There were no official events to mark Remembrance Sunday in Swale this year because of the coronavirus lockdown.

But that didn't stop people from Sittingbourne and Sheppey commemorating the fallen of two world wars in their own way.

At Beatrice Lodge, a development of retirement apartments in Canterbury Road, Sittingbourne, residents created a 'waterfall' of poppies from 750 plastic bottles which flowed down the side of their building.

Manager Abigail Carden said: "During the first lockdown the owners made hundreds of little poppies to celebrate VE Day with a wonderful waterfall and decorated the front of the lodge with bunting.

"Since then, they had been working on their Remembrance display and have made more than 500 poppies from plastic bottles. We all collected the bottles and then an owner cut then into shape. The others joined together in the garden to paint the poppies and then assembled them with bamboo canes.

"Last Monday they worked really hard to get the display up before lockdown. They have made their very own miniature London Tower. We are calling it the Beatrice Tower."

She added: "Some of the owners remember parts of the World War and some are veterans. This is something very close to all their hearts."

On Sheppey, volunteers at Minster Abbey Gatehouse Museum did something similar, creating a waterfall effect from the top of the tower using fishing nets donated by Two Suns Quality Fish at Queenborough.

In Sheerness, undertakers Bobby Palliser and Stephen Platt of Palliser Platt and Sons commissioned artist Richard Jeferies to paint a Remembrance mural on the back wall of their premises in Strode Crescent.

The Royal British Legion called off all its planned events after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the second lockdown on Thursday but ensured volunteers were at the main war memorials in Sittingbourne and Sheerness in case anyone turned up with a wreath so social distancing was enforced.

In Sittingbourne at least two wreathes were laid early at the war memorial in Central Avenue. Red poppies were also attached to trees.

Newington History Group provided a live stream on its Facebook page of the Remembrance service at the village's war memorial on Sunday.

The site received more than 400 hits as villagers were encouraged to watch the event online rather than gathering in the churchyard where the vicar, the Rev Julian Staniforth led the act of remembrance and village organisations laid wreaths.

The names of 59 servicemen from the village who died in the World Wars and Korean War were read out by the history group's chairman Graham Dudley.

Swale councillors who had been given the task of laying wreaths around the borough made their own arrangements to visit churches.

All were closed to the public, except for private prayer, but many priests performed their own services and broadcast them on social media via Facebook or YouTube.

The Rev Cindy Kent went 'live' at Minster Abbey; Ashley Shiel took a service at Holy Trinity Church, Queenborough, and the Rev Robert Lane performed his Remembrance Sunday service at the specially decorated St Peter and St Paul church in Borden.

Town centre chaplain the Rev Jeanette McLaren held her own service at Sheerness clock tower but this year there was no parade of Cubs, Scouts, Cadets or school children led by the Sheppey St John Ambulance Band.

Band member Dave Anderson said: "This is the first year we haven't been able to play at an Act of Remembrance for as long as we can remember."

Instead, the band posted a compilation video of its Remembrance parades from 1993 to 2019 including the Last Post at the Menin Gate.

At Eastchurch, the lychgate outside the parish church was draped with flags, the mystery artist behind the Moo Mop Mouse murals left a tribute at the war memorial and there was a special display of poppies and cut-out soldiers at the entrance to the village.

A low-key service at Halfway Cemetery on Sheppey planned for Armistice Day on Wednesday has also been cancelled.

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