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.

MP Makes Cuts, Much To Everyone’s Joy!

New Ferry Butterfly Park held its 14th Opening Day on Sunday May 4th - the first May Bank holiday. This event marks the start of the park’s open season to the public. This year was special as it marks the 30th season of the park being open to the public.

Guest of honour was Justin Madders, MP for the Ellesmere and Bromborough constituency. Justin came to the extreme northwest corner of this new constituency, which ends at the north and west boundaries of New Ferry Butterfly Park. Justin Madders thanked all the volunteers who have kept this well-loved community asset open and are ensuring its continual improvements. He also talked of the importance of biodiversity to everyone.

Justin made a presentation to Howard Gibson who has been mowing the grass at the park for a monumental 27 years. Thanks a million. This mowing regime has reduced the grassland fertility and increased the value of the grasslands at the park to invertebrates as increased nectar and pollen sources are now available. The visual attractiveness of these grasslands has improved considerably too. Mowing the path edges sets off the area of tall grasses well. 

Justin Madders MP thanking Howard for mowing at the Butterfly Park

Justin, much to everyone’s delight, then sliced a Brimstone butterfly cake with a billhook. This delicious cake was rapidly consumed by guests. Brimstone butterflies are large yellow showy butterflies which can easily been seen from some distance.  

Justin Madders about to slice a brimstone butterfly cake with a billhook

The Brimstone butterfly is significant to the park. The cubs based at Saint John the Evangelist, New Ferry, planted alder buckthorn, the caterpillar food plant for these butterflies in 2004. A decade later the presence of brimstone butterfly eggs confirmed that brimstones were breeding at the park. This was the first recording of breeding brimstone butterflies in the Wirral peninsula. Alistair Noakes, from Butterfly Conservation, was at hand on the opening day with a display of the brimstone life cycle and was able to show guests the actual tiny milk bottle shaped eggs of the brimstone butterflies and the first instar caterpillars already munching away on the spring flush of fresh alder buckthorn leaves at the park. 

A real brimstone butterfly!

The 1,134 guests enjoyed a tempting BBQ, delicious homemade cake, a tombola stall and local craft stalls.

 June & Asal on the cake stall

Over 18 miles were pedalled on the cycle smoothie powering a blender.

The cycle smoothie

Wildlife exhibits enabled close encounters with spiders, newts, slow worms, owls and a skunk.  

The Owl Man, with his owls

RECORD, the Local Environmental Records Centre for Cheshire, Halton, Warrington and Wirral was there to help guests hone up their recording skills of plant and animals and informing them how to contribute their records.  

Wildlife spotting with RECORD

Alternatively, you could sow seeds in newspaper pots and buy plants lovingly grow by volunteers.

Steve from Wirral Countryside Volunteers showing how to make plant pots from newspaper

Just some of the plants on sale

There was a stall about honeybees and honey from the park was also available.

Local honey from Flourish at Ford Way, who have some hives in the Butterfly Park

A new attraction this year was storytelling: the children were spellbound by the words of the storyteller and entered a world of calm. They made up their own stories about butterflies and they all knew about their life cycles.

Sue from Zig Zag Tales in the storytelling area

The BBQ supplies were sponsored by kind donations from the following businesses:

Efes, King Street, Wallasey
Refreshment Rooms, Bedford Road, Rock Ferry
Tesco, Bebington Road, Bebington
Pensby Kebab House, Pensby Road, Pensby
Pronto Pizza, Seaview Road, Liscard
Wylde Bakery, Bebington Road, Bebington
Bridging the Wallasey Gap, Poulton Road, Wallasey
Bookers Cash and Carry, Union Street, Birkenhead
Station Cafe, Wallgate, Wigan
Chegone Takeaway, Grange Road West, Birkenhead
K & N Fruit and Veg, Oxton Road, Birkenhead
Vitto Pizzeria. Poulton Road, Wallasey
Pizza Point, Argyle Street, Birkenhead

These businesses give back to the community, so you might like to support them and if you do, thank them for supporting New Ferry Butterfly Park!

The BBQ team

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 sale continues throughout the season.  

Paul Loughnane
Hon Secretary, New Ferry Butterfly Park

30th Anniversary of the Butterfly Park: 2024

Record breaking crowds attended New Ferry Butterfly Park Open Day on 5th May, 2024. The sun came out, the butterflies were flying, and crowds of local people came flooding in. 1,400 altogether, which was the highest attendance to date. Several species of butterfly were on the wing: Brimstones, Orange Tips, Speckled Woods, Holly Blues and Commas to name a few. The best turnout of butterflies on an opening day ever.

The new feature unveiled this year was a series of six bespoke tiles on the brick pillars of the silver jubilee entrance gates. Nigel Lanceley, the Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside unveiled the tiles and spoke about the dedications behind each tile. 

