The excitement is building for the unveiling of the jubilee stones at the picnic to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations which is being held at the Old Showfield on Thursday 2nd June from 2pm to 4pm.
Join us with a picnic and relax in the sunshine in one of the town’s most glorious open spaces and admire the blossom circle with new easily accessible pathways created by the Town Rangers. The ceremonial stones on either side of the circle have been kindly donated by local quarries and Curtis Ilott has provided the inscription work. The event will also see the new royal Windsor oak as the centrepiece; Julian Hight, our local tree author will tell us about the heritage of the oak which he was able to secure from Windsor Great Park and will be on hand to give tours of the numerous trees in the Showfield.
There will be fun and games (including a dog agility course) and acoustic music from Dom & Bel. Enjoy refreshments from Active and in Touch’s tea ladies, The Crumpeteers, or something more cooling from Tony’s ice cream or Flow on the go.
To celebrate such an auspicious landmark, the “Queen” will put in an appearance on the day. Rare Species will be on hand with their corgis, testing out the dog agility and we hope lots of you will join in making Bug-ingham palace, a new royal residence for many insects after the picnic. 70 tree saplings will also be given away on the day, to help with the Queen’s Canopy project, if you’d like to receive one, please sign up on the Frome Town Council website.
Cllr Anita Collier said: “This will be the first time a British monarch has marked a Platinum Jubilee. 70 years as sovereign is an incredible achievement and we’re happy that the people of Frome chose to mark the occasion in the People’s Budget Town Vote with the legacy stones which will be in place for all to enjoy for many years to come. And what better way to enjoy the extra-long weekend and start the royal celebrations with a picnic in the Old Showfield. We hope to see many of you there!”
The evening will see further activity to mark this special day. There is a long tradition of celebrating royal jubilees, weddings and coronations with the lighting of beacons. More than 2,022 beacons will be lit throughout the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on the evening of Thursday 2nd June and Frome will play its part with Reg Ling lighting the Valentine Lamp. Cllr Collier added: “As Frome doesn’t have a beacon Reg will be lighting the Valentine Lamp on Catherine Hill on the evening of Thursday 2nd June, accompanied by a piper, bugler and the town crier before raising a toast to her majesty.”
For more information on the jubilee activities, please visit the jubilee page on our website.
