IT has been nearly five years since a huge portrait of a fallen soldier was etched into the sand near The Grand Pier.

In October 2018, Oscar-winning director, Danny Boyle, and Theatre Orchard unveiled plans to orceshstrate a World War One centenary commemoration on the beach.

The portrait of lieutenant colonel John Hay Maitland Hardyman was etched into the sand on November 11 and was washed away as the tide came in, symbolically paying tribute to Britain's fallen heroes.

The commemoration was part of the Pages Of The Sea project, which was run by 14-18 now - an arts programme which honoured the 100th anniversary of end of the war.

The organisation commissioned Boyle, who won an Academy Award in 2008 for Slumdog Millionaire, to create an informal gesture of remembrance.

Speaking at the time, Boyle said: “Beaches are truly public spaces, where nobody rules other than the tide. They seem the perfect place to gather and say a final goodbye and thank you to those whose lives were taken or forever changed by the World War One.”