Newsletter

Spring 2026 Events & Newsletter

Last update: 13 November 2025

At Thornton Common betwixt Christmas and New Year there will be hedge laying along the enclosure hedges, willow removal, oak re-pollarding of south of the ponds and some of the oaks in the centre will have their crowns lifted or thinned to help with the spread of heather in the strip between the main western and eastern ponds. The glade will be mown with a scythe too. If you cannot make it to the tasks do, feel free to pop by and say hello and grab some tea and homemade cake.

In January hedge laying, coppicing and turf removal will carry on at New Ferry Butterfly Park. Turf stripping is a rapid way of creating a more diverse nutrient poor grassland, done to boost the amount of bird’s-foot trefoil, the larval food plant of the common blue and dingy skipper butterflies. The WCV woodchipper will be stored at the park in the new container so we can try chipping at source rather than dragging the brash, it may make us more efficient. Oak crowns southwest of Back Boiler House Coppice will be reduced allowing light to the hazel so it can put on additional growth and be a suitable size for harvesting in the autumn.

Hazel coppicing will continue in Lamperloons Coppice in Thornton Wood and shade reduction coppice continues. Volunteers have already extracted 288 hedging stakes and 70 tree stakes from the coppice. There are plenty more to harvest. Woven hazel hurdles can also be constructed from the thinner lengths of hazel.

The 22^nd WCV Cheshire style hedge laying training event will take place off Landican Lane at the Woodchurch Lane end. The hedge consists of small diameter stems, manageable by hand tools with the odd larger field maple about 10cm diameter. Some of the field maples will be retained as hedgerow trees of the future and will have a chance to get away after the hedge has been laid. Come and share your joy of hedge laying with others. Please book so that we have enough resources to run the event. Volunteers will retire to the Seven Stars, Thornton Hough, for a post event meal.

WhenWhereEventMeeting PointTime

Paul Loughnane BEM
Hon. Secretary,
Wirral Countryside Volunteers
0151 645 8937
jpl@liv.ac.uk

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When	Where	Event	Meeting Point	Time
DECEMBER
Sat 27th & Sun 28th	Thornton Common	Oak Pollarding & Willow removal, hedgelaying & bonfire, scything the ride and glade	Wirral Rugby Club car park	09:30
JANUARY 2026
Sun 11th	New Ferry Butterfly Park	NFBP Workday: Hedgelaying, coppicing and turf removal	New Ferry Butterfly Park	09:30
Mon 19th	Windsor Close Community Centre	40th WCV AGM and slideshow	Windsor Close Community Centre	09:30
Sat 24th & Sun 25th	Thornton Wood Coppicing weekend	Hazel coppicing and lifting the shade off the coppice	Thornton Common Road as it crosses the M53	09:30
FEBRUARY
Sun 8th	New Ferry Butterfly Park	NFBP Workday: Coppicing, hedgelaying, turf removal and general maintenance	New Ferry Butterfly Park	09:30
Mon 16th	Windsor Close Community Centre	WCV Group meeting	Windsor Close Community Centre	19:30
Sat 21st	Home farm, Landican	22nd Hedgelaying Training Day Booking essential	Landican Lane, at Woodchurch Road end	09:30
MARCH
Sun 8th	New Ferry Butterfly Park	NFBP Workday: Final vegetation management of the year, coppice the gate construction, plug planting wild flowers	New Ferry Butterfly Park	09:30
Sun 22nd	New Ferry Butterfly Park	Tools sort-out	New Ferry Butterfly Park	09:30
APRIL
Sun 12th	New Ferry Butterfly Park	NFBP Workday: Preparation for open day	New Ferry Butterfly Park	09:30
Sat 25th	Upper Dibbinsdale, Tom's Paddock, Foxes Wood, Thornton Wood	Spring walk around these ancient woodlands admiring the spring flowers	Thornton Common Road, where bridge crosses the M53	09:30
MAY
Sun 4th	15th Opening Day at New Ferry Butterfly Park	Volunteers needed for various jobs to make the day run smoothly	New Ferry Butterfly Park	09:30

Please bring enthusiasm, friends, stout footwear, work gloves, waterproofs & lunch.
Want to know more...?
Visit Wirral Countryside Volunteers’ website: (HYPERLINK "http://www.wcv.today/"www.wcv.today) or the Wirral Countryside Volunteer’s Facebook page.
e: admin@wcv.today or Phone: Philippa 01516458937 or email indseyemail@yahoo.com.

All Welcome         No experience necessary

The next three events are dedicated to the award-winning New Ferry Butterfly Park. In March the volunteers will finish off the last of the vegetation management and collect the arisings. Cowslip, Primrose, Sheep’s Sorrel and Common Sorrel seedlings the volunteers have raised shall be planted out. The volunteers will also remake the coppice gate and hang it on an oak post from the park. In late March there will be a great sort out and reorganisation of the containers. A new addition to the current container is a four-ring hob and oven, catering options have just expanded. In April there will be various other projects including repairing art works, such as the Imago Hut and other preparations for the opening day.

There will be a spring walk in upper Dibbinsdale looking at spring flowers in Foxes and Thornton Wood, especially in the coppice areas where wood anemone and primroses are expanding under the coppicing regime. In addition, the potential coppice growth/hedge stake harvest at Quarter Bank Coppice and regrowth at Entrance Coppice can be assessed. Bring along a hand tool to trim vegetation as the volunteers walk around the woods to help keep the rudimentary paths open.

At the 15^th Opening Day at New Ferry Butterfly Park there will be a broad range of roles to get involved in e.g. sowing seeds, BBQ, tea making, tombola, cake sales, etc. Contact Paul for details. It is a great chance to highlight this reserve and the work of the volunteers.