Ross Open Gardens begins on Friday 19th May with their very own version of Gardener’s Question Time. Local gardening experts have been recruited to answer the audience’s questions, which can be submitted in advance, via the website, or on the night. The panel comprises well known faces that will be familiar to many: Tim Shelley (Ross Community Garden), Gary Twist (Ross Garden Store), Stacey Gibson (Dor’s Garden) and Jonathan Billinger (Leaf Creative). A fun evening, starting at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Church, with a bar and raffle is planned.
At the same time an exhibition of photographs titled Gardens Great and Small, by Ross Photo Club members, is being staged in the church and will continue through the weekend of Ross Open Gardens – 3rd and 4th June.
With 20 plus private and some public gardens, the Open Gardens weekend is offering an opportunity to see over the wall and into the much-cherished spaces of Ross’s gardeners. Ticket holders will be able to tour the gardens, many within walking distance of each other and enjoy refreshments in some. There will also be sculpture and artwork to view at a couple of the venues. Gardens are open between noon and 4pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Full details and tickets for both events are available from the website at fosmross.org.uk/gardens The Garden Store and Rossiter Books.
Wholesale network provider FullFibre’s Fibre Heroes are part of an exclusive team helping Ross-on-Wye Town Council to deliver the town’s new digital tourist information points.
Working alongside ultrafast internet provider ZYBRE Broadband, Fibre Heroes supported the Ross-on-Wye Town Council to install and connect the equipment that will bring Ross-on-Wye’s tourism industry into the digital age.
This was a challenging project, with Fibre Heroes and ZYBRE working together to provide the gigabit-capable connectivity free of charge. The ‘digital tourist information points’ will provide an instantaneous and direct Tourist Information Service profiling businesses, services and activities available in and around Ross-on-Wye.
Future plans include extra use of the screens to bring news announcements, local event showcases and spotlight the unique features of Ross-on-Wye. Connecting these screens with Fibre Heroes’ incredibly fast fibre optic infrastructure and ZYBRE’s amazing broadband network, will provide Ross-on-Wye with seamless digital communication opportunities, and boost local business productivity with new promotional possibilities.
Matt Smith, Head of Public Procurement & Engagement at Fibre Heroes, commented: “We were really happy to get involved with this project. It has been a long-time aspiration of the town council and we’ve been able to bring our specialist skills to make it a reality.
“FullFibre work hard to support the communities in which we build our network and this is another great example of working in partnership to level the digital playing field. I am proud that this is another area where the town can truly stand out as a great place to visit.”
Joshua Greedy, Head of Marketing for Zybre commented: “ZYBRE broadband is on a mission to bring incredible fast broadband to all of the UK previously left out of incumbent internet providers’ plans. ZYBRE, with FullFibre, is here to provide Ross-on-Wye Town Council, homes and businesses with an incredibly fast, ‘always-on’ broadband connection they never have to think about, for now and the future. This is just the first step in this town, so watch this space closely”.
Mayor, Cllr Ed O’Driscoll, commented: “I am delighted to see Ross-on-Wye’s first digital tourist information points finally in place. We’re leading the way in Herefordshire developing vitally important tourism infrastructure. Maximising tourism is key to the survival of market towns so the visitor experience is critical. We need to make as much information available as we can to ensure our businesses and retailers have the exposure they need. They must be successful if our town is going to thrive. On behalf of Ross-on-Wye Town Council and all my fellow councillors I’d like to extend my thanks to Fibre Heroes, Western Power Distribution and ZYBRE Broadband for their support and extremely generous contributions to this initiative. I’d also like to personally thank the team at the Town Council for their great work over the last two years that’s enabled us to make this happen”.
Cllr Ed O’Driscoll and Jane Mainey, Tourism & Marketing Manager, Ross-on-Wye Town Council
About Fibre Heroes
Fibre Heroes is FullFibre’s customer-facing brand, building wholesale telecoms networks to more than 80 market towns across the UK with a superior full fibre broadband connection, helping level the digital landscape.
