Dozens of guests joined the Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, David Briggs MBE as the Cheshire Wildlife Trust opened their new Bickley Barn education centre near Malpas.

The £120,000 project – supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and others – has seen a 100 year old former cattle shed that was still in daily use in the spring, transformed into a purpose-built centre of classrooms and other facilities for visiting schoolchildren from across the county.

This is the first time since the charity moved onto the farm in 2007 that an all-weather centre has been available for the more than 1,000 youngsters who visit the 200 acre site annually. The new centre also opens onto a large dedicated outdoor learning area; with ponds, an orchard and wildflower meadows just seconds away from the classroom, along with native-breed Longhorn cattle and Hebridean sheep just across the fence on the wildlife-friendly farm.

Previously, schools we given a more rustic experience of hay-bale seats, portable toilets and occasional dive-bombing sorties from nesting swallows, but few options when the heavens opened.

Enquiries for the centre can be made by calling 01948 820728 or info@cheshirewt.org.uk.