Hundreds of ceramic poppies commemorating the First World War will go on permanent display in Manchester next month.
Taken from the commemorative Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation, created to mark the centenary of the First World War, the poppies were originally displayed at the Tower of London in 2014.
The initial installation saw the tower encircled, its moat strewn with ceramic poppies – each flower hand-placed by thousands of volunteers in memory of the millions of soldiers’ lives lost in the conflict.
Of 888,246 individual poppies, the last was placed on Remembrance Sunday by 13-year-old cadet Harry Hayes.
The poppies were originally displayed at the Tower of London in 2014 / Credit: Daniel Gillaspia via Flickr
Following the Tower of London exhibition, the First World War art installation then went on a tour of a number of UK cities – visiting 19 different locations, including the Imperial War Museum between September and November 2018.
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Now, it is set to return to Manchester full time – with two of the three original Tower of London sculptures about to begin a longstanding residence at the museum as they become part of its permanent collection.
Previously in 2018, only the cascading installation of ceramic poppies known as ‘Wave’ was displayed – but now ‘Weeping Window’ will join it, with both sculptures going on show inside the museum’s Manchester Air Shard building together for the first time.
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The First World War art installation then went on a tour of a number of UK cities / Credit: David Dixon via Geograph
‘Wave’ is a free-standing sculpture covered in poppies that curves and cascades down, giving them the appearance of pouring out onto the floor. ‘Weeping Window’ also adds movement by way of a towering poppy arch.
Artist Paul Cummins, who created the poppy sculptures alongside designer Tom Piper, was inspired by a poem written by an unknown Derbyshire soldier he had found amongst county records alongside the man’s unsigned will.
It began: “The blood swept lands and seas of red. Where angels dare to tread.”
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After hand-making each poppy in his studio and in a ceramic factory in Stoke on Trent, Mr Cummins then required the help of over 21,000 volunteers to install the original sculptures.
Both sculptures will go on display at the Imperial War Museum from 10 November, appearing in time for Remembrance Sunday 2021.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
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Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Georgina Pellant -
26th October 2021 
