EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
The Perse School
Managing the Perse strings
Steeped in history, with a vision to ‘strive for the greater good’, The Perse School, Cambridge, is a charitable company and one of the country’s leading independent day schools. Head of Grounds and Gardens, Ed Ramsden, spoke to Kerry Haywood about how he’s adopting the school’s vision to improve the facilities and grounds
S
urrounded by world-class academic resources on its doorstep, The Perse School off ers education for three to eighteen-year olds across its 88-acre sites; 27 at the Upper
(senior school) site, 6 at the Prep school site, 10 at Porson Road (Prep sports fi elds) and 45 at Abington (Upper sports site), plus gardens at the Prep, Upper and the Pelican (infant school) sites. In the last decade, they have invested heavily, across all sites, on new facilities off ering rugby, cricket, netball, tennis, hockey, athletics and football pitches and a pavilion. Ed tells me about the vast maintenance regimes involved. “For our cricket outfi eld/ rugby pitches, we aim at 15-19mm during summer and 35mm in the winter. We are a very free-draining site, so I like to keep some grass length over the summer to help with drought tolerance. During summer months, we like to cut the outfi elds three times per week. This drops during November, but I still
like to maintain grass length - cutting weekly/ fortnightly at a minimum.”
“I aim to undertake weekly aeration in some form. We have our own Verti-Drain, but we are now looking at a Shockwave, coupled with a Sisis Multitiner or Quadraplay, to allow us to keep the surface open. For the cricket squares we cut at 15mm. Last year, we vertidrained our squares at the Upper, but generally use a pedestrian spiker to a depth of 4 inches.” “End of season renovations usually take place in July or August, however, last year (due to Covid), they look place mid-October - which was less than ideal. Once the fi nal usage of the squares was over, we got a week of rain which further delayed our seeding and topdressing. We were able to complete the squares at Abington and the Prep a couple of weeks earlier so, here, the rain was welcome. Now, when we look at the squares, I am very happy with how they have turned out. It was a very unpredictable year so, to be at this point
I have tried to become pro-active in my approach to work, so that when things are sprung on you, or something changes, you have done all you can to be prepared for the unexpected
PC February/March 2021 67
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