The knitted floral displays taking over Wem, one stitch at a time

Cascading from the derelict White Horse pub in Wem, the display of hundreds of knitted and crocheted flowers is hard to miss.

It is the culmination of months of work, after the idea was put forward all the way back in April by Wem Town Council. The aim was to have a floral display on the building for their Sweet Pea show in July.

The work began small, with a regular group of crafters meeting in the town library asking for help, said one of its members, Nan Staines.

“I turned up the next week and it was standing room only – people wanting to be involved,” she remembered. “They were sat on the floors, they were sat on the tables, they were standing down the bookshelf, all wanting to learn more and wanting to contribute.”

In the end, more than 50 people turned out to busy their hands.

“There were some who did it at home and just brought the flowers into the library, there were some who came week in, week out… there were all sorts of groups,” said Staines.

Then the town entered the Heart of England in Bloom competition.

“So it expanded… it was the White Horse, it was the bins, it was the post box,” she said.

“Then we did the poppy memorial – there’s a lovely memorial bench just outside the library.”