EFFORTS to beautify the borders around a football pitch have uncovered a colourful war memorial.
Many people have marvelled at the work by avid gardener Robert Furness to improve the area around Tens Field, in Barnard Castle, but even he was amazed at the red, pink and purple poppies that spontaneously emerged.
Mr Furness said: “When they were playing football and the ball goes into the nettles – grown men would be intimidated to go in and get it. When we moved all he rubbish, the nettles and whatnot, that is what grew – they had been dormant. There is a story behind them and it has to do with the war.” Former Barnard Castle Football Club, manager and grounsman Geoff Thwaites added that while the red poppies represented the soldiers who had served, the purple poppies had been sewn many years ago as a memorial to the animals that had helped the war effort. The floral display forms part of a wider scheme to improve facilities at the ground.
