A beacon will be lit high above Gravesham this evening (Thursday) to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday.

The Queen is due to light a beacon in Windsor this evening (Thursday), and hundreds of districts, including Gravesham, will follow suit.

Mayor of Gravesham Mick Wenban will light our borough’s beacon on Windmill Hill at 7.30pm.

At the Rainbow Centre in Rose Street, Northfleet, a celebration lunch is being held to honour Her Majesty’s landmark anniversary from 12.30pm today.

And on Saturday at St Botolph’s Church Hall, Northfleet, there will be music, games and fun for all from 4pm until 7pm. Tickets cost £2 for adults and £1 for children, with a buffet included in the price.

Also on Saturday, Gravesend’s town centre will be filled with classic and vintage modes of transport going back nine decades, for 90 Years of Transport.

Gravesham Arts group has been planting boxes of herbs outside St Andrew’s Arts Centre, Royal Pier Road, Gravesend, as part of their contribution to Gravesham in Bloom and the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations. On Sunday, group members were making red hearts to decorate the plant boxes as a reference to the Queen of Hearts.

Group chairman Claire Brown said some visitors had been unsure what to make of the edible displays.

“It’s stuff people can pick and eat,” she said. “The whole idea was we want people to join in. We see people surreptitiously come along and pick the thyme and rosemary, but that’s the whole concept – we did it so people can join in.”

The group has also been busy cleaning up the centre’s display boards for future use, including Active Artists, which will see eight artists working and chatting to visitors at the centre this Saturday and Sunday.

Gravesham Arts will also be exhibiting at the Floral Art show in Christ Church in Old Road East, at the weekend.

Earlier in the year, more than 100 volunteers collected 200 bags of rubbish from around the borough for Clean for the Queen and managed to fill a skip. More clean-up days are being planned.

The Queen’s actual birthday is today (Thursday). Her official birthday is in June, when more celebrations will take place.