We Did It! Pond Repair at the Butterfly Park

Moving the pond liner into position

On Tuesday, the volunteer team at New Ferry Butterfly Park safely achieved a difficult task, after some very detailed planning and with extremely careful execution. The new pond liner, all 350kg of it, was (slowly and carefully) moved into position at the end of the pond, attached to ropes and a winch, and very slowly unrolled into the pond, rolled along the base, then up the other side. At which point we heaved a sigh of relief and had lunch!

Unrolling the liner across the pond

Rolling the liner across the base and up the other side of the pond

Opening it out proved easy, and we were the able to run in 4000 litres of water from our 4 big tanks plus all we had stored in buckets, barrels and an old bath.

Opening out the pond liner

Adding water back to the pond

Some pond weed went back in and a number of newts, diving beetles, dragonfly larvae and doubtless other life. So it is beginning to look like a pond again, with a tired and happy team.

Adding buckets of water containing pondweed and newts

Beginning to look like a pond again!

It has to be left now for a few days for the liner to adjust, then we can start on the process of getting clay to spread on the edges, tidying the liner edges and rolling the turves back. The pond will then need this summer to recover, but we hope to be able to have a small barrel with some pond life in for visitors to meet on Sunday afternoons.

The pond has been left for the liner to settle before we carry out the next stages of the repair work