Educational Establishments
Cover drive ... What’s in the shed
Ransomes 36in ride-on - used for boxing the cricket square and outfields.
Allett 36in - good workhorse for the cricket squares
Case 75C Quantum tractor - pulls the Verti-drain
Case 3230 tractor - hauls the trailer mower and other attachments
Major mower - for most of the outfields.
Jacobsen Fairway 405 cylinder mower -was traded in for a rotary to cut the football and rugby pitches. With rear rollers on the cutting units, it gives a good finish, with nice striping
Jacobsen D430 Triking 1900D - for the cricket outfields
Ransomes Parkway - cuts the sportsfields and athletics track in summer
Dennis 24in walk-behind wicket mower - gives a fine, quick shave and finish, while the removeable cassettes allow us to add a brush and scarifier when we need to
Ransomes Marquis 61 - first cuts before we shave the wickets
Two Ransomes Super Bowl 51 wicket mowers
SISIS Dart spiker - aerates the cricket squares
Poweroll roller
Tracmaster - the two-wheel tractor we use with flail mower and rotovator.
Leaf blowers, strimmers and brushes
Chemical cabinet - all’s as it should be!
John Deere X740 Ultimate - shared with the gardens team. Good collection unit on it
Shibaura compact tractor Westwood mini tractors x 2
Ernest Doe supply most of the turf machinery
Bourne Amenity are contracted to maintain the synthetic surfaces
102 PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013
... the first team square - cricket is a priority
Summertime sees a frenzy of activity on the squares and Neil runs a host of Ransomes, Allett, Dennis and Ransomes ride-on and pedestrian mowers to handle the expectations - from the sports department and the pupils - for the finest playing surfaces. The first cricket square was fraise-mowed two seasons back, Neil recalls. “That worked well and it rid the wickets of thatch. We sowed with MM20 Mascot grass dwarf rye, which is doing the trick. “Nicholas is very good with the wicket maintenance.” At the beginning of the season, everything looked fine, Neil adds. “We added a little extra feed and the spring/summer dressing, but the intensity of use since opening day has produced a lot of wear. We’ll be deep scarifying this autumn as part of our renovation programme. Next year, we’ll be tackling some of the minor squares as well. The programme of upkeep is continuous.” It’s the price of success. “The school is thriving and the sporting use increasing, so the challenge is there to adapt to the conditions and keep the surfaces up to scratch.”
The summer ‘closed-season’ is no less busy for other reasons too, as the grounds are used extensively for training by local and regional sports clubs - and Hurst hosts many matches for the likes of Sussex Martlets and the annual Old Boys Cricket Week, giving Neil and the team little chance of respite. Tennis is a growing summer sport here. This year, the extension to the netball and tennis facilities will provide eleven tennis hard courts and eight netball courts. The existing area is bordered with an attractive, impeccably-groomed evergreen hedge and Neil will be planting the new area borders with a beech hedge. These act as windbreaks and light barriers to reduce the impact of the new floodlights. The North Field area is home to the main first team square and two additional ones. The first team square underwent an overhaul in 2012 to improve the quality of the wickets. East Field is sited away from the main school building and is home to the rugby and summer athletics. High Field offers similar provision. The other sporting zones include
Manyweathers, Ruckford, Danworth and Kents Fields, all of which cater for rugby and cricket predominantly, with rounders in the summer for the girls. Drainage raises its head persistently, given the contours of the grounds, but a sustained programme of work is reducing the likelihood of cancelled matches, Neil says. “Five years ago, we sand-banded Danworth field to 1m centres. All the work has paid off many times over. Rugby and football are played on it all the time - and there’s an artificial cricket strip there as well. Along with the other fields that have been drained, we topdress them annually and verti-drain.” Hockey and netball also feature
prominently in the school fixture card, but the days of the grass-based game are long gone, as the pattern of decline at many a private and public school (who now opt for the year-round practicality of synthetic) continues.
Students share the use of two synthetic surfaces; a dramatic new full-sized sand- dressed artificial area and a sand-filled artificial pitch, installed over a decade ago, both resplendent a short step away from the historic buildings. The College has increased dramatically in numbers since the arrival of current Headmaster Tim Manly, from just under 700 in 2005 to over 1,000 in 2013 - girls accounting for some four in ten of that total. The single synthetic playing surface could no longer accommodate the needs for training and matches, so the decision was taken to add the latest artificial pitch which, since opening, hosts most of the hockey and netball fixtures. The full-size sand-dressed surface, installed by Bernards, is complemented by a three-quarter-size 22in pile MUGA, which also caters for many of the non-natural turf sports on offer. Further synthetic pitches could be added in the future, further increasing the outstanding provisions for sport. Walking the grounds with Neil, the scale
of his remit becomes clear; whether it’s keeping on top of the impact of the heavy clay soil, which is being regularly upgraded year on year with extensive drainage improvements; ensuring the first team square is ready for the start of play following a blighted spring preparation or
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