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Places featuresYou are in: Bradford and West Yorkshire > Places > Places features > Batley's home for butterflies reopens Batley's home for butterflies reopensWhen butterfly expert David Crozier died in January 2007 the butterfly house in Batley's Wilton Park had to close because there was no one who knew how to look after the butterflies. Now the building is to reopen in David's honour.  First steps in getting the butterflies back By all accounts the butterfly house in Wilton Park was David Crozier's pride and joy - he knew all about how to look after and breed butterflies and he did this on a voluntary basis for Kirklees Council. After David's death the building fell into disrepair but in 2008 the Friends of Wilton Park decided to bring life back to the butterfly house.  Friend David Gittos inside the butterfly house Now you can find a little bit of jungle right in the centre of Batley. complete with yucca plants and a passion tree, which will also provide a home for exotic birds including canaries, cockatiels and budgies. This, together with the wild garden, will provide a place for both tropical and native butterflies to lay their eggs. Visitors will even be able to see the tanks where the butterflies hatch. Volunteers have put hours of work into the restoration of the butterfly house. As well as essential building work such as replacing all the glass, the waterfall has been returned to working order. Work by local art groups has been used to decorate the walls. Gerry Hird, chairman of the Friends, says: "The transformation from what it was like to what it is like now is amazing."
Batley's butterfly house will officially reopen on August 1st 2009 at 10.30am but if you can't get along on the day, members of the Friends will be opening the house to the public throughout August. Just check on the outside of the building for opening times. Further opening times still have to be decided and it's hoped schools will be able to make prearranged visits. As well as all the restoration work The Friends of Wilton Park have had to learn about butterflies as they've gone along. Luckily they've had some help from Mr Crozier's family who have not only provided very useful advice but have passed on all his butterly books. Bringing the butterfly house back to life has meant lots of hard work for the volunteers but Gerry Hird says: "We are pleased to have been able to do something in memory of a man who gave so much to Wilton Park." last updated: 17/07/2009 at 17:00 SEE ALSOYou are in: Bradford and West Yorkshire > Places > Places features > Batley's home for butterflies reopens
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