WYNNCommander
WYNN JONES heads a team of volunteers maintaining the pitches at Ludlow Rugby Football Club. With its stunning location it is an enviable job. Report by LAURENCE GALE MSc
AS a coach, and former player, I have been lucky enough to visit many rugby grounds up and down the country. There are some very inspiring grounds set in some wonderful settings. But few are more spectacular than Ludlow Rugby Club, based in the heart of Shropshire, whose ground is watched over by Ludlow Castle. The view of the castle is quite spectacular from the pitch. The rugby club bought the land off the Midlands Electricity Board back in 1994 and had two pitches levelled and over seeded. These pitches lie on a natural flood plain of the River Teme, so the club keep a keen eye on the weather forecast. Last year the ground was covered by water to a depth of 300 mm. Fortunately the floodwater subsides very quickly, usually within a couple of days if there is no more rain. To help ease the problem, the club have installed a sump drainage system consisting of piped drains running into a large sump. As soon as the water level reaches a predetermined height the pump is automatically activated and returns the water back into the river. The pitch is generally playable within seven days.
As with many smaller rugby clubs
Ludlow’s pitches are maintained and managed by a team of volunteers. The current head groundsman is Wynn Jones, who is also the club’s Chairman. It is a job he has been doing for the past five years. Wynn has been fortunate to cajole many local companies to help out by supplying their products and services free of charge. A local haulage contractor, Stephen Weaver, provides a Vertidrain machine and local farmers supply seed and fertilisers. Once the playing season is over Wynn will enlist the help of these same local farmers to carry out end of season renovations! The pitches are overseeded using a deep drill seeder and fed with a slow release 0/15/15 fertiliser. Additional summer and autumn fertilisers are applied as and when required. In August the pitches are mown and scarified using an Amazone mower giving them a good tidy up for the start of the season. Once the season is under way Wynn
keeps the pitches mown on a seven to ten day cycle, using a ride on cylinder mower, maintaining a cutting height of 100mm. The pitches are marked out with a Kombi spray jet line marker.
The pitches will usually receive a dose of selective weed killer a couple of times a year to control broad leaf weeds. However, with such a dry summer in 2006 Wynn refrained from spraying to prevent any scorching of the turf. He is hoping to get an early application of selective herbicide on his pitches next year. Wynn gets a great amount of satisfaction from his work at Ludlow RFC. He realises that the club can only be successful on the field of play if the pitches are maintained to a high standard. He is confident that his club has a bright future, knowing that the combination of a quality playing surface, set in such an envious location, along with its modern clubhouse facilities, will always be an asset in attracting new players and members. This is evident when you see the amount of support the club gets on match days - especially when they play my club, Shrewsbury RFC, in a local derby. This fortress pitch is one the club should
be proud of. It is achieved out of the dedication, hard work and commitment of its club members and supporters.
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BeamRider 102
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Laser guided line marking
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