Public Places
servicing bills alone”
thousands of pounds in repairs and
reckons he has saved the club
“Martin
Excessive rain has highlighted the need for a proper drainage system The winter pitch renovations centre
around a cut and collect, overseeding firstly in March when the ground starts to dry and crack, enabling him to broadcast seed into the soil profile. This is followed by a second overseeding, drilling into the bare areas once the football and rugby seasons finish in April. As for cricket, the nine pitch square is
Martin’s refurbished JD 3225C 5 gang
brought into play as soon as the winter sports season is finished in early April. The square is renovated with the help of Jason Hobbs, the county’s pitch advisor, in early September, scarifying the square in several directions, applying 120 tonnes of Surrey loam and oversowing with a dwarf perennial rye grass seed mixture.
The square is then fenced off, with GETTINGPersonal...
Martin Saunders - would like to rally round with Ellie Harrison; fish and chips on the menu, no doubt!
Who are you? Martin Saunders, Groundsman for the Cheltenham Area Civil Service Sports Association.
Family status? Living with partner.
Who’s your hero and why? Ari Vatanen, best rally driver of his era.
What is your dream holiday? Any time in New Zealand.
What annoys you the most? The lack of respect shown by my different sports clubs to other club’s sports turf.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? The Prime Minister.
Favourite record, and why? Anything by Dire Straits [what, even Twisting by the Pool? Ed]
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Ellie Harrison from BBC Countryfile.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Take a long holiday.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? You can’t change the weather.
What’s your favourite smell? Vinegar.
What do you do in your spare time? Rally co-driver.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? The grass on the rugby pitch is too long for archery, we keep losing our arrows!
What’s your favourite piece of kit? My ‘new to club’ secondhand JD 3225C.
What talent would you like to have? To be able to change the weather.
What makes you angry? Lack of budget to do the job correctly.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? A law banning the use of tape to hold socks up. Every Monday morning there is a trail from the pitches to the changing rooms which has to be collected up.
Martin cutting the square with a rotary mower to keep it tidy. Once the grass has established, and when conditions are right, he will carry out aeration work up until Christmas. Pre-season rolling commences in late
February or early March depending on the weather conditions, using a pedestrian mower before introducing the recently acquired Bomag roller - a bargain at £2,500 off eBay, says Martin. A standard ten to fourteen day cricket
wicket preparation programme is followed, reducing the height of cut from 10mm down to 3mm in the process. Martin says that he is fastidious about his prep as, with only nine strips, they have to last as long as possible, sometimes having to accommodate a minimum of
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