Educational Establishments


Bourne Amenity at the height of Dukes Meadow earthworks “ 78 I PC JUNE/JULY 2017


Every Monday, after the pitches had been used at the weekend, the pitches were rolled. It seemed to me that it was the opposite of what we should be doing


to cut the grass, marking equipment, an old set of chain harrows and a hand roller, but not too much else. Methods were very much old school,” he said. Dave admits that, when he came to the school, he was at the bottom of the learning curve. Soon after he joined he did an on-line course and was one of the first to do this. Looking back, he realises he was pretty much a guinea pig. Course assessment, he remembers, was a bit of a problem because he was confronted with machinery he hadn’t yet come across at work. Nevertheless, he gained much from the course, achieving an NVQ Level 3 in Groundsmanship to add to the Level 3 he had gained in Horticulture a few years earlier at Hadlow College. “There was a bit of antagonism between


myself and the older generation here. Aeration was a particular issue and one that I wanted to see progressed.” “Every Monday, after the pitches had been


used at the weekend, the pitches were rolled. It seemed to me that it was the opposite of what we should be doing,” Dave recalls.


“When the then head groundsman - and,


coincidentally, the head gardener - both retired, the school took the opportunity to bring care of all outdoor facilities - pitches and gardens - under a single set up. Until then, they had been two complete separate entities, with no meeting of minds, no real cooperation.” “The whole idea of total quality


presentation at once had a greater importance and began to be better managed.” Until a couple of years ago, there were


Senior groundsman, Dave Feaver


just three groundsmen looking after all of the pitches. As Dave says, it meant they were always under pressure, just about managing - as the political statement goes - and never making real progress. The set-up now comprises two teams under Simon Willems, Head of Grounds and Gardens at Sevenoaks: one maintaining all of the outdoor sports facilities; the other


keeping the extensive garden surrounds in tip-top condition. Presentation excellence is their common purpose. “Simon’s weekly planning meetings with both of us team leaders has brought really positive results in the way things are managed. We share equipment too, which never happened in the past and wasted so much time,” said Dave. The groundcare team has just been


increased from three to four full-timers: Dave Feaver as the senior, with Niall Watson, previously at Crystal Palace, Luke Stevens, who has a professional greenkeeping background, and newcomer Tyson Wright, also with golf course experience. All of them skilled individuals but, more importantly, they are a group that gels. It’s a team that’s accelerating, that’s clear to see. The clay soil at Sevenoaks School is far


from perfect for pitch upkeep. In Dukes Meadow and Park Grange, the two main pitch areas, conditions are often heavy and sand topdressing a regular need. Until a couple of years ago, when new drainage was installed, Dave likened it to Glastonbury at times during wet winter conditions. A celebrated annual event in early November, the town’s firework display and bonfire run by the town’s Lions Club, has been especially unhelpful some years - though a very worthy fund raiser - causing unwanted compaction. Before the drainage was installed, one


particular pitch was pretty much out of action for the rest of the term. This year, with the new drainage, the pitch was used just four days after being trampled by fourteen thousand firework revellers. There has been a major improvement


project over the past two years, sparked by the school realising that it needed better outdoor facilities. Three of the school’s pitches sloped quite badly, one of them with a 4-metre difference corner to corner, and they were generally undulating surfaces, being on land immediately adjacent to Knole Park. “They weren’t great pitches if we’re honest,” said Dave.


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