A NATURE reserve in York is celebrating its fifth birthday with a little help from some friends.

The Friends of St Nicholas Fields will today be joined by City of York Council leader, Coun Andrew Waller, Dave Meigh, the council head of parks and open spaces, and Barry Potter, chairman of York Natural Environment Trust to help start the celebrations.

The event starts at noon at York Environment Centre on Rawdon Avenue and features a photo exhibition showing how St Nicholas Fields has developed, and celebrating the work of thousands of volunteers who have transformed the site over recent years.

A new tree trail around the nature reserve will be launched with a guided walk at 1.30pm.

St Nicholas Fields is on the edge of Tang Hall, just off Melrosegate. It was officially declared a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) on February 28, 2004.

During the 16 years prior to this, the 24-acre site had been transformed from a disused rubbish tip. Tang Hall tip had been the burial ground for York’s industrial and domestic waste from 1950 to 1974.

John Brierley, project co-ordinator with the Friends of St Nicholas Fields, said: “St Nick’s is a unique green space that has been transformed into what it is today by the work of hundreds, probably thousands, of volunteers, who have cleared rubbish, built paths, sown wildflower meadows and planted trees and shrubs. It is now home to a wide variety of wildlife and a great place for people locally to enjoy.”

The Friends of St Nicholas Fields would like to hear from people who have old photographs of St Nick’s from when it was a rubbish tip or from when the site was being developed as an urban nature park.

Phone project co-ordinator, John Brierley, on 01904 411821, or email john@stnicksfields.org.uk