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| Frank Cottrell in 2020, with a painting by Mel Roberts of a white tailed eagle |
It is with great sadness that we report the recent death of Frank Cottrell who would have been 99 in November.
Frank was the Chairman of Wirral Wildlife from 1989 to 1998 and a Trustee of Cheshire Wildlife Trust from May 1992 to June 2005.
It was Frank who lobbied Cheshire Wildlife Trust to let us use the name `Wirral Wildlife’. He recognised that, with Wirral not having been part of Cheshire since 1974, the `Cheshire’ name made no sense to much of our population. We are still very grateful for that. Frank was ahead of the game in putting the name wildlife in the group’s title, well before Cheshire Conservation Trust changed its name to Cheshire Wildlife Trust in 1991, as it was not clear in the name what we were conserving,
Frank took a great interest in the planning and development role of Wirral Wildlife and signed our letters to planning authorities when chairman. He and his neighbours campaigned to keep the large oak tree on Dibbins Hey when the Poulton Lancelyn estate was built, getting it incorporated in a roundabout. It is still standing and a favourite tree with local residents for birthday photographs and other family events.
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| Alison McGovern MP presenting Frank with his retirement present after he stepped down as a warden of New Ferry Butterfly Park at the age of 94. |
In 1993 he was instrumental in persuading Cheshire Wildlife Trust to take on New Ferry Butterfly Park as a nature reserve. He volunteered there as a warden on Sunday afternoons and only retired when he was 94, encouraging others to volunteer too ‘because it was such fun’. Recently he made a generous donation to help fund new, decorative gates for the Park. The Green Flag at the Park has been flying at half mast in tribute to him.
The Green Flag at New Ferry Butterfly Park flying at half mast in tribute to Frank Cottrell
The Butterfly Park wasn’t Frank’s only achievement. He and his friend Eric Warner created a game called Frog Dip consisting of a plastic pond and a dozen plastic frogs. This was taken to fund raising events and for a small charge children could pick a frog out of the water and win a prize. We were still using this until Covid struck - although the frogs are probably well past retirement age by now.
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| Frank with an apple pie made by the Country Mouse at one of our Apple Days |
For several years Frank organised our annual Apple Day at Brimstage Hall every October. He managed to persuade the owner of the Country Mouse restaurant to bake a lovely apple pie for us each year. Some of us didn’t have the same success in later years! The orchard at Brimstage was of great interest to him, especially the damsons which he enjoyed stewed at breakfast time! When the trees in the orchard were in need of some care and attention, before the Tree Wardens took over, he and Elaine Mills helped to identify the trees and do some pruning.
Frank never stopped noticing the wildlife around him. A few years ago he and Elaine spotted Henbane at Burton Marshes. Henbane had been recorded at Burton but Frank and Elaine rediscovered it after many years absence. He was always alert to sightings in his own garden and I remember the photograph of the Hummingbird Hawk-moth he sent us for the Wirral Wildlife Blog. The last time I spoke to him he told me he could see a red legged partridge outside his window.
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| Hummingbird hawk moth. Photo taken by Frank in his garden. |
Words to describe Frank? Supportive, knowledgeable, possessed of a wry humour and a sense of fun.
In the words of Stephen, our current Chairman, Frank was ‘a delightful character who remained interested in all that we did until the end. The happy times we spent in his company will remain in the memories of all who knew him’.
Frank had a long life and has left a lasting legacy through his hands-on involvement with Wirral Wildlife. We thank him and will miss him.