With five regional offices in Exeter, Ledbury, Telford, Derby and Barnsley, FullFibre operates its network as a wholesale-only platform. It aims to supply a healthy, competitive marketplace to both and national, more well-known Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and smaller, local ISPs. This allows the power to be in the hands of the customer, who has a range of providers to choose from across the FullFibre network.
FullFibre’s Fibre Heroes brand is about prioritizing areas that have been previously overlooked by larger corporations who have deemed them ‘unprofitable’. Fibre Heroes offers extensive marketing and lead generation support to smaller ISP’s who do not have the resources to be heard in their local communities.
FullFibre and Fibre Heroes were founded by its CEO Oliver Helm in 2017 and is led by a management team with decades of expertise and knowledge between them. In 2020, FullFibre secured a deal with multi-billion-dollar investment fund Basalt Infrastructure Partners III allowing for greater innovation and injection of finance into its build towns.
About ZYBRE
ZYBRE is the UK’s first next-generation multi-play home entertainment internet service provider that brings together; cloud gaming, TV, ultrafast broadband and voice. Offering a wide selection of live TV, BVoD & SVoD applications alongside our gigabit broadband, game streaming options and VoIP capabilities without the need for a phone line providing faster, more reliable internet access. Gigabit broadband speeds up to 1,000 Mbps and optional whole-home Wi-Fi mesh network to ensure full coverage throughout the home. ZYBRE also delivers the ability to stream over 250 games directly to your TV with the click of a button through their cloud gaming platform, delivering high-end gaming without the need for high-end consoles or PC’s.
ZYBRE’s service offering across the UK can be found at www.zybre.co.uk.
The following events are planned during Remembrance Week:
27th Oct – 12 November – Poppy Appeal Collections throughout the Town including a daily Poppy Stall at Morrisons.
Thursday 10th November – Remembrance events at Chelsea Pensioners Memorial, Korean War Memorial and Falklands Conflict Memorial. Gather at the Millenium Gates at 11.40am. Refreshments in St Mary’s following the event.
Friday 11th November – Armistice Day Commemoration. At the Market House. Gather at 10050am followed by the 2 Minute Silence marked by Maroons at the Prospect.
Sunday 13th November – Remembrance Sunday Parade and Church Service. Parade steps off from Old Maid’s Walk Police Station at 10.30 am – all Serving Personnel and Veterans are invited to form up at the Police Station by 10.15am. To be followed by Act of Commemoration and Wreath Laying at the War Memorial on The Prospect at 10.50am and Ecumenical Remembrance Day Service at St Mary’s at 11.15am. Refreshments will be served following the Service.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Great Places to VisitFund, provided by Central Government through Herefordshire Council, Ross-on-Wye Town Council has installed its first digital tourist information point in the centre of the town at the Market Place which will provide a Tourist Information Service displaying details of businesses, services and activities available in and around the town. The project also includes the installation of a wall mounted digital screen outside Ross Library on Cantilupe Road which is planned to take place in the coming week.
The project – instigated as part of the Ross-on-Wye Economic Plan focusing on five emerging themes of Employment, Civic Amenities, Tourism, Tourism infrastructure and Town Retail – was originally discussed in 2020 at the Town Council’s Community, Markets & Tourism Sub-Committee meeting during the pandemic. It was agreed that the digital tourist information point would act as a source of valuable information due to the tourism information centres being closed at the time. The cost of installing the two digital screens is £20,694 including the groundworks, power supply and broadband connection and this has all been paid for by the central government grant and services provided by Fibre Heroes, Western Power Distribution and Air Broadband.
The project has been a huge logistical challenge due to co-ordinating the multiple organisations and providers involved. The screen content is ready to launch and the last element of the installation is in progress which involves finalising the broadband supplier agreement. The Town Council is currently looking at relocating the previous static notice board which was located in the Market Place.
