Poppies blowing the breeze lent added poignancy to the dedication of a memorial garden in a Huddersfield park.

As they fluttered away at Ravensknowle Park the essence of the ceremony was underlined.

The Bishop of Huddersfield, the Rev Dr Jonathan Gibbs, formally dedicated the Tolson Heritage Memorial Garden at Sunday’s event which also commemorated the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe in May 1945 and was held to coincide with national VE Day festivities.

The garden project was driven by the Friends of Tolson and Ravensknowle and honours the servicemen and women who have lost their lives since the end of WW2.

It was made possible thanks to a Heritage Lottery grant of £97,000 and a further £5,000 raised through local contributions.

The garden, behind Tolson Museum in Ravensknowle Park, is designed to create a place of tranquility and contemplation and opened to the public last October.

The event also included the unveiling of a stone sculpture created by artist Peter Maris which is based on the theme of wars and conflict and reflects the idea of peace, memories and the museum’s history.

Friends chairman Ann Denham said: “It was a well-attended ceremony which worked really well – especially tying in with the VE Day celebrations.

“There was a lovely atmosphere and when the poppies blew in the wind it was something really special.”

Kirklees Mayor Clr Ken Smith unveiled the sculpture which features ideas from children at Moor End Academy who also made commemorative poppies which now have a home at the garden. These are modelled on the ceramic poppies which bedecked the Tower of London last year.

Three pupils – Aisha Iqbal, Imad Kazi and Weronika Osmoska – were at the ceremony and spoke about the ideas involved.

A timeline on the pavement depicts conflicts which have taken place since the Second World War.

Three seats in the shape of poppies were produced from ideas by pupils at Almondbury High School and people at a residential complex in Ravensknowle Road helped spotlight wartime ration books on the sculpture.

Mrs Denham said: “There has been a lot of input from different sources and that has been wonderful. Our gardening club will be maintaining the area and sea cadets, who have done an enormous amount of work to get the scheme up and running, have said they will help with this.”

Leading cadet Bradley Mays spoke at the ceremony, emphasising the importance of the project to the organisation.

The Friends are now looking to expand their weekly community group and have lined up a programme of summer events for the garden area.