Educational Establishments


same school, and growing keen on groundsmanship, volunteering for work on local football grounds. My dad and granddad both helped out at Settle football and cricket clubs as volunteers, so I came into the industry early on, you might say.” Recently joining the team is Will Moorhouse (23), a year two apprentice at Craven College, Skipton - a predominantly horticultural training establishment with some sport also included, explains Craig. Matthew Jackson (22), another


recent recruit, is newly qualified with a specialism in golf. James Wright (36), who was


tending Settle Golf Club, which leases some of its course from the school, has moved on to a facilities management role within Giggleswick, leaving Matthew to look after its nine holes. “One lad works alongside gardener Mark Shepherd (47), who came from Lowther Estate, Shap, the home of Lord and Lady Lonsdale of boxing fame,” Craig continues. “He worked there for nearly seven


years - a massive task - and came here to bolster the gardening programme, bringing in fresh ideas. His family had moved down this way and he wished to be near them.” Phillip Lord (57) also assists the


Craig Eccleston, Head of Grounds


gardening effort. “He’s been here for more than thirty years and I find him a very useful colleague,” says Craig. “Although he has no formal qualifications, he has huge experience and knows where everything is around the estate - the layout of underground drains, water pipes and so on.”


Sporting hubs


Another fine example of an educational establishment founded under the reign of second Tudor monarch Henry V111, Giggleswick celebrated its quincentenary in 2012 in suitably distinguished fashion. “The Halle Orchestra played for the school on The Papes playing field,” Craig recalls. “It went down a storm.” One of four outdoor sporting hubs


at Giggleswick, The Papes was created from farmland in 1995/96. “This was a full grass pitch construction big enough to take four junior rugby pitches and a cricket square for the 7- 13 year-olds,” explains Craig. “Started in 1994, it was finished before I came here.”


Also played on The Papes is junior


football and athletics. “We create the 6-lane 400m track from scratch each year and the marking out usually takes two of us just under a day, including initial marking.” In contrast to some schools, which run a short, intensive athletics season, that at Giggleswick stretches over three months, from May through July. “Local athletics clubs hire the track during the summer after the pupils have left for the break,” says Craig Commitment to synthetic surface


provision has proved a sterling investment for Giggleswick. Its sand- dressed hockey pitch has weathered more than sixteen years’ continuous action, and not only for hockey, as Craig explains: “The surface is used for football and rugby training rather than competitive games and is still proving its worth after all this time.


The Giggleswick grounds team 40 I PC APRIL/MAY 2017


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