With pernicious waterlogging problems having haunted their ground for a long time, precipitating the remedial works conducted during summer 2024, Ashby Ivanhoe FC hadn’t played a home game since November 2023. Following the successful installation of the Turfdry Drainage System using Hydraway Sportsdrain in August 2024 however, the pitch has recovered well, with a healthy grass sward establishing over the drain lines, opening the door for football to return to Ivanhoe’s NFU Sports Ground.
Read MoreAshby Ivanhoe FC Pitch Drainage Inspection
With the recent heavy downpours making summer seem like a distant memory, sports pitches across the UK will be facing their first real drainage challenge of the season. As such, it seemed like a great opportunity to check in on the new Football Foundation funded pitch drainage system installed at Ashby Ivanhoe FC in August to check in on the performance of the Hydraway Sportsdrain.
Read MoreFootball Foundation Funded Pitch Drainage Project at Ashby Ivanhoe FC
Ashby Ivanhoe FC is an ambitious club that is looking to make meaningful investments in its home ground. A key objective in this regard has been the installation of a new pitch drainage system; this will not only improve the quality of the playing surface, but also guard against fixture cancellations brought about through waterlogging, which can have serious detrimental impact on the finances of a grassroots club – whether through fines, or diminished matchday revenue. To this end, the club sought funding from the Football Foundation, and expert third-party advice from a number of sources including as the Grounds Management Association. With Turfdry’s name cropping up time and time again, the club eventually got in touch with the firm to discuss the potential improvements to its home ground. Impressed with both the technical superiority of Hydraway Sportsdrain, as well as the passion and enthusiasm of Turfdry’s team, Ashby Ivanhoe FC was convinced that Turfdry was the best contractor to deliver the most cost-effective improvements to their pitch.
Read MoreTurfdry Install Pitch Drainage System as Part of New Forest School Development
Although much of Turfdry’s business with housebuilding firms involves the full design & build of new facilities, the company’s natural turf specialism is sometimes called upon for more focussed works, such as the recent installation of a Hydraway Sportsdrain drainage system at Greenstone Primary School, currently under construction by Stepnell in Ellistown, Leicestershire. The school is named after local engineer William Stenson, who defied conventional wisdom by breaking through the layer of granite – known locally as ‘greenstone’ at the time’ in order to access the rich seams of coal that lay beneath it, unlocking the expansion of industry in nearby Coalville and the surrounding area. Whilst the school’s name looks to the past for inspiration, the facilities themselves have been designed to embrace the principles of the increasingly popular ‘forest school’ model, which seeks to use the outdoor environment as a key part of the school’s activities, giving pupils a richer, more holistic, and engaging learning experience.
Read MoreSports Pitch Drainage Improvements Installed By Turfdry Enhance Hazelwood School Campus
Hazelwood School is an award-winning independent prep school set in 25 acres of woodland near Oxted, Surrey. With an emphasis on holistic, integrated learning that supplements classroom education with thoughtful use of outdoor space, the site provides a wide variety of outdoor spaces to provide a broader, more varied scope for its pupils. Whilst many of these spaces are designed to complement traditional classroom subjects, there is of course excellent provision for sports, which are held in high regard by the school, with pupils receiving up to six hours of physical education per week; however, despite the recent addition of an all-weather pitch to the site, the staff were keen to revitalise their natural turf sports facilities, which have been suffering from persistent waterlogging problems that have been exacerbated in recent years.
With Turfdry’s impeccable reputation for providing long-term, cost-effective drainage solutions for educational establishments across the UK, the firm was a natural choice for the school. Though investment in other parts of the site meant that a number of years passed between the initial site visit and the eventual work, the school remained in contact with Turfdry in the intervening years, and demonstrating great enthusiasm to proceed with the works once the necessary funds were available.
