Tag Archive for: Haileybury

The Dennis ES-34R is a Hit at Haileybury

/in , , /by

The Dennis ES-34R is a Hit at Haileybury: Andy Richards, Grounds Manager at Haileybury School, has praised the Dennis ES-34R battery-powered rotary mower for its sustainability, quiet operation, and exceptional performance.

At the prestigious independent school in Hertfordshire, which boasts over 500 acres and 180 acres which are sports facilities, Andy has been using the ES-34R across a variety of playing surfaces and is delighted with its versatility and environmental benefits.

The Dennis ES-34R is a Hit at Haileybury

The Dennis ES-34R is a Hit at Haileybury

“In my sixth year as Grounds Manager here, I oversee a large site with a team of 11,” Andy explained. “Our school is renowned not just for its academic excellence but also for its impressive co-curricular programme, particularly sports. From rugby and football to hockey, ensuring our pitches meet high standards is crucial. The Dennis ES-34R has played an important role in that.”

Sustainability is a key focus at Haileybury, and Andy was drawn to the ES-34R’s eco-friendly credentials. As a battery-powered mower, the Dennis ES-34R significantly reduces emissions and noise pollution – two factors that are especially important in a school environment.

“Quietness is massive for us,” said Andy. “Exams seem to be constant, so the ability to work without disturbing students is invaluable. Sustainability is also hugely important to the school, and the ES-34R ticks both boxes. On top of that, it’s incredibly user-friendly.”

The ES-34R is built for precision and ease of use. Its 34-inch cutting width, contra-rotating twin blades, and low chute design ensure exceptional collection performance in both wet and dry conditions. The mower’s advanced LCD control panel provides operators with real-time feedback, allowing them to adjust settings such as ground speed and blade speed to suit different conditions.

Andy and his team have found the mower versatile enough to use year-round on various surfaces.

“We use the ES-34R on football and rugby pitches during the winter and then switch to cricket squares in the summer. It’s great for cleaning up after matches or tidying wickets—it’s incredibly versatile,” Andy explained.

With ultra-low noise levels, minimal vibration, and rapid charging, the ES-34R offers significant advantages over traditional petrol mowers. For Andy, the cost savings and low maintenance requirements were standout benefits.

“The ES-34R is much more user-friendly than petrol mowers, and the savings on fuel alone make it worth it. Plus, it’s low-maintenance and reliable, which is so important when you’re managing as many pitches as we are.”

Andy has relied on Dennis mowers throughout his career but the ES-34R is the first battery-powered Dennis machine he has used.

“The electric range is a real step forward. The team at Dennis even adjusted it to cut down to 8mm for me so I could use it to cut the cricket squares. I’m quite fussy about my equipment but I’ve used Dennis my whole career. I believe in the brand; I believe in the mowers, and I think they are the best on the market. I can’t ever see myself changing to anything else.”

For Andy, the ES-34R represents the future of sustainable grounds management without compromising performance.

As Haileybury continues to set the bar for excellence both on and off the field, the Dennis ES-34R is helping Andy and his team maintain pitches that match the school’s reputation – all while championing sustainability.

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on X and Instagram @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK.You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Mansfield Sand Transforms Sports Pitches at Haileybury

/in , /by

Mansfield Sand Transforms Sports Pitches at Haileybury: Andy Richards, Grounds Manager at Haileybury School, credits Mansfield Sand’s MM40 with significantly improving drainage and enhancing the overall quality of the school’s sports pitches.

With its exceptional consistency and performance, MM40 has become an essential part of his grounds management strategy, ensuring the pitches are always match-ready.

Mansfield Sand Transforms Sports Pitches at Haileybury

Mansfield Sand Transforms Sports Pitches at Haileybury

Located in Hertfordshire, Haileybury is one of the UK’s leading independent co-educational boarding and day schools. Its sprawling 500-acre estate includes 180 acres of meticulously maintained sports pitches, supporting the school’s reputation for excellence in rugby, football, cricket, lacrosse, and hockey. Andy Richards, in his sixth year as Grounds Manager, leads a team of 11 staff tasked with maintaining this diverse landscape.

“It’s a large site with a mix of grounds and gardens, so the team does a bit of everything,” Andy explained. “Haileybury is a school that prides itself on developing well-rounded pupils through both academic and co-curricular activities, and sport is a massive part of that.

Maintaining pitches to meet the high standards of national-level teams is a challenge, but one I enjoy.”

Haileybury sits on heavy London clay, which presents drainage issues, particularly during the wet months. Andy turned to Mansfield Sand’s MM40 for its superior drainage properties and reliability, using it for top-dressing, pitch renovation, and amelioration.

“This year alone, we’ve used 400 tonnes of MM40 on a newly built pitch, 300 tonnes on two other pitches worked into the surface, and 58 tonnes as an October top-dressing on our first-team rugby pitch,” Andy shared. “On heavy clay, anything we can do to improve drainage is a massive benefit. Sand is expensive, so it has to be good quality to justify the investment, and Mansfield Sand always delivers.”

Mansfield Sand’s commitment to quality and service has stood out to Andy.

“We’ve had such a large quantity of sand delivered, and I don’t think we’ve ever found a single stone or had an issue with any of it,” he said. “In the past, I’ve had loads of sand from other suppliers that I had to send back, but Mansfield Sand has been flawless. Their customer service is excellent—the drivers call an hour before delivery and again when they’re on-site. It’s seamless every time.”

