There will be fifty metres of hedge to lay at the gas works opposite ASDA on Woodchurch Road. Parking will be sign posted from Landican Lane along the service road and parking will be outside the gas depo itself. The hedge consists of small diameter stems, manageable by hand tools with the odd larger field maple about 10cm diameter. Part of the hedge will be wet under foot; steel toe capped wellies may be the order of the day in some parts.

At the butterfly park there will be the final coppicing session. Also turf stripping which is a rapid way of creating a more diverse nutrient poor grassland, in particular to boost the amount of bird's-foot trefoil, the larval food plant of the common blue and dingy skipper butterflies. There will be some corn cockle seeds collected by one of our volunteers to disperse into the areas cleared of turf. The corn cockle is an annual and will flourish for a few years before a more stable vegetation community develops. In April at the park primrose and cowslips seedlings the volunteers have raised can be planted out: -the cowslips in Charlie's Field and the primroses in the Embankment Coppice. There will be various other projects including repairing art works, installing a new gas cage and perhaps a new interpretative display board at the Brick Pit.

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 can be assessed and the regrowth of the newly laid hedge at Heavy Oak Coppice which now allows more light to the woodland floor.

Bring along a tool to trim the vegetation as the volunteers walk around the woods to help keep the rudimentary paths open.

At the Opening Day at New Ferry Butterfly Park the Silver Jubilee Gates will be officially completed by the addition of bespoke decorative tiles to the gate posts. They will be unveiled by Caroline Lancelyn Green of Poulton Hall, Bebington who is a long-time supporter of the 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.

The next event is one of a series of eight evening events. The first will be tool maintenance at the butterfly park, honing scythe blades and sharpening billhooks. The herb garden and tree nursery will also receive attention.

There is a free environmental awareness event called 'Cool Heswall' - to increase community understanding of climate change. Here the volunteers will have a display and shall be sowing seeds in newspaper pots and demonstrating tool sharpening.

There will be an evening trip to Thornton Common to cut the centre of the woodland ride and weed some of the recently laid hedgerows. A group meeting at the Seven Stars, Thornton Hough will follow this event.

There will be some follow up work at Rough Shoots Wood, Thingwall Corner, knocking back the suckering blackthorn to allow the planted saplings to flourish and get the shelter bed established. Bring along a sharp spade.

June is balsam pulling season! Cover up well or bring some insect repellent. Volunteers will also remove the flowering heads of the pendulous sedge which is becoming invasive in the wood. In addition to some bramble removal at the wood's entrance to prevent the bramble becoming too vigorous and swamping the coppice regrowth and ground flora at Entrance Coppice.

Where

Event

Meeting Point

Time

February 2023

Sat 25th

Gas works opposite

ADSA, Woodchurch Road,

Hedge laying on the west of the gas works

Gas works, off Landican Lane

9:30am

March 2023

Sun 12th

New Ferry Butterfly Park

Final coppicing of the season, along with turf removal to create biodiverse grasslands

New Ferry Butterfly Park, Bebington

9:30am

Tue 14th

New Ferry Butterfly Park

Chipping brash on the raodway

New Ferry Butterfly Park, Bebington

9:30am

April 2023

Sun 16th

New Ferry Butterfly Park

Site tidy up road and path clearance

New Ferry Butterfly Park, Bebington

9:30am

Sat 22nd

Tom's Paddock,

Foxes Wood and Thornton Wood

Morning spring walk around the woods enjoying the spring flowers.

Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Rd (GR SJ 328813)

9:30am

Sun 30th

New Ferry Butterfly Park

Opening Day, BBQ & stalls

New Ferry Butterfly Park, Bebington

9:30am

May 2023

Thur 11th

New Ferry Butterfly Park

Tool maintenance & tree nursery nurturing

New Ferry Butterfly Park, Bebington

7:30pm

Sat 13th

Behind Heswall Hall & Library

WCV stall at Cool Heswall a fair raising environmental awareness.  

Contact Steve for details

9:30am

Thur 18th

Thornton Common

Cutting the centre of the ride & hedge weeding, group meeting at the Seven Stars, Thornton Hough

Wirral Rugby Club Car Park

7:30pm (task)

9:00pm (meeting)

Thur 25th

Rough Shoots Wood

Tree weeding & assisting developing hedgerow standards

Landican Road Thingwall Corner

7:30pm

June 2023

Thur 1st

Thornton Wood

Balsam and pendulous sedge flowers removal to prevent further spread. Tackling bramble at Entrance Coppice

Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Rd (GR SJ 328813)

7:30pm

Thur 8th

Thornton Wood

Balsam and pendulous sedge flowers removal to prevent further spread. Tackling bramble at Entrance Coppice

Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Rd (GR SJ 328813)

7:30pm

Thur 15th

Thornton Wood

Balsam and pendulous sedge flowers removal to prevent further spread. Tackling bramble at Entrance Coppice

Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Rd (GR SJ 328813)

7:30pm

Thur 22nd

Thornton Wood

Balsam and pendulous sedge flowers removal to prevent further spread. Tackling bramble at Entrance Coppice

Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Rd (GR SJ 328813)

7:30pm

Thur 29th

Thornton Wood

Balsam and pendulous sedge flowers removal to prevent further spread. Tackling bramble at Entrance Coppice

Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Rd (GR SJ 328813)

7:30pm