Posted on: May 26, 2010 by normanmaitland posted in News
Work is proceeding well on our £500k+ project to construct a new Fibrelastic® pitch at Home Park for Plymouth Argyle FC.
Fibrelastic® pitches are made with natural turf but with a new feel that creates less risk of player injury, helping to avoid stress injuries to the ankles, knees and lower back. Given the cost of sporting talent throughout football and both rugby codes, it is not surprising to learn that this kind of pitch is generating huge amounts of interest.
If you’re a club director or stadium manager and you’d like to visit a stadium using a Fibrelastic® pitch please contact us and we’ll set up a visit .
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Posted on: May 25, 2010 by normanmaitland posted in News
We’ve just completed a major end-of-season renovation job at Bristol City Training Ground which involved work on four pitches. The work included Fraize mowing, oversowing and then top dressing. The job was done in less than a week - and we’re pleased to report that grounds chief Craig Richardson was more than happy with the end result.
The team that underook this work is off to Bradford City now to undertake a major improvement to the pitch drainage. An update will be posted as soon as get some pictures.
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Posted on: by normanmaitland posted in News
Once we get started on a project - even a very large one - we find that unless there are hold ups caused by the weather or some unforeseen circumstance, we can make astonishing progress in a short space of time. This, of course, is due to a high degree of mechanisation but also the result of very careful planning before we ever get on site.
Witness the first picture in this post from Cowbridge School where we are constructing the first Tiger Turf Challenger Carpet in South Wales to be approved for football, hockey and rugby. We have already laid stone to finished levels, put the kerb edging in place, secured bolts for the lighting towers laid the cables around the perimeter for lighting. Next job is to make a start on the fencing!
We have also started the summer renovation work on the Blue Birds training pitch at the Vale of Glamorgan (see below) as part of a substantial contract at the facility that is also the Wales Rugby Union training facilty.
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Posted on: May 14, 2010 by normanmaitland posted in News
Hampton Court Palace is one of the jewels in the crown of British history. It was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey, a favourite of King Henry VIII, but as he fell from favour the palace was passed to the King, who enlarged and embellished it – a process carried on by his many successors down through the years. Today, the palace is open to the public, and is a major tourist attraction drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. It is cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown.
The project
As part of a continuous process of conservation and improvement to the palace grounds and buildings, the authorities decided to restore one of the busiest main access approaches to the palace back to the 17th century layout and also to undertake repairs to the adjoining lawns. Our task was two-fold. First, to remove tarmac on the road edges to a width of 3m, working tight in against historical bollards, then to bring in topsoil and re-turf the whole area, tying in the new turf with existing banks of turf. Second, to excavate and prepare the base for the new walkways between the long Barrack Block building and the main palace building and then to lay tarmac with a resin-bonded surface along these pedestrian routes.
This operation was completed in two phases, one either side of the road, sectioning off each area so that pedestrian access was not completely disrupted. Since there were so many visitors passing close to the works there was an especially rigorous Health and Safety policy on site, with our site manager Gareth Davies running the project and a full traffic management plan with banksmen to receive deliveries of material.
William Page, Conservation Building Surveyor at Historic Royal Palaces, recalls that the project was not all plain sailing. “There was a late start due to unforeseen circumstances caused by a number of unmarked services running across parts of the site,“ he says. “The Inscapes team adopted a diligent and professional approach to the project across the board but with special regard to Health & Safety. Their Site Manager ensured efficient liaison with our staff and kept a keen eye on supervision of the site. This was especially important considering that the work was being undertaken in the middle of the busy, primary visitor entrance area of the main building.”
The end result is a landscape that all can be proud of and which dramatically improves the overall visitor experience. We might even say that the approaches to the palace are once again fit for a king!
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Posted on: May 11, 2010 by normanmaitland posted in News
We’re celebrating a record number of new projects – and recruiting new staff and investing in new equipment to help us cope. We have just been awarded a contract valued at in excess of £500k to construct a new Fibrelastic® pitch at Home Park for Plymouth Argyle FC. Fibrelastic® pitches comprise a natural grass surface with a reinforced ‘elastic’ rootzone that creates less risk of player injury, helping to avoid stress injuries to the ankles, knees and lower back. At Cowbridge School we’re constructing the first Tiger Turf Challenger Carpet in South Wales to be approved for football, hockey and rugby. Once finished the school teams, visitors and local clubs will be able to play or train any time, in any weather, any day – or night with no more cancelled matches and no more fixture backlogs (just think how good that would have been this winter!).
At the University of Wales Cyncoed campus we’re undertaking major work to renovate the main rugby pitch and further work to four other pitches, whilst at Parc y Scarlets we’re undertaking a major programme of summer maintenance.
At Bristol City Training Academy we’re carrying out the training ground renovation including Fraise mowing over 4 pitches, spreading 200 tonnes of sand, and seeding pitches, whilst at Bradford City FC we’re undertaking more summer renovation which involves installing improved drainage, sand-slitting, Korrowing, scarifying and overseeding. We’ll be undertaking similar work at Rochdale FC as soon as we’ve finished at Bradford.
Meanwhile, at Loughor RFC we’re undertaking a complete pitch construction which starts with the removal of the existing pitch and at Nantyffyllon RFC we’re working on improving the drainage by installing new main drains on the practice areas.
Inscapes’ Chief Executive Gareth Rees commented, “Despite the challenges thrown us by the winter weather we seem to be on course for a record year. These sports projects come on top of high profile landscaping and restoration work at Hampton Court Palace and at Cardiff Castle. It’s a fantastic tribute to the entire team and an excellent milestone in the company’s strategic development.”
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