In April 2008 we had major renovation work undertaken to our main grassed areas
anyway!)
My week usually starts with brushing, sweeping the synthetic surfaces to get the pile standing up and dispersing the infill. Once they are done, I divot the turf pitches and then brush them to get the grass standing up and lifting debris above the grass sward.
I aim to cut the pitches outside three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the growing season, and only when conditions allow during the winter months. I set the height of cut on the mowers at 25mm in the summer and 30mm for the winter, although I might raise the height up to 30/35mm in the summer/winter, depending on the level of wear that shows.
Due to the usage, divoting and litter picking are my constant jobs, as pitches are in play on a daily basis. Friday afternoons are usually set aside for machine maintenance and washing, so they are stored clean and ready for use the following week.
In 2007 we started to apply selective herbicides (using a contractor) and, in 2008, we have done the same, but also applied carbendazim for the control of worm casts. Before the centre became re-branded,
not much work had been carried out on these pitches for a long time, other than a weekly cut by the council, in whatever weather conditions prevailed, I understand that the groundstaff used to come up from the Riverside (Middlesborough FC’s stadium) with the trike to mark the lines. At the end of the season they would scarify, aerate, brush and overseed the pitches as needed. Now all the marking out is done by myself, I have two 3” dimple markers and use Grassline heavy-duty paint diluted at 3-1. In April 2008 we had major renovation work undertaken to our main grassed area that holds the two senior pitches. Firstly, around thirty poplar trees were removed including their roots. A water tank, pump house and Rainbird irrigation system containing seventy-two sprinklers were installed into the field, these include eight infield pop-ups within each pitch and the rest were situated around the perimeter of each pitch. North Staffs Irrigation carried out this work under the management of Cleveland Land Services.
CLS installed a full drainage system consisting of two main drains, lateral drains at 5 metre centres, combined with sand slitting at 1 metre intervals at 90
74
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140