As Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and Armed Forces Day approaches, the town council are putting plans in place for an busy summer, bursting with events, as well as sprucing up the town ready for tourist season.

Proposals for a a £350 grant will be going towards the Ross Heritage Trail were approved at the Community Markets and Tourism Sub Committee meeting last month. The Heritage Trail is made up of several blue plaques posted around the town, which were originally installed around 1985, providing information which guides people around the trail.

The Ross Tourism Association are planning to create an updated version, so that visitors to the area could explore the heritage of Ross-on-Wye.

The Town Council are particularly busy with plans to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee later this year. A leaflet will be created to let residents know what celebration events are happen across the four day weekend in June.

This year’s May bank holiday weekend will be moved to Thursday, June 2 and there will be an additional bank holiday on Friday, June 3, which will see a four-day weekend celebrating the jubilee - the first time any British monarch has reached this historic milestone.

The town council has been working closely with a team made up from people around the town, with help from St Mary’s Church. There will also be a traditional beacon lighting on The Prospect, accompanied by a piper. Prior to that there’s a concert set to take place at St Mary’s, made up of choirs from around the town. Plans are for hundreds of choir members to sing the national anthem as the beacon is lit. The council will be hosting an event at the bandstand on the Saturday evening. The civic service is also due to take place on the Sunday Morning.

Up to ten grants - of £100 each - are available from Ross Town Council, for those who wish to organise a street party. The grant process can be made through the town council, and the only thing the council ask is for people to contribute photos of the events.

Town Councillors have received positive feedback on the new town maps which have recently gone up. Last month the Gazette reported that the colourful and informative town maps celebrating ‘the birthplace of tourism’ have been installed in five locations.

Cllr Ed O’Driscol told the Gazette that he’s excited for the tourism plans coming down the pipeline from the council this summer.

He added: “There’s a lot of creativity in Ross and it’s great to see it being channelled in such a positive way.”

June is likely to be a particularly busy day for Ross residents as Armed Forces Day - which is being held for the whole of Herefordshire - is also taking place on Saturday, June 25.

Ross is regarded as the birthplace of the British package tour, with trips down the River Wye popularised by William Gilpin, who cruised down the river in 1770 and later wrote the first travel guide, Observations on the River Wye.