As I’m sure many people know, the final ceramic poppy of the art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red was installed yesterday at the Tower of London. One hand-made poppy for every British and Commonwealth soldier who died in World War I, making 888,246 in all.

The whole thing is without doubt a very impressive piece of art, where the setting - the moat around the Tower - absolutely makes it. Apparently about 4 million people have flocked to see the installation over recent weeks, which surely has to be some kind of record for a temporary art installation, doesn’t it?

Knowing that the poppies are being removed from today onwards I decided on the spur of the moment as I was travelling into work this morning that I would break my journey and pay a visit. I’m glad I did, even though it was pouring with rain and I got very wet!

I assume it will take several weeks to remove the poppies, so if you’re in London and want to see them, I can speak with good authority when I say that a good time to avoid the crowds is 7.15 am in the pouring rain!

There have been many voices raised in support of keeping the poppies in place for longer, to enable more people to see them, but this rather misses the point. The disappearance of the poppies is itself part of the art, demonstrating the disappearance of almost 1 million young men in a most terrible war.

A powerful and poignant memorial.

Click here to read more about this piece.

A panoramic view:

The north side: