them roses and insisted they smelt of “lovely flowers”. I half think she was expecting to see two of her friends, who are called Poppy. With all the confusion I decided to leave the history lesson for now and instead we enjoyed looking at poppies and the surrounding landscape and nature. Other artists with sculptures nearby include Anthony Caro, Antony Gormley and Julian Opie.

With the air slightly chillier than our home, down south, and no gloves for her hands, Mrs T’s attention span started to wane after we left the poppies. We viewed some of Moore’s sculptures before heading up the huge hill (which took great effort) back to the car.

I am really pleased the installation has been opened out to a UK wide tour – so even more people can see the poppies and take stock of its significance, especially as we head towards remembrance day.

Poppies: Wave is at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park until 10 January 2016. Poppies: Weeping Window can be seen at Woodhorn Museum, Northumberland until 1 November then at St George’s Hall, Liverpool from 7 November 2015 until 17 January 2016. They will be on view at other selected locations around the UK before being gifted to the Imperial War Museums and displayed during the autumn of 2018 at IWM North and IWM London.

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