(l-r) Paul Barnett, Wayne Bradshaw, Craig Keast and Edward Philips
prayed for some rain and watched with interest.”
“During the summer of 1996 cracking on the surface of the square became visible, I took the decision to allow these cracks to open and spent many hours with my deputy on hands and knees filling in the cracks with Ongar loam which built up the bulk of the soil to eliminate the cracking in future years.” “We played our last game of the school season, against the staff, in the first week of July on the new square. We witnessed some reasonable bounce but the pace of the wicket was something very different from what we were use to at Wells!”
“THE wickets have certainly improved as the years have progressed. Finding the right seed mixture (MM29/MM50) and experimenting with pitch preparation has been very interesting.” “The school cricket season is very intense, over a twelve-week period, with the square being used almost every day for either square practices, matches or after school cage practices.” “I have extended the square over the last ten years, adding another six strips either side of the ten main strips. These are Mendip soil, but with 10 years of Ongar loam topdressing; these ‘outfield’ wickets are used for the junior school and practice sessions. Since 1989 we have hosted a number of Somerset County youth games including 2-day matches.” “At the same time as the cricket ground was under construction so too was the astro pitch and five rugby pitches on a new site.” “Hockey is the main sport played on the astro, so the specification of the carpet and shock pad had to take this into account. We do have nine tennis courts on the astro during the summer term but the bounce does get a lot lower as the surface dries out.” “We have not had too many problems with the pitch over the twelve years. It is an open site and we do have hard access to it, so this eliminates debris getting on to the surface. We regularly brush the surface in all directions and keep sand levels topped up, especially where corners are taken from during the hockey season.” “The pitch has been professionally cleaned by contractors for each of the last four years. This has certainly been beneficial as the pitch gets older. The
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work is usually carried out in the summer term when, hopefully, we have a week of dry weather”. “For the five rugby pitches a new site was purchased by the school. For many years it was agricultural land, approximately 750m long and 80m wide narrowing to 50m.” “The land was stripped of its topsoil, cut and filled, and the topsoil replaced. A drainage system was installed with laterals spaced every six metres running into one main with outlets running into an existing ditch The site was then levelled and prepared ready for seed sowing.” “Once established, we set out all five pitches and dug holes ready for the sockets to be concreted in.” “In addition, we have created cricket
wickets between some of the rugby pitches, using Ongar loam to acieve the levels and for top dressing during autumn renovation. These pitches have certainly improved with good autumn work, scarification, use of Ongar loam and a quality seed mixture (MM29-MM50).” “Once the summer term ends, the first major task is to set and mark out the five pitches. We normally stop cutting the pitches for around two or three weeks and apply an application of fertiliser to kick- start the sward to produce a good carpet of grass ready for the start of rugby season. The grass is topped twice a week at 75mm to help produce this. A Sisis Quadraplay or the chain harrow is used to stripe up the pitches to give a good presentation.” “Regular slitting is carried out through the winter months and pitches are marked prior to every game with spray markers.” “Having equipment that is reliable and up to date is very important. We try and budget each year to replace one major piece of equipment. The smaller items; markers, strimmers, hedge cutters, blowers etc are replaced every two to five years depending on use.” “Having staff that are trained and competent users of machinery is very important. I tend to let each staff member have his own mower and it is their responsibilty to look after it throughout the season, greasing, adjusting and sharpening as they see fit. I find that the mower then becomes their pride and joy”.
“I tend to let each staff member have his own mower and it is their responsibilty to look after it throughout the season, greasing, adjusting and sharpening as they see fit”
What’s in the Shed?
John Deere 4100 tractor with mid- mount mulching deck
John Deere 2653A 8 bladed cylinder mower with floating heads Ransomes Parkway Allett 36 Allett Shaver Allett Buffalo Lloyds Paladin Kubota G21 Auto Roller Sisis scarifier with various cassettes Sisis Quadraplay Sisis Multislit Polaris utility vehicle
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