Tag Archive for: Talks

School groundsman talks about role

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School groundsman talks about role: Lewis Pattinson, the head groundsman at Bradford Grammar School, has spoken of his pride at looking after the grounds at the school.

He said: “It’s not just a job, it’s a way of life.”

School groundsman talks about role

He tell us what his job is like and how he loves being a groundsman:

“I’ve worked here for five months and I manage the daily work activities of the Estates Department to ensure that the grounds, pitches and gardens are maintained and kept in good condition. I’m an award-winning Groundsman having won the Institute of Groundsmanship Young Groundsman of the Year in 2016. Before joining BGS, I worked as Deputy Head Groundsman at London Stadium for two years which is home to West Ham United Football Club.

“When I first saw the school grounds, I thought ‘what a fantastic challenge!’ They were good, but I wanted the standard to be excellent – just like the ethos of BGS. This value was instilled in me from a young age when I set up my own gardening company at 14 years old. I only got paid £5 a week pocket money, so I wanted to feel more independent.

“I cut everyone’s garden on the street and my next-door neighbour asked if I’d like to go and work for him as an apprentice Greenkeeper on his private golf course. He could see how passionate and interested I was. I suppose I already embodied BGS’s ‘Hoc Age – Get on and do it’ attitude from an early age, an attitude I see reflected everyday in our pupils and staff across 28 beautiful acres.

“One of my biggest achievements so far has been to put in place a new fertiliser programme using feedback from an Agronomist, who’s knowledgeable in turf grasses and their management. They provided useful practical advice as well as an overall assessment of the condition of the current BGS sport grounds. Going back to basics in this way allows us to track, maintain and achieve better results for our outstanding new £4m sport facilities that includes new cricket lanes, netball and tennis courts and astro-turfed hockey pitches as well as our all-weather sports barn.

“The sports barn and hockey pitches are world class, so I’ve invested in new machinery to maintain these and all the new pitches, inside and out. It’s all about continuous, top-level maintenance and care, to provide the best experience for pupils, staff and the wider community. Small details also have a big impact. For example, I’ve changed all the rugby posts. These used to be pulled out of the ground using a lorry, which over time can cause wear and tear on the turf. These have been replaced with new aluminium hinged rugby posts which are much better for long term use and the wider environment.

“I’ve worked professionally on many sports, ranging from Rugby League, Rugby Union, Football, Athletics and Major League Baseball. It’s not just a job, it’s a way of life. Nobody really goes to school and says: ‘I want to be a Groundsman’. People tend to naturally fall into it through other passions, myself included. I’ve spoken to many top Groundsmen who were professional footballers coming through the ranks. When they didn’t get taken on, they realised they still wanted to be involved in the sporting environment and ended up working in stadiums.

“I absolutely love working in a school after a large stadium. The environment is warm, intimate and I feel extremely valued and looked after here. From 14 years of age I knew this was my calling and now I can concentrate all my efforts on this fabulous school.”

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John Ledwidge Talks Groundsmanship

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John Ledwidge Talks Groundsmanship: John Ledwidge always wanted to work on a football pitch. But rather than dreaming about becoming a star striker, he a wrote a letter to his local club, Coventry City, to ask about gaining work experience as a groundsman when he was just 13.

The 28-year-old is now head of sports turf and grounds at Leicester City Football Club (LCFC) and says there is a lot more to being a groundsman than he first thought. “It’s often stereotyped as men in flat caps and ride-on mowers, which is completely off the mark,” he says.

John Ledwidge Talks Groundsmanship

“In reality, we’re scientists, horticulturalists and project managers all rolled into one. You nurture the pitch like it’s your baby. It becomes an obsession to have everything from the markers to the pH balance of the soil pitch perfect.”

Mr Ledwidge left school at 16, against the advice of a careers advisor, and started working full time at Coventry City, having volunteered at the grounds for the previous three years. He later moved to LCFC and decided he wanted to be a groundsman at a Premier League club by the time he was 30. That happened for him when LCFC were promoted from the Championship when he was 24.

‘It becomes an obsession’

“The standout moment of my career, and that of the entire club, was winning the Premier League in 2016. We stood together at the sidelines and watched the team lift the trophy from what we felt was the best seat in the house. Of course, this meant that Leicester City were in the Champions League the following year too.

“We had to act as the players in pre-match rehearsals and lined up in the tunnel and walked out to the iconic music. It was a dream for anyone who loves the game.”

Before a 3pm kick-off, Mr Ledwidge arrives at the grounds at 6.30am for pitch preparation. He works with a team of 14 others, and hopes to take on more people next season through the club’s apprenticeship scheme.

