Forged in Remembrance, a steel soldier ringed by 80 forged poppies, stays on display at Southgate Masonic Centre through November. Each poppy backs the Poppy Appeal.
A steel sculpture of a soldier surrounded by forged poppies is on display in Southgate through November. It is the work of Chris Murden-Wade, a London-born master farrier who left the Army earlier this year.
Updated 3 November: the sculpture was due to be unveiled on Sunday 1 November and Chiltern Forge says it stays on display at the centre throughout November. We have not yet seen photographs of the unveiling.
It stands at Southgate Masonic Centre, 88 High Street. (Chiltern Forge)
The unveiling on 1 November
The event flier gave this running order:
- 10.30am Remembrance service, with the parade and sculpture unveiling
- 11am a bugler sounds
- afterwards drinks in the bar
Dress is smart casual, and medals are encouraged.
This is not the borough’s Remembrance Sunday, which falls a week later, on 8 November. Times for the council’s three parades, at Edmonton Green, Enfield Town and Southgate, are on our Remembrance Sunday page.
A poppy for every name
The poppies are each shaped by hand from steel and finished in red. Each carries a brass tag stamped with a name chosen by the person who made or commissioned it: their own, or someone they want to remember.
Chris Murden-Wade’s press release says 80 poppies will stand with the soldier. People could forge their own at his forge near Chesham, in Buckinghamshire, on a two-hour session costing £100, or commission one from him for £60. (Chiltern Forge, commission a poppy)
Chiltern Forge says every poppy also raises money for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal. The installation will be on display throughout November. After that, the poppies go back to the people who made or commissioned them, or to Chiltern Forge for display in permanent locations.
From the Household Cavalry to the forge
Chris Murden-Wade served 17 years and was a military farrier, according to his press release. His own website says he spent 17 and a half years in the Household Cavalry.
He now runs Chiltern Forge, which offers blacksmithing sessions to the public. His release says he is turning his skills to sculptures made for charity and on commission, and to helping fellow ex-soldiers.
What it means for you
The sculpture stays on display at the centre through November, so there is still time to see it before the poppies go back to their makers. Piccadilly line trains are running at Southgate again after the closure that ended on 1 November. Current works are on our roadworks and travel page.
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