THE historic church of St Mary’s in Ross-on-Wye lends itself to the addition of beautiful flowers, set against the coolness of its ancient stonework.

After a break of four years when St Mary’s celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in flowers, which sadly brought this glorious era of the reigning monarch draw to a close.

But now the church, known for hosting its Christmas Tree Festival, is now preparing for another flower festival, resuming a tradition which had been going for several decades.

Inspired by Louis Armstrong’s song ‘What a wonderful world’, which was released in 1967, the flower arrangements will depict many aspects of our world, including the seasons, the countryside and an English garden.

At a time when our environment is in crisis, the church will offer a peaceful reminder of what God’s creation should be.

The church has many talented flower arrangers who provide arrangements throughout the year and have been recruited to help create attractive blooms to decorate the church.

At the flower festival visitors will also be able to discover displays from members of local flower clubs.

The church is very grateful to all who are giving their time, talent and money to make this event happen.

This colourful event is taking place during the August Bank holiday weekend from Saturday August 29 through to Monday, August 31.

The flower festival will be open between 10am to 4pm on Saturday and Monday and on Sunday, between 11am to 4pm.

An entrance fee of £5 for adults, while children are admitted for free. Light lunches, tea, coffee and cakes will also be available each day.

On the Saturday there will also be a Garden Fete in the church grounds from 10am to 2pm for all the family to enjoy.

Further details available from the website: rossparishes.uk/flower-festival-26.