Stryt Las Park ( cy, Parc Stryt Las; sometimes spelled Las) is a park situated between Johnstown and

Rhosllanerchrugog RhosllanerchrugogDavies, Jenkins and Baines (eds) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales'', 2008, p.752 (also spelled Rhosllannerchrugog, or simply Rhos) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It lies within the histor ...

, in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is named after Stryt Las (), the street which borders the park to its south. The park is situated on a former colliery and landfill site.

Description

The park lies between

to its west and Johnstown to its east. It is situated on a former colliery and landfill site. The park contains areas of grasslands and woodlands, but is in a predominately wetland area, with a large pond and three smaller ponds. Stryt Las has a large pond, formerly an old

clay pit A clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement. Quarries where clay is mined to make bricks are sometimes called brick pits. A brickyard or brickworks is of ...

. The large pond is drained annually as part of conservation efforts and a general clean up. During the process, the lake bed is extensively cleaned, litter is removed, and fish netted by Natural Resources Wales are relocated to other ponds or lakes in need of restocking. The removal of fish from the pond is necessary to prevent a decline in the great crested newt's population, a rare

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

present in the park. In 2021, following a conservation project which created a new "secret garden" with new ponds, the nature conservation charity Wild Ground called on local children to produce artwork to be displayed at the park.

Biodiversity

Mosaic_newt_on_Barc_Stryt_Las_-_geograph

The park is within the Johnstown Special Area of Conservation along with

Bonc yr Hafod Country Park Bonc yr Hafod (meaning: ''Hafod Bank'') is a country park, on the former site of Hafod Colliery, near Johnstown and Pentre Bychan in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The country park is centred on a former spoil tip hill, known locally as "Picni ...

, due to the local presence of the rare great crested newts, present at the park's pond. The populations are one of the largest known breeding populations of the great crested newt in Great Britain. Other notable amphibians include: various frogs, toads, smooth newts and

palmate newt The palmate newt (''Lissotriton helveticus'') is a species of newt found in Western Europe, from Great Britain to the northern Iberian peninsula. It is long and olive or brown with some dark spots. The underside is yellow to orange, and the thr ...

s. Butterflies in the park include:

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) ''Vanessa atalanta'', the red admiral or, previously, the red admirable, is a well-characterized, medium-sized butterfly with black wings, red bands, and white spots. It has a wingspan of about . It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his ...

, Small skipper, Green-veined white and the

Comma Butterfly ''Polygonia'' (from Greek πολύς - ''polys'', "many" and γωνία - ''gōnia'', "angle") is a genus of butterflies with a conspicuous white mark on the underside of each hindwing, hence the common name comma. They also have conspicuous an ...

. Whereas birds such as

bullfinch Bullfinch is a name given to two groups of passerine birds. True bullfinches The true bullfinches are thick-billed finches in the passerine family Fringillidae. They comprise the genus ''Pyrrhula''. These birds are restricted to the Old World, an ...

es, redwings, swallows,

house martin ''Delichon'' is a small genus of passerine birds that belongs to the swallow family and contains four species called house martins. These are chunky, bull-headed and short-tailed birds, blackish-blue above with a contrasting white rump, and w ...

s, snipes,

mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home ...

s, great tits, goldfinches,

magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

s, chaffinches, and water rails are also present in the park. The park is part of the

Stryt Las a'r Hafod Stryt Las a'r Hafod (sometimes spelled Stryd Las a'r Hafod) is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the preserved county of Clwyd, north Wales, and specifically in Wrexham County Borough. It includes the parks of Bonc yr Hafod and Stryt Las Pa ...

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI). A wildfowl population, such as

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

and swans (

mute swans The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home ...

), have been recorded in the large pond, with the park also having managing issues with crassula, in particular the invasive species ''

crassula helmsii ''Crassula helmsii'', known as swamp stonecrop or New Zealand pigmyweed, is an aquatic or semiterrestrial species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae. Originally found in Australia and New Zealand, it has been introduced around the wor ...

'' which can destroy life in the ponds.

Notes

References

{{Parks and open spaces in Wrexham Country parks in Wales Parks in Wrexham County Borough

Description

Biodiversity

See also

Notes

References