Ed Gretton, Clerk of the Course at Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse, has nothing but praise for the groundstaff as they go about ...


Avoiding Dee-saster


S


ituated to the south of Wrexham, Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse celebrated its 150th anniversary last year; the first jump race took place in 1859. Much has changed since those early days and Bangor now holds up to seventeen meetings a year, spread right across the calendar. The course has a traditional steeplechase and a hurdles track and has a good reputation for providing excellent ground conditions, whatever the season. This is down to the hard working groundstaff, led by Head Groundsman, Andrew Malam. His team of four includes his brother, Brian, and there is a strong family connection as Andrew took over from his father, John, in the late 90s. John continues to ‘keep an eye on things’, as he has never really retired and is now responsible for running the stable yard on racedays, as well as plenty of mucking out!). Providing safe ground for jump racing


throughout the year has its own challenges in terms of irrigation in the summer and drainage in the winter. Linked with the more dynamic weather patterns that we have begun to see in recent years, the challenges are only getting bigger for Andrew and the team. In 2002, Chester Racecourse bought Bangor-on-Dee, and this has provided more opportunity for the two courses to share knowledge, equipment and manpower - this has really helped at certain times and was brought into even sharper relief after flooding in November and December of last year. Following a large breach in the bank of the River Dee (which, as the course’s name implies, runs adjacent to the course) on the night of the 18th November, nearly two thirds of the racecourse was flooded, and remained


in the centre. Working with a local farmer, whose fields had also been


damaged, two 20- tonne excavators and three dumper trucks were hired. These were


operated by Bangor-on- Dee and Chester


Racecourse staff, who worked tirelessly to fill the breach as quickly as possible.


Over a period of six days, 1200 tonnes of clay and rubble were used to fill the gaping hole and a metal


so for the next ten days! It was


fourteen days before the river levels dropped sufficiently enough for the water to stop flowing through the huge breach. The


Environment Agency (EA) no longer repairs damage to riverbank systems, unless residential areas or life are potentially affected. Therefore, the first and most important job was to repair the giant hole in the river bank. This was fifteen metres across and six metres deep


framework was used to strengthen the bank. The night after the work was completed the river


levels rose again


which would have meant that the course would have flooded once more. Fortunately, the repairs held


strong and the team were able to turn their attention to the track itself, which was covered with some serious silt deposits - up to twelve inches deep - much of it still under standing water. With racing just ten days away, the only way to ensure a meeting took place was to concentrate on preparing one course and have a hurdles-only card. Diggers scraped away the silt and,


Head Groundsman, Andrew Malam


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