EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
You come into the job with a good idea of what it is going to be like, but I found out quickly that, no matter how much planning you do, it can go straight out the window … especially when something like coronavirus happens
Leicester Grammar School is an independent co-educated day school situated in Great Glen. Before its development in 2007, the school had no playing fi elds of its own and transported pupils to various sporting facilities by bus! It now boasts seventy-fi ve acres of sports facilities and Head Groundsman, Michael Hood, is the man entrusted with the challenge of looking them
F
ounded in 1981, Leicester Grammar School (often abbreviated to LGS) was founded after the loss of the city’s state-funded grammar schools. The site now consists of four full-size and three junior rugby pitches, fi rst and second-team cricket squares, nine practice nets, eight hard tennis courts, six netball, water-based and a sand-based hockey pitch. The soil profi le of the grass surfaces was constructed out of what used to be clay- based farmers’ fi elds which is not ideal and doesn’t help with drainage. Michael commented: “Over the last eight or nine years, we have put on three hundred tonnes of Mansfi eld Sand per year in an attempt to bring the levels up. Still, in winter months, this place is underwater - especially last winter with the heavy and prolonged rain spells. So, we are currently working our way through all the pitches to install primary and secondary drainage.”
Due to most of his staff on furlough, Michael has struggled over the last few months to carry out the regular maintenance regime, however with students slowly being phased back into school, he is hopeful to return to a degree of normal. “Usually, during summer months, we will cut the cricket outfi elds at 18mm with the John Deere 7700A fairway mower. In winter, for the start of the rugby season, we will gradually bring the height of cut up to 30mm. Aeration is carried out using our own Imants Shockwave, which we will use as much as we can on the outfi elds in diff erent directions from September to December, depending on the weather. For the squares, we have a Toro ProCore 648. Every summer we will mark in the athletics track using the Fleet Beamrider, which helps make the job much easier. In rugby season, we will usually overmark the pitches once a week.” March is renovation month (taking advantage of the three-week school
PC October/November 2020
87
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