POPPIES taken to the summit of Europe’s tallest mountain are being sold in an effort to boost donations ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

They were taken on the trek by Richard Hignett, 60, of Victory Row in Royal Wootton Bassett, who is the town Royal British Legion branch’s standard bearer and now, a mountain-exploring fundraiser.

The ascent of Mont Blanc, which stands at 4,810 metres above sea level, was attempted on July 6, the day after Richard’s 60th birthday.

Two hundred metres from the summit, Richard made the decision to turn back down the mountain, owing to gale force winds and a tired body, but his companions agreed to take the enamel poppies to the top for him.

Now, all 50 poppies, along with a certificate of authenticity, are being auctioned on eBay, with funds heading to the Royal British Legion.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” said Richard, who first attempted to climb to the top of the mountain as a soldier with the Territorial Army in the 1970s. “I tried it again because last time I tried, I failed.

“I was just considering what I was going to do before I get old. I suppose it had always been festering, but I had never really been aware of it.

“I bought a pair of boots from eBay, crampons too, some rope from Go Outdoors and I just trained by walking to work with 30 pounds of logs on my back every day.

“I was very knackered. The lads I was with were fitter and I was conscious I was holding them back.

“The knife-edge ridge was extremely windy and the risk of me falling, with how tired I was, just wasn’t worth the candle.

“I just thought, if I drag some poppies up there, they are normally £2 each, I would get more than that if I drag them up Mont Blanc, maybe £5 or £10 for each of them.

“People might be interested in the fact they had been dragged up this mountain by the Royal Wootton Bassett standard bearer, an RBL branch which has had certain notoriety in recent years.”

Richard repairs bridges with Network Rail, which he has done since 2008, following an engineering position with the Scott Wilson Group.

His time as a TA soldier lasted from 1973 to 1983, during which time he served with the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, 15th Battalion the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Signals.

Richard felt a return to the military world was right when the repatriations through Royal Wootton Bassett captured his imagination.

  • For more information, search ‘Mont Blanc poppy’ on eBay.