Walking the 'Fallen for the Fallen' poppy trail

On Sunday 11 November the Friends of the Countess of Chester Country Park group are inviting members of the public to join them in walking their WWI poppy trail.

The poppy trail is part of the Fallen for the Fallen project, created by the Friends of the Countess of Chester Country Park and local councillor Jill Houlbrook, to help people remember the 27 men named on the Upton-by-Chester War Memorial who died during World War One.

Importantly, this trail also remembers soldiers like Geoffrey Ashe, a Private with the Cheshire Regiment, who survived the war but died soon after as a result of their injuries. It also commemorates those families and others who were affected in so many ways by the war.

Since Fallen for the Fallen was launched in March, a three kilometre trail, guided by carved poppies, through the streets of Upton and then across fields into the Land Trust site at Countess of Chester Country Park, has been created. During this journey, they will see the names of those who gave their lives and are remembered on the war memorial.

At the end of the ‘Poppy Trail’ they will reach a memorial bench with a single poppy bearing the name of Geoffrey Ashe and in the distance, they will see a painted red poppy which will help people to focus and reflect on all those affected in so many ways by the events of 1914-18.

The group will meet at Upton War Memorial at 12:15. At the end of the walk, at 1:30pm, a short service of remembrance will take place by the Fallen for the Fallen Memorial Bench in the Countess of Chester Country Park conducted by the Hospital Chaplain, Rev John Kingsley.