Educational Establishments “
If budgets permit, occasional
contracting help to undertake large jobs with time constraints, such as topdressing and seeding of winter sports pitches, is brought in
different soils and their constituent parts ‘work’; it’s a far cry from my father’s methods.” The playing surfaces at Wakefield are split
over five sites ranging from 1.8 hectares to 4.8 hectares, hosting three cricket squares, two grass hockey pitches, two football pitches, eight rugby pitches, nine tennis courts and surrounds (three acrylic and six non-slip macadam), a full size floodlit, sand based AstroTurf pitch used for football, hockey and tennis, plus over twenty garden plots, including a 5000m2
lawns, formal planting and shrubberies. The main sportsfields were developed
from rich arable farmland in the early 1900s and the profile is best described as a rich, deep, friable, medium clay loam over most of the sites. Bill has a team of four to help him
maintain the extensive grounds. “Assistant Grounds Manager, Martin Holroyd, started as a Youth Enterprise Scheme trainee and has now been here almost twenty years,” confirms Bill. “School Gardener, Philip Cresswell, has been with the school for
I have been fortunate to follow a number of highly talented and innovative turf experts who have left me with a well established series of pitches and a garage full of modern machinery
”
Presentation ranks highly and the whole team take pride in the appearance of the grounds
80 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015
The groundstaff l-r: Martin Holroyd, Philip Cresswell, David Dale, Bill Settle and Harold Morritt
main lawn, smaller
thirty-five years, whilst Assistant Groundsman, David Dale, has been with us for nine years following twenty-one years at Mullion Golf Club in Cornwall and eleven years at Howley Hall Golf Club near Leeds. Sixty year old Harold Morritt, with fifteen years service as Grounds Assistant, completes my team. With the staff having been here so long, everyone knows their own routine and they simply get on with the job, making the whole job of managing the site much easier” “If budgets permit, occasional contracting
help to undertake large jobs with time constraints, such as topdressing and seeding of winter sports pitches, is brought in. Also, specialist contract cleaning of the infill to the astroturf pitch complements our own in- house, regular maintenance.” The Foundation is very proactive in
providing any necessary training, and updates to current legislation and training for any new machinery/procedures is always considered and implemented where necessary.
The school employs a health and safety
officer and the grounds facilities are on his regular checklist. There are also three onsite first aiders and an emergency ‘working alone’ telephone system in operation for evening and weekend work. Bill tells us that he is answerable to the schools' Contracts Manager; “who gives me managerial control over the team and grounds maintenance.” “At this juncture, I should point out that,
having joined as Grounds Manager at Easter, I have been fortunate to follow a number of highly talented and innovative turf experts who have left me with a well established series of pitches and a garage full of modern machinery. In addition, I have been welcomed and more than ably assisted by a knowledgeable and hardworking team, with Martin’s understanding of the site characteristics proving invaluable. Furthermore, my line managers have been more than supportive in allowing me to develop my own regime within the budget allowed, giving me a good deal of flexibility on how it is utilised. This, along with the support and understanding of the PE staff
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