Newsletter

Forthcoming events - Winter 2026

Last update: 5th August 2026

The autumn starts with a double billing with two activities on the same day, a stall at the EarthFest, West Kirby making newspaper pots and sowing seeds to promote the group. The other event is scything at Prenton Dell Claypit which is a new site for the group. If you would like to know more about it, Mike Coffin is giving a comprehensive talk to Wirral Wildlife Group at 7.30pm Friday11^th September at Thornton Hough WI, £5 entrance. Volunteers will be mowing grassland to benefit bird’s foot-trefoil a larval food plant nectar source for both the Common Blue and the rarer Dingy Skipper butterflies. Plenty of parking is available at the rugby club and use of club house facilities too. Mike will give a tour of the site.

Prenton Dell Claypit

This hedge laying training day is at Groobarb’s Field Kitchen with WCV providing the training expertise. Booking is essential for this training event check web page, for further information. After the hedge laying event, trainers and trainees are invited to the Kitchen Restaurant for the renowned Groobarb's Field Kitchen "Lunch 5 Course Special" meal.

At New Ferry Butterfly Park we carry on with the scything regime and start the coppicing of back boiler house coppice along with preparation and support for the apple afternoon.

The group meeting will be held on Tuesday, note the change of day so that we can use the wonderful Windsor Close Community Centre. All welcome.

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
September
Sat 19th	St Bridget's School field, west Kirby	Stall at Earth Fest sowing seeds in newspaper pots	St Bridget's School field, West Kirby	9:30am
Sat 19th	Prenton Dell Clay Pit	Scything, raking and carting the cuttings	Prenton Rugby Club Car Park	9:30am
October
Sat 3rd	Wild Farm, Knutsford	Training Day at Groobarbs Field Kitchen Booking Essential	Wild Farm, Mag Lane, High Legh, WA16 0AA	9:00am
Sun 11th	New Ferry Butterfly Park	Scything, Coppicing and Apple afternoon	New Ferry Butterfly Park	9:30am
Tue 20th	Windsor Close Community Centre, New Ferry	Group Meeting	Windsor Close Community Centre, New Ferry	7:30pm
Sat 24th Sun 25th	Quarter Bank, Thornton Wood	Hazel coppicing weekend, hedge planting and pond excavation	Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Road	9:30am
November
Sat 7th	Thingwall Road, Irby	23rd hedge laying training day Booking Essential	Thingwall Road, opposite Whaley Lane. Nearest postcode: CH61 1XJ	9:00 for 9:30am start
Sun 8th	New Ferry Butterfly Park	Scything and coppicing	New Ferry Butterfly Park	9:30am
Sat 21st	Home Farm, Mottram	Land Worker's Alliance have invited WCV to provide a training taster day. Booking Essential	Home Farm, Hill End Lane, Mottram, Hyde. SK14 6JP Book to carpool	9:30am
December
Sat 12th	Home Farm, Landican	Hedge planting	Home Farm, Landican Lane, Landican	9:30am
Sat 12th	Bebington	'Potluck Buffet' bring along a contribution	Paul and Philippa's	7:30pm
Sun 13th	New ferry Butterfly Park	Hedgelaying and turf removal	New Ferry Butterfly Park	9:30am
Sun 27th and Mon 28th	Thornton Common	Oak Pollarding, Willow removal & hedgelaying	Wirral Rugby Club car park, Thornton Common Road	9:30am

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 volunteers will cut Quarter Bank Coppice, Thornton Wood and harvest the 10-year-old crop. This is the most diverse of the coppices with good populations of pignut and dog violets. Hawthorn will be transplanted from the coppice to the woodland boundary to form a hawthorn hedge at the top of Lamperloons Coppice. The Quarter Bank Pond which contains a rare beetle will be
re-excavated too so there is plenty of variety that weekend.

The 23^rd Hedge Laying Training Day will be close to the service road off Thingwall Road, so there is plenty of parking and not far to walk to the hedge. The volunteers will retire to Otto Lounge, Heswall at 5pm for a post event meal. Booking essential for both

The next day at the butterfly park there will be more scything, coppicing and laying of the calcareous hedgerow which contains ten species of shrub.

Land Worker’s Alliance (LWA) have invited WCV to provide a training taster day for some of their members in Mottram in Longdendale. Booking essential as that will help with car sharing.

There will be hedge planting at Home Farm, Landican follow by a potluck buffet at Paul and Philippa’s. Please let us know of you are coming. The following day there will be hedge laying and turf removal at the butterfly park. Turf removal benefits a key butterfly plant, bird’s foot-trefoil. In the spring a site record of eight Dingy Skipper butterflies was recorded in the area where the turf had been stripped.

At Thornton Common betwixt Christmas and New Year there will be hedge laying along the eastern and southern enclosure hedges, willow removal, and oak pollarding south of the ponds. If you cannot make it to the tasks, feel free to pop by and say hello and grab some tea and homemade cake.