Educational Establishments
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Peter Thompson - trust nobody, eat curry and whistle a lot - a recipe for life!
Who are you? Peter Thompson, Sole Groundsman, St George’s School Ascot.
Family status? Married to Linda, with one daughter and two stepsons.
Who’s your hero and why? Pele, the greatest.
What would you change about yourself? Nothing, I am who I am.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Indian curries.
What do you drop everything for? My wife Linda.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Being congratulated on the quality of my grass courts at Fort Belvedere by Mardy Fish, USA tennis pro.
Glass half full or half empty? Half full. Climate change - fact or fiction? Probably fact. What’s your favourite season? Spring.
What are your pet peeves? People that don’t use indicators at roundabouts.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Playing for Arsenal? What's the best part of your job? Getting paid at the end of the month. … and the worst? Snow! It looks nice, but I hate it. Do you have a lifetime ambition? To enjoy a long retirement. Who wouldn’t you like to be? The England football manager.
Favourite record, and why? Anything by Kasabian or Kings of Leon; they are both cool bands. Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? My wife.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Get out of Ascot!
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? I whistle a lot, so a whistle.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? By my dad; trust nobody! What’s your favourite smell? Grass when it’s just been cut.
What do you do in your spare time? Visit national trust properties and watch Arsenal FC and Kent County Cricket Club.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? Why do you have mole traps in your shed?
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Amazone Groundkeeper; it has so many uses.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Motivated, reliable, helpful. What talent would you like to have? To see the future.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? The re- introduction of national service.
102 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014 Looking across the pitches to the tennis courts New, purpose built tractor shed
presentation rank? “At the very top of the list; at a fee paying facility like this, it has to be. You want people to go away having enjoyed their visit and surroundings and wanting to come back - and tell other people what a lovely place they have been to. It’s not easy, but I do the best I can.” Main renovations are the sportsfield surface and the drainage system. “I scarify as soon as sports day is over to open up the surface and clear any rubbish, then use the tractor mounted jetter to clear any silt out of the pipes before it dries solid. The drains flow into a ditch that surrounds the field, so this has to be cleaned out and banks cut annually.” “Major renovations like topdressing, on a field this size, can be very expensive and, as the pitches never suffer huge amounts of stress, I just do the worst affected areas and keep the cost down that way.” “We have summer camps here and they can be a pain. However, the bursar always informs them of any pending works and that they will have
to work around me, although it’s generally the other way round! Things usually go smoothly enough though.” “On the artificial surfaces, I blow the tarmac courts surfaces off weekly and check for moss and algae. If I find any, I will spray off using glyphosate, but this is only required maybe two or three times a year.”
Peter considers the local flora and fauna to be very important. “We have specific areas set aside for wild plants to thrive and I never cut a hedgerow until late August to allow nesting to finish. I have an owl box and kestrel box ready for placement and various tit and other boxes dotted around the site. We also have orchards to encourage bees.”
“When I started here in 2005, my kit stood in an old, roofless, brick shed and two containers with tarps over everything. Then, one day in 2009, the new bursar walked into one of them and realised how bad the conditions were. She immediately made plans
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