Expert team from Johnson Tiles visits the Tower of London moat

“I am sure that I speak for all the team at Johnson Tiles when I say we cannot begin to describe our immense sense of pride and accomplishment, to have played such a significant role in this magnificent installation that has endeared itself to our nation.”

Harry Foster, Specialist Products Manager at Johnson Tiles, said of the day: “Standing in the moat on the morning of the 11th whilst the last roll of honour was being read out, the magnitude of what had been achieved began to set in, along with the emotion and a realisation of the sheer scale of the loss, it had admittedly become impossible to hold back the tears. The nod of acknowledgement from a similarly tearful Paul Cummins confirmed that it was mission accomplished, and that we could now rest easy in the knowledge that we had succeeded in our efforts to deliver a fitting tribute to the sacrifice made during the conflict. 

After helping to make more than 400,000 poppies for the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation at the Tower of London, we were honoured to be among the special guests invited to pay tribute to the fallen on Armistice Day. 

Our specialist team of ceramic artists made around half of the flowers, and were able to get a closer look at the installation in situ after being invited down to London, before the process to remove the poppies got underway.