THIS year marks the 300th anniversary of the death of Ross’s most famous son, Sir John Kyrle, The Man of Ross (1637-1724).

As a town community, there are a number of events commemorating this landmark anniversary between September and November.

These events kick off with a launch reception on Saturday, August 31 at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Church. This will be an informal reception with two key attractions:

Kyrle & Pope – a talk by Dr Hazel Wilkinson from the University of Birmingham who is an expert on the poet, Alexander Pope.

Dr Wilkinson is currently editing a 23 volume collection of the poet’s work for Oxford University Press. It was through Pope’s poem that The Man of Ross became better known beyond the town of Ross.

The other attraction is a new film by professional filmmaker Ian Lewis ‘Echoes of Kyrle’ which was screened recently at Hope Mansell.

As well as focussing on John Kyrle himself and the history around him, the event organisers want to consider the legacy John Kyrle left.

This theme is picked up in Ian’s film, which featuring many local people, some of whom carry on his good work for the folk of the town today.

While this is a free night out the organisers emphasise that it is necessary to book free tickets before attending by visiting the website rossparishes.uk/jk300.

There are several associated events in the diary following the launch, organised by different Ross organisations.

Full details can be found on the website. However, if you represent an organisation in or around Ross and would like to contribute to the programme of events, at any venue in the town, or join in with the organisation, they’d love to hear from you. You can contact them via the website.