Construction of the perimeter drainage channel was carried out successfully by M J Abbott in May 2015 and the benefits have becomes apparent as the season progressed – the outfield has become much drier, it has recovered more quickly after heavy rain has fallen, and it has become easier to cut the grass.
As this work did not take up the whole amount of the grant, we have been able to ask M J Abbott Ltd. to carry out additional work. In October the outfield was verti-drained, fertiliser was applied and the ground was overseeded. Further verti-draining will take place before and after the 2016 playing season and in early 2017. We now have authority from Sport England to use the balance of the grant to place additional drains in the south-west corner of the field where the ground level is lower and hence the ground tends to be slower to dry out. We are currently awaiting a price for completing this work.
The Club wishes to reiterate its thanks to Sport England for putting us in a position to improve our drainage so substantially, to Total Turf Solutions Ltd. for the professional and attentive project management work, and to M J Abbott Ltd for the tidy and efficient way in which they carried out their work at the ground.
Chris S