A GROUP of students are making life easier for those who visit the arboretum at one of the region's greatest stately homes.

Final year Higher National Certificate students are studying furniture design and restoration at York College.

And they were lucky enough to secure the design and making of a seat for the Arboretum Trust at Castle Howard, near Malton, as one of their primary units on the course.

They met with the arborist, Neil Batty, to discuss the design and were told the seat should encompass the theme of trees.

The result is an 8ft English oak seat in four parts, each designed like the leaves of a whitebeam tree, supported on a bracketed underframe. The timber for the seat was all harvested from the Castle Howard estate. A pinnacle in the centre of the seat, representing the stalks of the leaves, was the work of James Morris, an architectural blacksmith from Terrington.

Arboretum curator John Simmons said: "The ideals of natural beauty and function that underpin the arboretum are fully met by this beautifully created seat.

"Set in a tranquil, sylvan glade, in its design it offers the arboretum's visitors both rest and contemplation, and I am personally delighted by this co-operative contribution from the York College students."

The Arboretum, a garden of trees, protects and conserves a collection of rare trees and shrubs which are endangered in their natural habitat. The 145-acre site is a haven for wildlife and wild flowers which have naturally self-seeded.