KNITTERS from as far away as Australia are helping a village church pay its own moving tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in the Battle of the Somme.

Wilsden Trinity Church is commemorating the fallen with a poignant variation of the Tower of London's display of ceramic poppies, which progressively filled the landmark's famous moat in 2014 to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Worshippers are placing 1,770 knitted or crocheted poppies – equivalent to the number of Bradford Pals, who were killed or injured on the first day of the Battle of the Somme – on stems in the Chapel Row churchyard.

The display will take place tomorrow, a century on from the start of the bloody battle, and on Saturday.

Jane Callaghan, for the project, said the response to an appeal in the Keighley News for knitters to support the venture had been overwhelming.

"Knitters in Wilsden, the Bradford area and beyond – even Australia – came forward," she added.

"It was magnificent and we achieved our target thanks to these kind people.

"We hope that many visitors will call during the two days to pay tribute to those young men whose lives were cut so dramatically short on that summer morning 100 ago.

"It is estimated about 2,000 Bradford men went 'over the top' on the first day of the battle.

"The Pals battalions raised in Bradford and other northern towns and cities, including Keighley, were particularly badly hit.

"They were specially-constituted battalions of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruitment drives, with the promise they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and colleagues – hence the Pals – rather than being arbitrarily allocated to battalions."

Coinciding with the event, there will be a free exhibition in the church, from 10am to 5pm both days, exploring life in the trenches and on the home front.

There will also be children's crafts and refreshments.

And a magic lantern show – Atky's Story, based on the First World War memories of a Wilsden man who lived to tell the tale – is being held tomorrow night.

It will be interspersed with music hall favourites from the time.

Tickets for Atky's Story are available – priced £6, including cake and coffee – by calling 07986 294757.