Mosaic poppy stone installed at Norden war memorial

Date published: 28 October 2020

A beautiful mosaic poppy stone has been added to the Norden war memorial in time for Remembrance Day.

Created by Gill Rothwell, the stone was installed on Saturday (24 October) with a small audience consisting of Gill and her husband, Gary, Councillor Jim Gartside and his wife, Jane, and Man of Rochdale Paul Ellison.

Gill picked up the hobby of creating mosaics when she and husband Gary, who runs the Forever Strong gym, lived on an army base in Cyprus 14 years ago.

After searching for inspiration via Pinterest (an image-based platform to share and discover ideas), Gill found some similar poppy mosaics – and with Remembrance Day being around the corner, she set about the timely creation.

Gill said: “I’m thrilled that I’ve had a piece of my work installed in such a prominent place in the community. I’m really grateful for the assistance I’ve had too.”

The mosaic took around 15 hours to create, using small vitreous glass tiles. Once cut to shape, Gill individually attached the pieces to a brown paper template, before gluing to the stone using a cement-based adhesive.

Once dry, the template was carefully peeled away, revealing the beautiful glass poppy underneath. Cement-based grout was used to fill in the gaps and make the finished product suitable for the outdoors.

The creation is the first outdoor mosaic Gill has created, but she also has plans to create one for Oulder Hill’s poppy garden and hold a remote session via Zoom for a friend eager to learn the craft.

Gill added: “It’s a hobby I really enjoy. I can pick it up and put it down again, and I just find it really relaxing.”