Left to right: Nigel Lanceley, Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Merseyside; Freya Levy, artist who drew the gate plaques; Stephen Ross, chair of Wirral Wildlife; Charles Neame, Vice chair of Cheshire Wildlife Trust; Paul Loughnane, Honorary secretary of New Ferry Butterfly Park Committee 

Tiles were dedicated to individuals or groups who have significantly helped the Park. The tiles artworks were created by Freya Levy and as well as being turned into tiles, the art works are also available as greeting cards.

There was an array of displays from slow worms via spiders to owls and even a skunk, together with Girl Guides, jewellery, a wonderful plant sale, investigating plant pollinators, smoothies by bicycle, RECORD, children’s activities, homemade cakes and a BBQ. Being the early May Day Bank Holiday weekend, there was Maypole dancing. Guests all left with the smiling faces of having had a good day out.

A very busy New Ferry Butterfly Park Open Day in 2024

2024 was the year we decided to revamp the promotional leaflet. The front now has an illustration of the Park’s Silver Jubilee Gates, complete with the new decorative tiles inset into the supporting brick pillars. The leaflet has an email contact address, QR codes, a link to the Park’s Facebook page and another to the Wirral Wildlife website, both full of useful information about the Park and ongoing activities. These extra resources give extra life and vitality to the leaflet. Two art works within Vicky Hose’s original 2006 illustrated map have been changed, to feature creatures that visitors are more likely to encounter. One of these was first recorded breeding at the Park and Wirral in 2014. Freya Levy, an artist new to the park, has blended these images into the leaflet following style of the 2012 version.

The updated Butterfly Park leaflet

 

The map inside the leaflet, drawn by Vicky Hose with additional species added by Freya Levy

New Ferry Butterfly Park played host to an art installation which was last seen in Liverpool’s Albert Dock when it was created as part of a Taylor Town trail to coincide with the Taylor Swift concerts. It landed at the Butterfly Park in September and is a symbol of transformation and beauty. The weather on the last opening afternoon of the season could not have been more different to the day the installation first appeared. A steady downpour deterred a lot of people but some bravely came to have their photographs taken standing in front of the installation.

That afternoon we were pleased to welcome Justin Madders (second from the right in photo below). He is MP for Ellesmere Port & Bromborough and his constituency includes New Ferry. Volunteers from the Butterfly Park, Friends of Dibbinsdale and Friends of Lowfields Wood spoke to him about local environmental concerns.

The Taylor Swift butterfly artwork installation

Sunday 13th October was a warm October day - perfect weather for the second New Ferry Butterfly Park Apple Afternoon to celebrate locally grown apples.

At our event, John Bateman collected apples and manned the apple press so that visitors could taste freshly pressed juice. Many people took some juice away with them.

Local apple varieties on display at the Butterfly Park

John Bateman supervising the juice making

The amazing efforts of all our volunteers was recognised by RHS North West In Bloom.

In July, Jason Lambert, an RHS Judge, came on a visit. Volunteers from different areas explained what they did and we gave him a comprehensive tour of the Butterfly Park. He admitted to being very impressed by what he saw and told us that assessment of entries would take place in July and August. We wouldn’t know the outcome of this until the Awards Ceremony in October.

On October 30th, three volunteers set off to the venue at Bolton Wanderers FC stadium to await the results.

There are 5 levels of award, one to five. Imagine our delight when, on our first time of entering, the Butterfly Park won a Level 5 - Outstanding award.  However, that wasn’t all. We were presented with a certificate and trophy as winner of the NWIB Gardening for Wildlife (Biodiversity) award.

What an accolade for New Ferry Butterfly Park and a fantastic end to 2024.

Left to right: Phil (NFBP chairman), Linda (representing NFBP volunteers),
and Steve (representing Wirral Countryside Volunteers), with the RHS judge
at the North West In Bloom award ceremony

New Ferry Butterfly Park's Outstanding award!

The NWIB Gardening for Wildlife (Biodiversity) award

30th Anniversary of the Butterfly Park: 2023

The 4th May 2023 saw New Ferry Butterfly Park hold its 12th Opening Day. This marked the start of the 28th season of being open to the public. Despite the drizzle, there were 567 guests on the day. They enjoyed the BBQ, delicious homemade cakes, a magnificent plant sale, stalls of local talented crafters and children’s craft activities, including making badges and sowing seeds in newspaper pots. It was a first sight for many of the revamped wildlife demonstration garden dedicated to the park’s founder Mel Roberts. There was lots of information and inspiration to get people started on their own wildflower adventure.

Caroline Lancelyn Green,
guest of honour at the 2023 Butterfly Park Open Day

The guest of honour for the day was Caroline Lancelyn Green. Caroline is a long-term supporter of the Park. She and her family host fundraising garden parties at nearby Poulton Hall from which the park has benefited. Caroline, who is delightfully theatrical, rose to the occasion and came along in a wonderful butterfly scarf which she unfurled to applause.