Read MoreTurfdry Scrum Down to Install New Pitch Drainage System at Aspull RFC
Located just a short distance outside of Wigan, Aspull RFC is a bustling local rugby club boasting 15 teams across various age groups. With so much rugby being played, it is no wonder than their facilities have struggled to keep up with the demand for game-time, especially given the increasing levels of rainfall in an already-notoriously wet part of the country. Despite the best efforts of the club’s ground staff, they have been struggling in recent winters to keep the pitches playable, facing cancelled fixtures following failed pitch inspections. In addition to disrupting the season – and potentially incurring fines from their leagues – fixture cancellations can also diminish the social side of a local sports club, as well as put a dent in their budget with less demand for the bar facilities that help to fund it.
With the effects of climate change set to continue unabated, the club resolved to invest in its home ground through the installation of a new drainage system that would help guarantee a higher volume of playable fixtures throughout the year. To this end, they contacted Turfdry, whose great success providing transformative improvements to existing rugby pitches made them a natural choice for a club looking to maximise the value of their investment in seeking meaningful, long-term development.
Read MoreEven Managing Directors Have to Roll Up Their Sleeves Sometimes...
Though the initial earthworks phase of the project is complete, the initial delays to the project’s getting started, combined with the fact that there is no irrigation facility on-site, has meant that the drainage, cultivation and seeding works have been delayed to ensure the establishing grass sward is not compromised by any hot and dry spells that might be brought by the summer weather. As a result the site has been fenced off to preserve the work completed thus far, and to secure the site more generally.
Read MoreHighlands Park Sports Pitch Plateau Takes Shape Near Henley-on-Thames
After a slow start to the project due to the relentlessly wet ground conditions through the spring, Turfdry’s sports pitch construction project at Crest Nicholson’s Highlands Park development in Henley-on-Thames has made fantastic progress in recent weeks.
Following the screening of the material on site, and the removal of detritus from the pitch plateau area, the team was able to get to work spreading the mountain of imported topsoil over the finished sub-base. A good depth of high-quality topsoil is vital to the construction of a natural turf sports pitch, and with the paucity of available material on-site, the importing of additional material was crucial to the success of this project.
Read MoreTurfdry Work to Make Sure New Sports Pitch is Made of 'The Right Stuff'
Turfdry’s specialism in natural turf construction makes the firm an ideal partner for housebuilding companies looking to add sports facilities to their new developments. With the main construction phase of its Highlands Park development in Henley-on-Thames winding down, Crest Nicholson contacted Turfdry in 2023 to explore their options for a new natural turf sports pitch, with a package of works agreed to commence in early 2024.
Read MoreHighlands Park Sports Pitch Construction project Underway After Soggy Start to the Year
Turfdry’s specialism in natural turf construction makes the firm an ideal partner for housebuilding companies looking to add sports facilities to their new developments. With the main construction phase of its Highlands Park development in Henley-on-Thames winding down, Crest Nicholson contacted Turfdry in 2023 to explore their options for a new natural turf sports pitch, with a package of works agreed to commence in early 2024.
Read MoreNewly Constructed Sports Pitch at OD Murphy Playing Field Progressing Well
As a project that been an active concern for many years, Turfdry were delighted to finally get the go-ahead for sports pitch construction works at OD Murphy field in Telford, Shropshire.
Although the site was already valued by the local community as an open green space with an active ecosystem of fauna, the council sought to enhance the space further through the construction of a new, high-quality football pitch. The proposals also included the construction of a new perimeter path, car parking area, and wildflower bund to further enhance the local ecology, and enhance the aesthetics of the space for all users.
Read MoreSite-Specific Benefits of Hydraway Sportsdrain
The use of Turfdry's unique Hydraway Sportsdrain is most often motivated by the superior drainage performance provided by its rapid water intake rate, or the longevity delivered by its high-quality construction; however, some sites have particular features that present additional challenges for successful, cost-effective drainage solutions, for which Hydraway is uniquely suited.