Mayor, Cllr Ed O’Driscoll: “I am delighted to see Ross-on-Wye’s first digital tourist information point finally in place. We’re leading the way in Herefordshire developing vitally important tourism infrastructure. Maximising tourism is key to the survival of market towns so the visitor experience is critical. We need to make as much information available as we can to ensure our businesses and retailers have the exposure they need. They must be successful if our town is going to thrive. On behalf of Ross Town Council and all my fellow councillors I’d like to extend my thanks to Fibre Heroes, Western Power Distribution and Air Broadband for their support and extremely generous contributions to this initiative. I’d also like to personally thank the team at the Town Council for their great work over the last two years that’s enabled us to make this happen.”
Digital touchscreens are becoming increasingly popular with many towns and tourist attractions across the UK, especially where organisations and councils are faced with limited budgets to fund physically staffed Tourist Information Centres. Information on the screens can be updated remotely and kept up to date which provides a significant advantage over static notice boards.
There are currently three Tourist Information Centres in Ross, located at the town council offices at The Corn Exchange, at the Made in Ross gallery and at Truffles Delicatessen on the High Street. Opening hours vary at each location so a 24/7 digital tourist information point will provide a vital source of information for visitors to the town outside of these hours. The content will be based on the Visit Ross-on-Wye Tourism Association’s website – visitrossonwye.com – and will include details of places to stay, eat, drink and activities in the area as well as the newly commissioned illustrated town map.
About the Great Places to Visit Fund:The Great Places to Visit (GPV) initiative is funded by the Central Government’s Recovery Fund from The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The purpose of the GPV funding was to support the re-opening of high streets safely following the lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. It was to assist businesses generally by increasing public confidence and safety in town centres to shop and visit. The GPV funding has been allocated to five town centres located across Herefordshire county. Each town centre received up to £90k to support project activities that support the general aims of the funding.
There was success for Ross in Bloom in the Britain in Bloom competition this year, following a number of years absence from taking part.
A new group was formed just before the pandemic and they have been working hard to bring back Ross in Bloom. Ross-on-Wye Town Council supported the committee with a community grant of £750 to help re-establish the group
Judging took place in July, with the winners being announced mid-September.
Heart of England awarded Ross in Bloom a Silver Award for the Town, and The Royal Horticultural Society and Heart of England in Bloom presented Ross-on-Wye Linear Arboretum (Croft’s Lane/Blake’s Garden/Horizon Group) with an It’s Your Neighbourhood Award Level 4 (Thriving).
Pictured: Some members of the Horizon Centre, who did sterling work clearing the leaves from the Propect and assisted with the watering of the planters in town, along with some of the people involved in Ross in Bloom.
After the excitement of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Ross-on-Wye Town Council is pleased to announce its plans for Armed Forces Day on Saturday 25 June at the Rope Walk.
Armed Forces Day is a chance for us all to show our support for the personnel who make up the Armed Forces community – from currently serving troops to Service families, veterans and cadets.
Included in the programme of events, developed alongside the Ross-on-Wye & District Royal British Legion Branch, the Town Council is very excited to announce that a Royal Air Force Spitfire Flypast has been confirmed over Ross-on-Wye at 12:15pm that afternoon and invites the whole community to join them on the Rope Walk by the riverside to enjoy the spectacle. Also attending the event for the first time in Ross-on-Wye, will be the Waterloo Band & Bugles of The Rifles who will be performing live on stage at 2pm.
The event will run from 11am until 5pm and promises to be a fantastic family fun day out with live music, military displays, re-enactments, dancing, a vintage and military car display, arts & crafts, face painting plus food and drink.
Like and follow Ross-on-Wye Town Council’s Facebook page @rosstowncouncil1 to ensure you hear all the latest updates and information about this special day.
Ross-on-Wye Town Council has announced plans to light a Beacon for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on the evening of Thursday 2nd June 2022.
The Beacon, at the Prospect, will be lit at 9.45pm, and will be one of over 2,022 lit by charities, communities and faith groups all over the UK.
Ross-on-Wye Town Council said: “We are proud to be part of this momentous celebration. It is only appropriate that this unique milestone in history is marked. We are honoured to be part of this special event for Her Majesty, The Queen’s 70th year as our Monarch and Head of the Commonwealth on her Platinum Jubilee.