Caroline came to unveil the latest feature at the park, a new information lectern dedicated to the industrial heritage of the park. This lectern was made possible by a legacy from the late Frank Cottrell, a former chair of Wirral Wildlife and a former Cheshire Wildlife Trust Trustee, combined with donations made in his memory and funding from the Wirral Wildlife. Hilary Ash read a tribute to Frank and said, “He would be wryly amused to be now part of the history of the park.” It was Frank who persuaded the Cheshire Wildlife Trust to take on New Ferry Butterfly Park.

The industrial heritage information board

Sunday 8th October was a warm October day - perfect weather for all things appley. Volunteers at New Ferry Butterfly Park organized an afternoon to celebrate locally grown apples.

A selection of the apples on display at the apple afternoon in October 2023

The first Apple Day was organised on 21st October 1990 by Common Ground to celebrate apples and orchards. Many traditional orchards were being dug up and the country became reliant on imported apples despite about 3,000 apple varieties having been grown in the UK. The aim was to bring the wide variety of local apples to the attention of the public.

John Bateman collected apples and manned the apple press so that visitors could taste freshly pressed juice. We had 21 varieties of apples picked from Brimstage and Upton Hall School orchards plus two varieties from the NFBP committee chairman’s garden. What wonderful names these old varieties have – some dating back to the 17th century. Some varieties like Peasgood’s Nonsuch are named after the person who raised them. Others like Lord Lambourne are named after a person. Catshead is named because of its shape, Red Love for the colour of its skin and flesh and Bee Bench after the tradition of taking bee hives to orchards to pollinate the flowers.

The apple juicing equipment

2023 was also the year we had to reline the pond.

The previous year we realised that the pond had a leak. Water levels had been low all season but even the autumn rains didn’t raise the water level. The pond liner, all 350kg of it, cost us over £3000. 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! We were eventually 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. Some pond weed went back in and a number of newts, diving beetles, dragonfly larvae and doubtless other life. So it was beginning to look like a pond again, ready for a resumption of pond dipping.

Adding buckets of water back to the pond

Adding a pond dipping platform to a refilled pond

Record Breaking Crowds Attended New Ferry Butterfly Park Open Day

Some of the visitors to the 2024 New Ferry Butterfly Park Open Day

Record breaking crowds attended New Ferry Butterfly Park Open Day on 5th May. The sun came out, the butterflies were flying, and crowds of local people came flooding in. 1,400 altogether, which was the highest attendance to date. Several species of butterfly were on the wing: Brimstones, Orange Tips, Speckled Woods, Holly Blues and Commas to name a few. The best turnout of butterflies on an opening day ever.

Left to right: Nigel Lanceley, Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Merseyside; Freya Levy, artist who drew the gate plaques; Stephen Ross, chair of Wirral Wildlife; Charles Neame, Vice chair of Cheshire Wildlife Trust; Paul Loughnane, Honorary secretary of New Ferry Butterfly Park Committee 

The new feature unveiled this year was a series of six bespoke tiles on the brick pillars of the silver jubilee entrance gates. Nigel Lanceley, the Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside unveiled the tiles and spoke about the dedications behind each tile. Tiles were dedicated to individuals or groups who have significantly helped the Park. The tiles artworks were created by Freya Levy and as well as being turned into tiles, the art works are also available as greeting cards.

Nigel Lanceley DL, was most impressed, as was Dr Charles Neame, the Vice-Chair of Cheshire Wildlife Trust. Both commented that it was a most engaging community event which reached out to all people of all ages and circumstances, bringing them into contact with wildlife and environmental issues in an appropriate and accessible way. Charles said that it is what Cheshire Wildlife Trust is all about. The new tiles, which add such a final touch to the Silver Jubilee Gates and history of the park, are splendid and so appropriate. For details about the gates design, the tile dedications and the broad arrange of sponsors who enabled this project to happen, see the Silver Jubilee Gate leaflet especially created for the day.

The Silver Jubilee Gate leaflet

An explanation of the dedications for each tile on the gate

There was an array of displays from slow worms via spiders to owls and even a skunk, together with Girl Guides, jewellery, a wonderful plant sale, investigating plant pollinators, smoothies by bicycle, RECORD, children’s activities, homemade cakes and a BBQ. Being the early May Day Bank Holiday weekend, there was Maypole dancing. Guests all left with the smiling faces of having had a good day out.

Mike Maher, who grows most of the plants for the plant sale

Wirral Amphibian and Reptile group featured newts from the Butterfly Park pond

For the rest of the spring and summer, come and enjoy the Park’s wildlife at a more tranquil pace. The Park is now open every Sunday 12 noon - 4pm until the second Sunday in September. The Wirral Wildlife plant sale continues weekly whilst stocks last; new stocks are being propagated.

Paul Loughnane
New Ferry Butterfly Park Reserve Manager