The first task of that day is to brush the pitch to remove the dew that settled on it overnight. Grounds staff monitor moisture levels every day. Afterwards, the grass is cut to 22mm with a pedestrian mower for a high-quality, even surface.

“Accuracy is more important than ever with this year’s introduction of video assistant referees (VAR) and marking perfect white lines is integral for the calibration,” he says. “This is a big part of goal line technology too. High standards are key with almost 10 million people watching worldwide.”

Every groundsperson stays fit by walking about 35,000 steps a day ahead of a match and 25,000 on a regular day.

“Once the referee test is complete, we’ll give the pitch a final water to give the ball the speed and slickness required for a Premier League game. Finally, before kick-off, I relay test results and conditions to coaching team and sports scientists, so the players know what to expect.”

He is not just based in Leicester. A surprising amount of time is spent travelling the world, he says. “Grounds staff and volunteers have a great network with international clubs, so we’ll visit one another to share knowledge and help boost the quality of professional and grassroots grounds. This month, we’re going to Thailand to help educate local communities in turf care and management at a grassroots level.”

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Head Greenkeeper Talks Flower Meadows

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Head Greenkeeper Talks Flower Meadows: In a special column, Rob Peers, head greenkeeper at Hever Castle Golf Club talks about an exciting first year in the job:

I took up my post as head greenkeeper at Hever Castle Golf Club just over a year ago – and what a year it’s been.

Head Greenkeeper Talks Flower Meadows

One of the greatest challenges has been a tropical heatwave that seems to have lasted all summer!

For the team at the Golf Club, watering this summer took on a new and interesting dimension with the addition of nine new flower meadows.

The meadows are situated in Hever Castle’s gardens and Hever Golf Course: they cover an area of 4,500 square metres on Lake Walk (in the Castle grounds) and the golf course itself.

Each of the nine selected areas had different considerations and their own micro climate, environment and purpose. It was really important to us to select sites that would improve bio-diversity and functionality in areas which had previously been dominated by aggressive species such as bramble and nettle.

My team nicknamed the first area they developed ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’, and it was the first point of contact as we passed through the fence from the golf course into the grounds of the castle. We felt when we entered this part of the castle’s beautiful grounds that we’d escaped!

When we began prepping the ground back in March we could hardly dare dream of the kaleidoscope of rainbow colours that would burst forth beside the Lake.

The fourteen species including Calendula officinalis (Marigold), Centaurea cyanus (Cornflower), Cosmos bipinnatus, Linum grandiflorum (Flax) and Papaver rheas (Common Poppy) have delighted visitors and the team alike.

We sowed the rainbow mix beside the lake in May and the flowers should bloom until November. This is my preferred mix and includes marigold, cosmos, flax and poppy – it looks great and is a very good pollinator.

A real highlight for me this year was the rediscovery of the Anne of Cleves Bower House folly.

I’d been walking in the woodland area with our CEO Duncan Leslie who was explaining the work that was ongoing on the Loggia in the castle grounds. The water in the lake had been lowered and as we walked beside, what I believe was the original path of the River Eden, I spotted a step in the water. I broke off suddenly from our conversation and rushed to take a closer look.

The steps were part of the folly, which had previously been hidden among the under-growth.

We believe the folly dates from the time of the Astors but it looks like they used medieval brick to create it, and there are two heraldic shields for Anne of Cleves.

It was thrilling to uncover it for the first time in years and bring it back to life with a more subtle and feminine flower mix for Anne.

We planted species such as Anethum graveolens (Dill), Borago officinalis (Borage), Callistephus Chinensis (China Aster) and Lupinus nanus (Lupin) here.

The meadow areas on the golf course itself have a more sympathetic visual appearance with more native and naturalised species from a mix called ‘Flora Britannica’ which includes Achillea millefolium (Yarrow), Aquilegia vulgaris (Common columbine), Borago officinalis (Borage) and Campanula carpatica (Tussock bellflower).

It not only looks great, but it fits in beautifully with the landscape and has also proved to be another fantastic pollinator.

The creation of the meadows has been a real boost for the team – when the flowers began appearing, it’s no exaggeration to say that we’d go down and giggle like school children as we marvelled at the changing floral landscape.

Even though the meadows are still in full bloom, my thoughts are turning to next year and to possible new meadow areas.

If you like meadows, then why not have a go – if you get the right seed mix and you prepare the ground well, then the results are spectacular.

I don’t know whether the flowers in the meadows would have been higher if we’d had more rainfall, and we can only speculate at the moment why some areas have dominant yellows and others have more pinks – we will continue to monitor their progress and note down the different habitats – the amount of light in one, and the subtle differences of soil in others, and see what happens next year.

Watch this space!

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