PUPILS at Bury Grammar School have begun making more than 100 ceramic poppies for a display commemorating the heroics of each former student who died fighting in both world wars.

Each of the 144 ceramic poppies, inspired by the stunning display at the Tower of London last year, will be handmade and will have the soldier's name stamped in to the clay, along with the school crest.

Kiri Gore, Bury Grammar School Boys' head of art, has been in touch with Paul Cummins, creator of the iconic memorial, to get some inspiration before the school's own exhibit is unveiled at a special remembrance service.

The event, to be held on November 24, will be attended by family members and a selection of military personnel and dignitaries.

Richard Marshall, the school's headmaster, said: “Bury Grammar School remember their fallen Old Boys in a commemorative service each year and the school also makes an annual trip to the battlefields as part of the History curriculum.

"This trip serves as a reminder to our pupils of the sacrifice made by these heroes, who were not much older than boys themselves. Last year we took a prototype poppy to lay as a memorial.”

Tomorrow (Friday, July 1) Bury Grammar School will be the only school in the UK to attend the National Service of Commemoration for the Battle of the Somme at Manchester Cathedral.

20 pupils died at the Somme, including four on the first day, most serving with the Lancashire Fusiliers and 'Pals' Battalions of the Manchester Regiment.

11 of the old boys have no known grave and are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, the largest British war memorial in the world.

School historian, Mark Horne, will replicate the three whistles blown as the soldiers went over the top at 7.30am on Friday at the school's war memorial.