CHILDREN are promised a fun-filled afternoon next weekend at an award-winning museum.

The Bishop of Birkenhead is holding his annual Salt Sunday event at the Lion Salt Works Museum next Sunday, May 8.

The family event celebrates salt as a natural resource of Cheshire, and aims to bring together the salt-making community in an afternoon of fun.

Visitors can see wild brine being transformed into salt crystals over a boiling open-pan, and there will be experiments involving making plastic caterpillars and creating a misty day with dry ice.

In addition there will be stalls and activities run by local businesses, as well as a colourful Butterfly Extravaganza.

Age UK and museum staff will bring the site to life with colourful and vibrant decorations of knitted butterflies, a big enviro-art butterfly and a flutter of eco-butterflies.

The museum’s butterfly garden, run by George Martin and Butterfly Conservation, is home to Cheshire’s buddleia collection, and recently won funding to be one of the first Polli:nation projects in the country, involving several local schools.

The Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Rev Keith Sinclair, will give a short service at the free event, which runs from 2pm to 4pm and to which everyone is welcome. Normal charges will apply to visitors who want to tour the museum.

Cllr Louise Gittins said: “We are delighted the Bishop of Birkenhead and Salt Sunday are coming ‘home’ to the Lion Salt Works.

“It is the last open-pan salt-making site in Cheshire, and one of the last in the world.

“All of us are keen to celebrate salt and the benefits it has brought to Cheshire, not only to us as individuals but also as a community. This promises to be a fun, visually delightful and vibrant afternoon.”

Salt Sunday is part of the Salt of the Earth initiative set up in 2008 by the area’s representatives from industry, churches, community groups and schools to recognise that salt has always been a major contributor to the region.

The museum tells the story of salt through fun, interactive displays, including a ‘subsiding house’ and a sound and light show.