EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
against other schools.”
“Norwich City Academy use our site as a satellite centre. During the winter they’ll use our indoor sports hall but, during half-terms and summer, they’ll use the pitches extensively. During summer holiday, we also have a company on site called Xplore who are an activities group and they use the field throughout the summer for football, cricket, rounders and any other sports they want.” “Because of that, we don’t actually have a shutdown time for renovations. School ended on July 5th for us this year and Xplore arrived two days later and they’ll use the site from now until the second week of August, so our renovation will be done in a phased plan.” “We’re currently outsourcing renovation because, at this point, I wouldn’t be able to do it all myself and we don’t have people on site to help just now but, in the next four or five years, I’d like for us to bring that back in- house to give us more control over the schedule given the tight deadlines we have.” “The renovation currently consists of scarifying, aerating with the Terra Spike and topdressing one pitch with a Raycam Speedresser, which belongs to our contractor RST Sports Turf and we’ll use a
What’s in the shed?
Ransomed Jacobson TR3 three unit cylinder mower with grass collection Iseki SXG 326 - rotary collect machine Wiedenmann GSI6 aerator Green Tech mower PTO mounted Iseki TG 6370 Tractor Marshall trailer
Hayter self propelled rotary mower used for cutting the banks
Trilo VCU 150
John Deere tractor with a 72-inch rotary cutting deck
seed mix that has one less tetraploid than the seed we used last year, but it doesn’t compromise on the quality and, by cutting back on our seed budget, we’re able to invest in other areas.” One of the other areas Rory refers to is a drainage project being carried out by Ground Water Dynamics who are the next stop on our tour. Whilst the addition of the Terra Spike has gone some way to improving aeration in some problem areas, there are still those that need additional help. Previous experience with the EGRP system which is being installed gives Rory confidence that it will work, but restraints to his budget mean the work will be completed in two phases, however, a benefit of the system is that it can be laid in sections then added to over time.
The second phase of work is contingent on the first-year proof of concept and will be joined by new maintenance facilities that will centralise the containers on site into one location beside a hard-standing area. As the early July sun beats down on us at the site of the drainage work, the sense of irony isn’t lost on Rory who is briefly watching pipes being installed into an area that hasn’t seen any rainfall in weeks.
He said: “We don’t have an irrigation system on site, so we are limited to the one pipe that we can use with sprinklers which reaches the top half of the pitches, so it’s better than nothing in this extremely hot and dry weather.”
“The heat has hit us quite hard, we are still green in some areas and the grass has browned in others, but the site tends to recover quite well and, once we get some rain, I’d expect to see that recovery.” “In the meantime, I’m encouraging people to stay off the surface and cutting as late into the evening as I can so it’s cooler and the grass isn’t in too much stress, as well as watering where we can early in the morning and late in the evening.”
The main aim at Finborough is to build on the progress they’ve already made. The initial pitch improvements are set to be bolstered by the addition of further equipment as the machinery list goes from phase one to two, and a completed tender document for the new natural and synthetic pitches will signal the beginning of the most ambitious project to date. Rory knows, through previous experience, that the industry has a lot to offer Finborough in terms of products and
94
PC August/September 2018
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