New Ferry Butterfly Park Opening Day 2026

No butterflies but still lots of fun

New Ferry Butterfly Park held its 15th Opening Day on the Sunday of the first May Bank Holiday. This event marks the start of the park’s 31st open season to the public.

Guests of honour were the local Bromborough ward councillors Jo Bird and Ruth Molyneux. The councillors said how valuable this well-loved asset is to the community and thanked all the volunteers who keep it open and ensure its continual improvements. They also talked of the importance of biodiversity to everyone.

Bromborough ward councillors Jo Bird and Ruth Molyneux opening the new container

Then the councillors declared the new container ‘open’ by pulling a red ribbon bow attached to the doors. The new container will enable the volunteers to run community visits more efficiently. Each of the three local ward councillors, including councillor Keiran Murphy, contributed £300 to the container from Wirral Borough Council funds. This, along with a crowd funding project, a grant from Vitalflo and funds from plant sales together enabled the purchase of the container, material for the associated ground works and the addition of a sloping roof, guttering and water butt to harvest rainwater. The new container will act as an art tableau in the future as an artwork will be attached to the side with money from a legacy from the late Howard Gibson.

Mike being made Honorary President of the Butterfly Park. He never likes a fuss and is in the navy blue coat with his back to the camera.

A special presentation was given to volunteer Mike Maher who has been at the forefront of the plant sales at these opening days since 2012 and in the last four years extending to weekly plants sale throughout the season, constantly renewing the stocks. The money raised is important - over £4,000. But just as important, Mike made it an opportunity to engage with the park’s visitors, swap stories and learn a little more about wildlife. Mike even charmed a couple of his plant customers into joining the wardening team. A new team will continue with the plant sales. Mike Maher was made the First Honorary president of the park and given a certificate and a president’s trophy, a miniature of the butterfly bench that many butterfly park guests have sat on. This miniature of the bench was created by Ian Ramsay, whose wife Carol created the original bench.

Presentation of the model bench to Mike

Despite the unpromising weather, the 1,118 guests enjoyed a tempting BBQ, delicious homemade cakes, a tombola, local craft stalls, plus wildlife exhibits allowing close encounters with spiders, newts, slow worms, owls and a skunk.

BBQ

The Owl Man (with owls!)

A slow worm, brought along by Wirral Amphibian and Reptile Group

Sophie Lewis shared her pond dipping pleasures (see her blog post). RECORD was there to help guests hone their recording skills of plant and animals and informing people how to contribute their records. You could make newspaper pots and sow seeds in them to take home, and of course you could buy plants lovingly grown by volunteers. There was a stall about honeybees and honey from the Park was also available.

Sophie at the pond dipping table

Sewing seeds in pots with Steve of Wirral Countryside Volunteers

Honey from very local bees

A quieter spot was the storytelling gazebo where the children were spell bound by the storyteller and entered a world of calm. They made up their own stories about butterflies and they all knew about their life cycles. This year there was a special stall from the Cheshire Guild of Spinners and Weavers. They brought four spinning wheels and samples of various fibres such as alpaca, camel, possum, plastic before they were spun. A blanket had been made up of squares of all these various materials which you could feel.

Cheshire Guild of Spinners and Weavers

Examples of woven yarn

Although the Park had more spring flowers than ever there were no butterflies on the wing due to the unpromising weather. However, Alistair Noakes of Butterfly Conservation was on hand to show the milk bottle shaped eggs of a brimstone butterfly, so at least some butterflies were seen but without their wings yet.

Phil Putwain, chair of New Ferry Butterfly Park, said,  “The success of Opening Day, year after year, is a testament to the incredible hard work and commitment of so many of the park’s volunteers and Wirral Countryside Volunteers, often including spouses, partners and children, not only in organising, preparing for and then running the Opening Day but clearing up and returning many items back from whence they came. I thought this year was a lovely local community occasion, so relaxed and friendly and sometimes meeting and re-acquainting with people that one has not seen for a while and not too overcrowded. An experience of the best of local community culture at work.”

RECORD stall

Plant sale

Thanks to Bebington Tesco for donations to the BBQ and tombola, to the Refreshment Rooms, Rock Ferry, for sponsoring 100 burgers and more importantly use of a large chest freezer, to The Easter Lily for ribbon and to New Ferry Village Hall for the loan of gazebos and tables. Thanks to the team of 42 volunteers involved in the day; the team gets stronger every opening day.

The tombola

The Park is now open every Sunday between 12 noon and 4 pm until mid-September.

So do come back on a quieter Sunday and enjoy the succession of wildlife as the season progresses. The plant sales continue throughout the season.