Ryton Pools Country Park
Encyclopedia
| Ryton Woods SSSI | |
|---|---|
| Area of Search Area of Search Areas of Search are geographical areas used in the selection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest. In England these are largely based on the 1974–1996 administrative counties... |
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
| Grid Reference Grid reference Grid references define locations on maps using Cartesian coordinates. Grid lines on maps define the coordinate system, and are numbered to provide a unique reference to features.... |
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| Interest | Wildlife |
| Area | West Midlands West Midlands (region) The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,... |
| Notification | 1995 |
Ryton Pools Country Park is a country park
Country park
A country park is an area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.-History:In the United Kingdom the term 'Country Park' has a special meaning. There are over 400 Country Parks in England alone . Most Country Parks were designated in the 1970s, under the...
one mile (1.6 km) south west of the village of Ryton on Dunsmore in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The park occupies an area of about 100 acre (0.404686 km²) and contains four pools, the largest of which covers approximately 10 acres (40,468.6 m²). Ryton Woods, situated next to the country park, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
nature reserve owned by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust
The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is a Wildlife Trust and Registered Charity covering the county of Warwickshire and Solihull and Coventry in the county of West Midlands, England. The Trust aims to protect and enhance wildlife, natural habitats and geology throughout Warwickshire, Coventry and...
that is also open to the public. Professional park ranger
Park ranger
A park ranger or forest ranger is a person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. Different countries use different names for the position. Ranger is the favored term in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Within the United...
s are employed to look after the varied flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
of the park as well as the general maintenance of pathways and buildings.
The park is run by Warwickshire County Council with half in Rugby Borough and half in Warwick District
Warwick (district)
Warwick is a local government district of central Warwickshire in England. The current leader of the district council is Conservative Party member Michael Doody. The council is currently controlled by the Conservative group, who hold 23 of the 46 council seats...
boundary.
The area of the park containing the pools is reasonably flat and suitable for wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
access. However there are steeper gradients in the Ryton Wood nature reserve which, combined with the rougher tracks, make it less suitable for wheelchair users.
History
The park was a set of fields until 1965 when the land was purchased and used as a landfillLandfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
site for the nearby towns of Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
and Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
. Waste was dumped there for 27 years until 1992 when work started on developing part of the site into a country park, which included the flooding of the pits. The park officially opened in 1996 with over 2,500 trees and shrubs being planted. In the late 1990s the remainder of the landfill site was filled in and new pools were created, as well as the provision of several portable metal cabins to act as information centres. These were superseded by better and more permanent wooden ones in 2002, although the metal ones are still in use.
Facilities
The grounds have official opening times which vary according to the seasons; however, visitors can enter the park on-foot outside these hours if they wish. There are two car parks in the park, and there is currently a flat rate charge of £2 for any vehicle to enter the park. Public transport to the park is extremely limited.Facilities at the park include a visitor centre/cafe and gift shop, two children's play areas for different ages of children, a bird hide
Bird hide
A bird hide is a shelter, often camouflaged, that is used to observe wildlife, especially birds, at close quarters. Although hides were once built chiefly as hunting aids, they are now commonly found in parks and wetlands for the use of bird watchers, ornithologists and other observers who do not...
,miles of pathed and unpathed walks, and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
facilities and a miniature railway run by the Coventry Model Engineering Society. The railway is around 610 metres (2000ft or so) long and operates for the public every Sunday afternoon (1pm-4pm) from Easter until the end of September. Train rides are £1 per person per ride with the journey lasting around 6 minutes or so. Trains are hauled by either a steam or diesel locomotive. (All trains run weather permitting).
The park also organises events for children such as parties, birds of prey spotting, "creepy crawly club", nest box
Nest box
A nest box, also spelled nestbox is a man-made box provided for animals to nest in. Nest boxes are most frequently utilized for wild and domesticated birds, in which case they are also called birdhouses, but some mammalian species may also use them. Birdhouses are the most common types of nest...
building, and "prams in the park" (walking for parents with babies). There is a bird hide
Bird hide
A bird hide is a shelter, often camouflaged, that is used to observe wildlife, especially birds, at close quarters. Although hides were once built chiefly as hunting aids, they are now commonly found in parks and wetlands for the use of bird watchers, ornithologists and other observers who do not...
located by one of the pools where visitors can observe the wildlife in relative quite.
Energy from methane
A methaneMethane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
-powered electricity generator is situated in the park. It uses the methane which results from the decomposition of the organic rubbish that was dumped nearby when the area was used as a landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
site. In one year it provides the National Grid with enough electricity to run the equivalent of 18 secondary schools or roughly 2,000 houses. Information about the project, which is intended primarily for school children but interesting for adults too, is available within the generator building where there is also an opportunity to see the generators themselves.