Lark in the park

slides, geese and ducks. MAXINE GORDON reports.

IF you go down to Rowntree Park today, you could be in for a big surprise. For there is a lot more to this green oasis in the centre of York than its adventure playground, shallow lake and terraced caf, pleasant and fun as they are. Oh yes. There's a whole other world out there. The joys of nature, just waiting to be discovered.

So say volunteers Sara North and Kate Lock, two mums who have set up the Young Friends Of Rowntree Park.

Now in its second year, the group - a spin off from the Friends of Rowntree Park - has a membership of almost 70 families with up to 40 children attending its monthly sessions.

Most recently, the children - aged from four to 14 - turned up at the clubhouse, by the park's tennis courts, armed with an array of empty boxes, bottles and containers. They spent an hour or so turning their junk into model boats, which they then raced on the lake.

"Everyone gets a prize," insists Sara. "The fastest across the lake, the best design, the fastest sinker...anything we can think of really so that everybody goes home with a bit of chocolate!"

The Young Friends have a lot of fun. But they also learn a lot too. The aim of the group is to promote "creative discovery" about the outdoors and encourage an awareness and understanding of the park.

Recent events have included a birdwatch in which the children made a note of all the feathered friends they came across in the park. The list was impressive and included robins, starlings, a goldfinch, blackbirds, redwings, chaffinches, wood pigeons and black-headed gulls.

Kate says: "Our sessions are generally based on a theme, such as bats, birds or trees, and there are activities tied in with that, such as doing art or having a slide show. After our birdwatching session, the children made bird feeders and bird masks."

After each session, the children write short stories or draw pictures for a newsletter which is distributed to everyone on the Friends of Rowntree Park mailing list.

The next session, on Sunday afternoon, will tie in with World Environment Day and is on the theme of recycling.

Kate says: "We will be talking about recycling and learning about nature's own recyclers and children will be able to make their own worm farm."

Teams will also be removing rogue plants from the woodland area and have been warned that it will be dirty work.

Which again, is all part of the appeal.

Sara, who has a ten-year-old daughter Eve, says: "Many families who come to the park just use the playground, but there is so much more to it in terms of wildlife.

"A lot of children who live in this area don't have gardens, so the park is their garden, where they make their dens, and come and explore.

"With so many things to do indoors, children are trapped inside more than they used to be. The idea of Young Friends is to do things in the park you wouldn't normally do, such as gardening, or messing around with sticks and mud."

Which brings us back to the worms.

Did you know that worms can only be held in our hands for a very short time because our heat burns their skin?

Or that they can be male and female at the same time?

And that if you cut a worm in half the front end will grow another tail? Sadly the tail end will not grow another head.

Well, our Young Friends have already covered this ground (the above facts were reported in the January newsletter) and they will be finding out more about the wriggling creatures at Sunday's Go Green event.

Following the success of a bat watch and barbecue evening last year, the group is planning another night-time event. It will host a craft workshop on August 8 from 7-9.30pm, making junk metal tree hangings for older children and lanterns for younger ones.

There will also be lessons in juggling, a chance to meet a bat detective, a professional storyteller will tale tales around the campfire/barbecue and for the grand final there will be juggling with fire.

Meanwhile, Sara and Kate are busy trying to secure funding for a rather ambitious project: for the children to make a sculpture for the centre of the paved maze area on the south side of the park.

In the meantime, they are also hoping to get the children involved in creating a permanent mosaic in the park.

To this end, the children have already enjoyed a successful mosaic-making workshop with professional artists.

Kate and Sara say the group could not run without the help of various organisations, including City of York Council and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

The latter provides regular input in the shape of information, equipment and experts to teach the children about nature on their doorstep.

They are particularly keen to entice older children, aged 11-14, to get involved in the group, so they can tackle jobs such as clearing out the beck, and perhaps even making a proper model boat which won't sink when it hits the lake.

Kate says: "We want to foster in children feelings of pride in the park. After all, they are its future custodians."

Membership of Young Friends Of Rowntree Park costs £3 a family and lasts for a year. To find out more about joining and future events, contact Sara on 01904 639972

Updated: 09:12 Tuesday, June 01, 2004