Read MoreTHE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK CONTINUES INVESTMENT INTO ITS WORLD-CLASS SPORTING HUB WITH NEW PITCH DRAINAGE FROM TURFDRY
Following a competitive tender process, Turfdry were appointed by the University of Warwick to install new drainage systems on a trio of sports pitches as part of the ongoing £49 million investment project in its sporting facilities. This project is driven by the objective of enriching its students’ lives, empowering and inspiring them to embrace the opportunities offered by sport as part of a well-rounded life, to make the University into the country’s “most physically active campus”..
Read MoreRepton School's Commitment to Sporting Excellence Continues with the Installation of the Turfdry Drainage System
Located in the historic capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, Repton School has a strong lineage of both academic and sporting excellence, boasting a number of international and Olympic athletes amongst its alumni, as well as internationally renowned figures such as Jeremy Clarkson and Roald Dahl. Taking great pride in not just sporting excellence, but also the integration of sport into a well-rounded and rewarding education, the school has invested over £6 million in its sporting facilities since 2018 to lay the foundations for future generations of budding athletes and sporting stars.
Read MoreSports Pitch Construction Project Flying High in Gedling
With a reputation for delivering high quality sports pitch construction on-time and within budget, Turfdry’s clientele of major construction firms continues to grow – most recently with the completion of a new sports pitch project in Nottinghamshire for Persimmon Homes.
Read MoreRugby Pitch Drainage Project Begins at Exeter Athletic RFC
Turfdry have begun the installation of an extensive drainage system on behalf of Exeter Athletic RFC, covering three pitches at their Bravelands home. Following the announcement of a landmark partnership between the club and Exeter College in August of this year, investment is being made into the pitches to provide top quality pitches that can withstand not only the elements, but also the high volume of rugby they will host: not only the fixtures for the club, but also those for the Exeter Chiefs Rugby Academy as well.
Read MoreNew Rugby Pitch Drainage at Melbourne Sporting Partnership
Melbourne Rugby Club, in Derbyshire, is looking forward to the welcome winter sound of cash registers ringing in the bar, now that its 1st and 2nd Team rugby pitches have had new Hydraway Drainage systems installed by Turfdry.
Read MoreThe Turfdry Drainage System Installed at Sherborne St. John FC
Sherborne St John Football Club, based in Basingstoke, has an excellent reputation for strong youth football development, boasting a dozen teams affiliated to the Hampshire FA. Despite the good reputation of its home ground – at Chute Recreation Ground – as being a good playing surface, it has been suffering in recent seasons with persistent waterlogging that has undermined not only individual fixtures, but also the broader operations and reputation of the club.
With substantial drainage improvements being designed to last around 30 years, a crucial ambition of the waterlogging mitigation project was to maximise the cost-effectiveness of the drainage installation, so that the hard work of the club’s volunteers in organising it would continue to pay off for future generations of the club’s players.
Read MoreNew Drainage System for Sutton Coldfield Juniors FC
Sutton Coldfield Juniors FC the latest club to embrace the technical superiority of the Turfdry Drainage System using Hydraway Sportsdrain as the long-term solution to pitch waterlogging.
Coming as part of a period of consistent investment, which included the construction of brand-new pavilion facilities, the new drainage system - primarily composed of Hydraway Sportsdrain installed at 3m spacings – also included the installation of a number of additional arterial drains to facilitate more cost-effective drainage improvements to the rest of the site, which is located to the rear of Bishop Walsh School.
Read MoreRigorous Pitch Maintenance Pays Off at Kingley Gate
Establishment of the newly constructed pitches at Kingley Gate is progressing nicely, with ongoing maintenance of the project being delivered by Turfdry.
Although a pitch’s construction lays the most fundamental foundation of its quality, the careful, rigorous maintenance required to establish a healthy, durable sward should not be overlooked. Although some of our clients opt to manage this themselves, the majority entrust this process to Turfdry’s nationally recognised expertise in the field.
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