“With a weekend packed full of fantastic events we hope as many people as possible will join us to celebrate this very special occasion.”
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons and Associated Activities have been conceived and organised by Pageantmaster Bruno Peek and his dedicated team.
Full timings:
· 2pm – Town Crier will announce a specially-written Proclamation at the Market House heralding the lighting of the beacons later that day.
· 9.35pm – at the Prospect in Ross-on-Wye a piper will play Diu Regnare, a unique tune specially written for the occasion by Piper Major, Stuart Liddell, the world’s leading piper.
· 9.45pm – at the Prospect, Ross-on-Wye the Beacon will be lit.
With the Jubilee weekend fast approaching, plans for the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations at the Bandstand are taking shape. We can now announce our star act for the event will be the Pasadena Roof Orchestra.
“With an unparalleled reputation across the UK, Europe and beyond, for over 50 years the Pasadena Roof Orchestra have been re-creating the sounds of a golden era of music from the 1920s and 1930s to widespread acclaim. Enjoy beautifully arranged songs from Irving Berlin, Ray Noble, Cole Porter and their contemporaries and relive the electrifying hot jazz from Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington. Presenting the show, and putting on the top hat and tails, is the suave singer and band leader Duncan Galloway. So pack up your troubles, come on get happy, and experience an evening of superlative live music, with more than a dash of wit and humour.”
Organiser of the event, Cllr Ed O’Driscoll, said: “We’re delighted to be able to welcome the Pasadena Roof Orchestra to Ross to help us all mark this important moment in our country’s history. I look forward to attending the event and many of the other planned celebrations over the Bank Holiday weekend.”
The event, which takes place on Saturday 4th June, will begin at 7pm at the Bandstand on Wye Street, with refreshments available throughout the evening.
There are a number of events already being planned to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – the full programme as follows:
Wednesday 30 April to Sunday 12 June – Ross-on-Wye town centre:
As part of local plans to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, from April 30th until June 12th, Ross-on-Wye Town Council has teamed up with High Street Safari to run a free story-trail in Ross-on-Wye town centre. This innovative experience let families choose what happens in the story and is completely contactless, with anyone with a smartphone being able to take part for free. Players will not only discover cute characters along the route, but they also get to see them burst to life in augmented reality and take selfies and record videos with them!
The idea behind the event is to encourage families to come into Ross-on-Wye. Shopping parents will love being able to get the kids on board with this amazing experience and families looking for a relaxing day out can encourage kids to have a screen-time break, do some walking and get rewarded at the end.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacon Trail is located at seven stops around the town. Families will be guided on their trip by Sir Barnaby Beacon as he visits seven memorable and magical friends, like Charlie Crown or Theadora Throne, who have come to life from Buckingham Palace and gone on a trip to see Ross-on-Wye.
The trail takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and can be completed in more than one visit. It’s completely free for families and groups to take part in and they win a free, digital fun pack at the end.
Not only is the trail an innovative and fun day out for players, but they can also choose to donate to Help for Heroes to support our veterans and their families. Melanie Waters, chief executive of the charity said: “We’re thrilled to be the charity partner for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons Trail and really looking forward to taking part in this innovative, community-based activity, as part of our plans to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee this year.”
Herefordshire Council has produced two short promotional videos for social media to help support the re-opening of businesses on high streets across the county. One video focuses on the re-opening of shops in Hereford and the other on the five market towns of Bromyard, Kington, Ledbury, Leominster and Ross-on-Wye.
The videos highlight the individual character and unique shopping experiences of the city centre and high streets across the county. They also promote them as visitor and shopper destinations which are high quality, welcoming and safe. Both videos are available to share online via You Tube – please click on the following links to view:
They have been launched alongside the announcement of the council’s £6.144m Covid 19 RecoveryPlan 2021/22to support the county’s economic recovery from the pandemic and to fund the immediate actions required to enable short term economic, community wellbeing and organisational recovery. The promotion of Herefordshire is a key part of the plan, to showcase the county as a place to visit and shop, with the aim of supporting the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors.
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