A SKILLED photographer has created this poignant image to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War One.

Chris Cunliffe’s stunning but stark shot, taken in Bury Parish Church, is superimposed bottom right with a photograph of his late grandfather who served in the Great War.

Mr Cunliffe, of Warwick Road, Radcliffe, visited Bury Parish Church at the weekend to coincide with the launch of its week-long Flower Festival and commemoration, where he took a number of photographs.

Commenting on the atmospheric interior created by his picture, he said: “On this one, I have tried to portray the bleakness of war by reducing all the colour, except the red poppies, and added an image of my grandfather, William Cunliffe, who was part of the Loyal North Lancashire regiment.

“My grandfather was in the trenches in France in 1914 and was severely injured by a hand grenade, losing the left side of his face and nose.

“The surgeons of the day used his ribs to construct a new jaw and nose and fitted a glass eye. He died in 1928.”