New Ferry Butterfly Park is ready to start its new season with family open day

New Ferry Butterfly Park is getting ready to re-open its gates for 2024.

And the nature reserve in Howell Road is inviting visitors to join them for a fun-filled day to celebrate its new season on Sunday, May 5.

There’ll be tons of free activities for kids and families from pond-dipping, arts and crafts to make, and spider spotting, as well as the park’s popular three self-guided trails.

And there’ll also be a tombola, cake and plant sales, and a BBQ at the opening which will be attended by the Merseyside Lord-Lieutenant, Mark Blundell.

“He will be unveiling our ‘latest addition’ to the park,” says Linda Higginbottom, its volunteer co-ordinator and publicist, adding that ‘all will be revealed’ on the day.

New Ferry Butterfly Park has been open for 29 years and is run entirely by volunteers on a plot leased by Cheshire Wildlife Trust of which they’re members.

Its goal is to create and look after the reserve which has a variety of natural areas, and which attracts different insects and wildlife.

Linda explains that the land the butterfly park has been created on was originally the goods yard for the railway:

“And when British Rail didn’t want it any more it was put up for sale.

“Because it was the goods yard it’s got a variety of different soils: there’s one area where coal was dumped before it was bagged so that’s acidic soil, there’s another area where lime was deposited from softening the water for the steam trains, and if you get different soils you get different plants, and if you get different plants you get different insects.”

“We have got a whole range of different habitats and insects.

“As our name suggests, in good weather we have lots of butterflies; I think we have 17 breeding species now, and you’ll see different species at different times of the year. We have lots of bumble bees, spiders, grasshoppers, and we have a pond with newts in it and the three self-guided trails, a history trail, a nature trail, and an art trail that people can pick up leaflets for at the entrance.

“We also do guided tours for schools as well as adult groups and uniformed groups.

“One of our regular activities is pond dipping. We had a leak in the pond last year so we couldn’t do any pond-dipping, but it’s all been relined and the rain has filled it up very quickly!”

Linda says: “We like to think we are something for the local community, because New Ferry doesn’t have many green spaces and there are homes that don’t have gardens, so this is somewhere they – and people from outside the area – can come to and get close to a bit of nature and greenness.

“We are a little oasis.”

Apart from things like the cake and plant sales on the open day – all made and grown by the volunteers – entry and activities to New Ferry Butterfly Park are free.

It’s open every Sunday afternoon between 12 noon and 4pm from May 5 until mid-September.

* There’s no parking at the park during Open Day except for disabled access but plenty in the local area, and it’s easily accessible via public transport being located next to Bebington Train Station.