The MM40 sand’s medium-fine texture and superior drainage make it the ideal choice for Haileybury’s pitches, ensuring a stable and safe playing surface for students and athletes alike.

With a history dating back to 1840, Mansfield Sand is a trusted name in sand-based solutions. The company’s state-of-the-art technology and rigorous quality standards have earned it a reputation for excellence across the sports industry. MM40, in particular, is a preferred choice for high-profile sports facilities and stadiums, thanks to its consistency, purity, and performance.

“Mansfield Sand has been crucial in helping us maintain the pitches at Haileybury,” Andy added. “The quality of their product means we can rely on it to keep our pitches performing at their best, no matter the sport or season.”

For Andy, the partnership with Mansfield Sand is an essential part of his strategy for maintaining Haileybury’s grounds to the highest standard.

“The MM40 has been fantastic for both drainage and pitch health,” he said. “It’s reliable, consistent, and it works. When you’re managing a site as large as this, having a dependable product and supplier makes all the difference.”

As Haileybury continues to uphold its reputation for sporting excellence, Mansfield Sand’s MM40 is playing a vital role in ensuring the pitches meet the demands of both athletes and the environment.

For more information visit www.mansfield-sand.co.uk

You can also follow the company on Twitter – @MansfieldSand and Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MansfieldSandSportSurfaces/

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Haileybury Grounds Manager Praises MM Tetra Sport

/in , /by

Haileybury Grounds Manager Praises MM Tetra Sport: Andy Richards, Grounds Manager at Haileybury, one of England’s leading independent schools, has hailed MM Tetra Sport for setting a new standard in maintaining the school’s extensive sports pitches.

Praising its exceptional performance, Andy highlighted how the innovative seed mixture has delivered outstanding results on high-use pitches, transforming both their resilience and his team’s workload.

Haileybury Grounds Manager Praises MM Tetra Sport

Haileybury Grounds Manager Praises MM Tetra Sport

Nestled in 500 acres of stunning Hertfordshire countryside, Haileybury is one of England’s leading independent co-educational schools. Known for its academic excellence and vibrant co-curricular programme, Haileybury boasts national champions in girls’ hockey, top-tier cricket teams, and competitive rugby and football squads.

Maintaining the school’s extensive sports facilities, which include approximately 180 pitches and courts, is no small feat, but Grounds Manager Andy Richards thrives on the challenge.

Now in his sixth year at Haileybury, Andy oversees the site with a team of 11 staff. “It’s a large site, and the co-curricular side is massive—not just sport but activities like mountain biking and horse riding,” he explains. “The sports side is huge, and we’re constantly working to maintain and improve the pitches to meet high standards.”

Andy was drawn to the role by the potential he saw at Haileybury. “It’s a big school and was a bit of a sleeping giant when I started. It wasn’t in the best condition, but they wanted to improve it and make it one of the best schools in the country. I liked the challenge—it ticked a lot of boxes for me.”

Having relied on MM50 and MM60 seed mixtures for years, Andy recently turned his attention to MM Tetra Sport, a winter sports overseeding mixture treated with Headstart® GOLD – a performance-enhancing grass seed coating. Impressed by tetraploid ryegrass trial results he’d seen, Andy decided to test MM Tetra Sport on one of Haileybury’s high-use rugby training pitches.

“What I’d heard about Tetra Sport was that it’s harder wearing and requires less water, which was ideal for us given the site conditions,” Andy says.

Its unique tetraploid ryegrass composition offers several advantages:

  • Rapid establishment and germination, even in challenging conditions.
  • Reduced water requirements, promoting deep rooting.
  • High wear tolerance, perfect for high-use pitches.
  • Outstanding disease resistance and excellent colour year-round.

The results were astounding. “We sowed Tetra Sport in three directions, then did a fourth pass after two weeks. The germination was really quick—helped by a rainstorm—but even when the weather turned dry, we didn’t need to water it as soon as we would have with traditional ryegrass.”

For Andy, the reduced need for irrigation was transformative. “Watering a pitch here takes 8 hours, with 290 metres of hose to set up. With Tetra Sport, we held off watering for 10-12 days longer than usual, which was unbelievable.”

After four weeks of growing in, the pitch was ready for its first training session. “It held together really well,” Andy notes. “The pitch next to it, which isn’t Tetra Sport, is like chalk and cheese. That pitch gets about 2 hours of use a week, while the Tetra Sport pitch averages 6 hours, and you’d think it was the other way around. The coverage is fantastic, the colour is natural and vibrant, and it’s incredibly resilient.”

Andy has also noticed other benefits. “We’ve had no disease on the Tetra Sport pitch, whereas other pitches have had issues like fusarium. It’s ticked every box we could have hoped for.”

Andy is so impressed with MM Tetra Sport that he plans to use it across the entire site next year. “I’m even going to experiment with it on a cricket wicket,” he says. “It shows how much seed breeding has developed — tetraploids used to be too coarse, but now the colour and performance are exceptional.”

He also credits MM Seed’s Matt Gresty for his support. “Matt is exemplary—always at the end of the phone and great for bouncing ideas off. He’s incredibly knowledgeable.”

For Andy Richards and the team at Haileybury, MM Tetra Sport has revolutionised pitch performance, proving that with the right seed, you can achieve exceptional results while saving time and resources.

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s website www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

You can also follow the company on X: @MM_Seed.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.