THE beginning of autumn was celebrated by a York volunteer group at a nature reserve in the city.

The York Environment Centre at St Nicholas Fields, saw visitors take part in a number of events, to celebrate the eighth (Not Just) Apple Day on Saturday.

Visitors to the reserve enjoyed tours of the 24-acre nature reserve and foraging walks, wildlife quizzes and apple peeling contests, while children took part in craft activities, face-painting and the Apple Olympics, all organised by the Friends of St Nicholas Fields.

Among this year’s highlights, were a pedal-powered smoothie maker, made entirely from salvaged materials.

Ivana Jakubkova, events officer with the groups, said: “This is our eighth celebration of local fruit and it’s always a great day for everyone. It’s been great, we had over a hundred people enjoying the sunshine with plenty of activities for children and adults.

“They’ve been trying freshly pressed juice and the pedal-powered smoothie maker was very popular, everyone wanted to have a go. Luckily we had enough fruit for everyone.”

The centre will hold a pumpkin evening to celebrate the harvest season on October 30 from 5pm.