VIDEO: Great video footage from Rowntree sports day in 1946: plus what has the ground become today?

ON a glorious spring morning, members of the York St John University women's rugby union team are training on pristine turf at Haxby Road.

Team captain Charlie Freeman makes a dodging, weaving run before being brought down by a teammate's crunching tackle. She is all grins as she bounces back to her feet.

The pitch is the latest 3G artificial grass: impossibly green and neat, with tiny crumbs of rubber between the grass blades to give a more natural feel.

So what does Charlie think of the playing surface?

You do get the odd burn, she admits, showing one on her knee. "And we do miss the mud. But it's a lovely surface to play on. You get a really good bounce."

The 'new' pitch – it has actually been in use since last autumn – is part of a £7 million investment by York St John on this 57-acre Haxby Road site.

In addition to the full-size rugby/football pitch, there is a synthetic pitch for hockey and five-a-side, three netball courts, three tennis courts and facilities for basketball and cricket, all floodlit.

On the other side of a temporary pavilion, meanwhile, is a grass rugby pitch, two grass football pitches, a cricket pitch, sprint track and bowling green.

Across the road, on what is known as North Fields, eight outdoor grass pitches are also being prepared, and should be ready by autumn next year.

They are the kind of facilities that, even ten years ago, York could only have dreamed of. And the good news is that, while today the pitches are all being used by York St John students, they are also available for community use.

The facilities are already used by schools, by the Rowntree rugby union and cricket clubs, and by the youngsters of the York City Academy.

They are superb facilities, which give up-and-coming young players the chance to develop the technical skills they will need in the game, says City's academy coach (and former City, Leeds and Leicester striker) Richard Cresswell, who himself came through City's youth programme.

In the past, Cresswell says, the academy's young players trained at locations all over the city. "Now it is all contained in one complex. And it's a good surface to play on. You can pass the ball, do all the technical work – there are no excuses."

It makes sense for York St John, which has an international reputation for sports science and sports coaching, to invest so much in such quality facilities. As well as providing first-class facilities for students to play on, the new sports hall, once completed, will also provide lecture and learning spaces for students on sports and health related courses, says David Chesser, York St John's chief operating officer.

Just how important the university considers this new investment will be demonstrated this evening, when none other than former World Cup referee Howard Webb will be in York to officially open the site.

The official opening ceremony will be part of an evening of activities that will cricket, hockey, netball, tennis, and rugby and matches, as well as football game between the York City Academy and York St John.

But the plan is for these facilities to very much be available for community use, too. That is important because this site has a wonderful history of community sports use that dates back more than 100 years.

This was the old Rowntree Mille Crux sports field, where generations of Rowntree employees enjoyed their annual sports day, and where Rowntree teams of all descriptions could play for free.

Archive picture of the 1946 Rowntree sports day held at Mille Crux  

There is some wonderful archive footage held by the Yorkshire Film Archive which shows the Rowntree sports day in 1946 – the first sports day after the Second World War.

It shows sprint races for girls and boys; a men's 200-metres race; a one-mile walking race; a tug of war; and a women's three-legged race, in which two women fall over then clown cheerfully for the watching spectators.

It was clearly a great day out for those who had recently gone through the horrors of war: you can see the joy and happiness on every face.

It was here, too, that for more than a century, clubs such as the Rowntree Football Club, Rowntree Cricket Club and Rowntree (later Nestlé Rowntree) Rugby Union Club have played.

Archive picture of specators watching the action at the 1946 Rowntree sports day held at Mille Crux

Sadly, as always, things change.

After Nestlé sold the ground to York St John a few years ago, the university introduced modest charges for the community teams that still played there.

For the Rowntree Football Club, however, those charges – £30 a match – proved too much, on top of fees for referees and linesmen.

In 2012, after 118 years at Haxby Road, the club – which in the 1980s and 1990s was York's most successful amateur football club – moved to New Earswick instead, where the rent was lower and they also had use of a clubhouse.

Sadly, a year later, after many players went elsewhere, the club folded altogether.

Mick Hodgson, who was the club's secretary, admits that York St John have put a lot of money into the Haxby Road site, and that the facilities there now are first class. He admits, too, that clubs such as his had probably been spoiled by Rowntree (and later Nestlé), who had allowed them to play free.

But he still feels sad when he drives past and sees the ground where his team played for so long, he says. "It does make you think how things have changed over the years."

Other community clubs have remained at Haxby Road, however and love the new facilities.

The investment put into the site by St John – including the new floodlit 3G training pitches, and the improved changing rooms and showers – gave his club a new lease of life, admits Brian Cottom, secretary of the Rowntree Rugby Union Club.

"It has helped us rejuvenate a dedicated but ageing club that looked like it might fold," he says.

"Yes, we now have to pay to play there, but the fees are very reasonable."

To those who grew up knowing and loving this place as the Rowntree playing fields, the new facilities might seem a bit modern.

Artist’s impression showing what the new York St John University pavilion and sports centre on Haxby Road will look like

Not everyone likes that. Over on Huntington Road, Carol Farrar, whose long back garden stretches down to the River Foss and looks across to the sports pitches, is upset by the floodlights, which can be on until 10pm.

She is also annoyed by the shouts and noise coming from the pitches. Sometimes the language leaves something to be desired, she says.

"It used to be very tranquil, very peaceful here. Now you should hear it when they are playing football..."

Other neighbours have no problem with the development of the site, however. In fact Laura Barker, who lives a bit further up Huntington Road, says it is "quite nice to see it being used for something".

The bottom line is that, especially once the new sports hall is completed, there will be some great new sporting facilities in the city that will be available for community use, as well as by York St John students.

Active York, an organisation made up of council and other representatives which is dedicated to getting more people playing sport, is keen for people to make use of the new sports site.

"These brand new facilities complement Active York's aims of making sport more accessible and ... increasing the number of people who take part," says Paula Stainton, the organisation's chair.

If the facilities really do encourage more people to get out and active in York, that has to be a good thing.

• The sports pitches at Haxby Road are available for scheduled bookings by community groups and clubs. The new sports centre when it opens will also be available for bookings.

The facilities are already used by schools, Rowntree rugby club, Rowntree cricket club, York City Academy and York City Ladies.

Community groups interested in booking a pitch or finding out more should contact YSJ Active E on 01904 876300 or at ysjactive@yorksj.ac.uk