New Ferry Butterfly Park - 0151 645 8937

New Ferry Butterfly Park is a 2ha urban nature reserve in New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is managed by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.The reserve is located on a site formerly occupied by abandoned sidings north of Bebington railway station. On the thin, nutrient-poor soils overlying the old railway track beds, the lime waste from a water-softening plant has been used to create a calcareous grassland, with all the specialist wildflowers which depend on that habitat, including wild carrot and occasional bee orchids. Drifts of coal dust have been transformed into acidic grassland dominated by common bent, sheep's sorrel and bird's-foot trefoil. The reserve supports at least 397 species, including butterflies, moths, bees and spiders. Twenty-six species of butterfly have been recorded, with 16 species breeding at the reserve.In recent years, the reserve has hosted an open-air sculpture trail.Recent historyThe Cheshire Wildlife Trust was granted tenancy over the land in 1993 by the site’s owner at the time, the British Railways Board. In 1997, Frithmere Ltd. bought the land in an open auction; and New Ferry Butterfly Park has been under threat of closure since 2009, when CWT was told to vacate the site by Frithmere. As an alternative site for the reserve, Frithmere's agent had suggested Bromborough Dock landfill, which currently belongs to Biffa and is now open as Port Sunlight River Park, leased by The Land Trust and managed by Wirral Autistic Society .

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