With a change in the weather I was hoping to do some aeration on the square using our SISIS Autoturfman. We bought this from Tewkesbury Bowls Club some years ago having seen it advertised on Pitchcare. It was a long way to travel to get it, but this has turned out to be a very good investment.
Unfortunately the ground is too wet and I won't be able to aerate for a while.
Despite a lot of money spent on drainage, thanks mainly to the Football Foundation, the playing areas do not drain well. I am told that we are not very high above the level of the River Ouse and when that it high little drainage occurs.
Having two football pitches adjacent to the square causes a lot of damage to the outfield which has to be repaired at the start of the season.
As we don't take over the field until the end of April, getting the outfield into a decent state for the early season games is difficult. Using STS to vertidrain, re-seed and topdress as soon as the football finishes helps a great deal, but we don't really get a decent outfield until June.
It isn't often that groundsmen get an invitation to anything but the other day an invitation from Swallow Hall Groundcare dropped through the letter box. We have used Swallow Hall for our end of season work for a number of years. Swallow Hall are sponsoring a game at Selby Rugby Club this saturday and they have invited their loyal customers to be their guests. I am not able to go, but appreciated the invitation.