Volunteers carved a 90ft poppy onto a beach in a poignant tribute to the fallen ahead <br />of Remembrance Day.<br /><br />Retired doctor and beach artist Claire Eason led the 30-strong team who used garden rakes to create the giant mural illuminated by a stunning sunset.<br /><br />The group spent five hours painstakingly drawing the huge petals onto the sand at Beadnell Bay in Northumberland.<br /><br />Before the tide washed their work away, the volunteers stood in the centre of the poppy, known as the stigma, for a series of stunning overhead shots.<br /><br />Claire hosted the event on Saturday (4/11) after a break in the weather allowed her and the volunteers to etch the design onto the sand.<br /><br />She said: “I’d wanted to do something big to mark Remembrance Day and I appealed for volunteers to help.<br /><br />“The response was marvellous but the only thing letting us down was the weather. <br /><br />“Every day we were going to do it the weather was awful but luckily we got a break and we seized our chance.<br /><br />“The final design looked amazing and as tide was starting to wash it away there was the most beautiful sunset. <br /><br />“It was a unique experience and I am delighted and so grateful to the efforts of the volunteers.”<br /><br />Claire mapped out the poppy design on her computer and then used stakes and string to form a grid on the beach to bring her design to life.<br /><br />A time lapse video shows the volunteers sketching the petals in a concentric design while racing against the incoming tide.<br /><br />Claire, 59, added: “The design only lasts until the next high tide, but it is all about enjoying the experience and taking some pictures, which you have forever.<br /><br />“It’s also very poignant because the sense of things being impermanent reflect how fragile life is.”<br /><br />Remembrance Day is also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a red poppy to honour soldiers who died in the line of duty - a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919.
