It's the penultimate weekend before the big delivery! This is what we've been up to the past couple weeks:-
More trenches:-
In order for us to get the electric supply to the changing rooms we've had to install ducting from the box over to the proposed location. This meant the dream team of Scooby and Johnny were back at the ground!
Digging the trench for the electric and breaking into the box. Oct 22
We had to disc cut the tarmac ready for the machine to excavate the trench. It wasn't as straightforward as we'd like with some massive stones and old concrete foundations in the way. Johnny had to bring out 'Thors hammer' (in his words) to break up the one bit of foundation! It made us realise how lucky we were to be able to use the slabs as foundations for the changing rooms and not have to dig out to install concrete, it would have been an absolute nightmare!!
Installing the ducting and backfilling the trench
With the trench dug out we dropped the ducting in and backfilled. All we needed then was for the National Grid to come and hopefully make the connection to the existing electric cable.
Clearing the ramp:-
The access to the pitch these days is down the new stone ramp that Amco installed for us. Unfortunately the brambles and weeds had started taking over this area so it was time to clear it (my new favourite past time 🤦🏻♂️🙄).
The brambles and weeds getting cut back on the ramp
This should hold off now until the kids start playing on there, hopefully! Ideally we would like to get this ramp along with the rest of the car park tarmacked, but it's going to be really costly so a pipe dream at the minute!
National Grid:-
When we first contacted the National Grid to get electric at the ground they quoted us £19k! This was in order to supply and install a new electric cable through all the surrounding footpaths down to the Substation by Alda's!
We then found the existing capped off electric cable within the ground and asked if we could just connect to that.
They said they would and dropped the price to £850, on the proviso that when they come to connect if there's not enough power coming through the cable we would have to revert to the £19k method!
So there was a lot riding on the visit we had last week from the National Grid boys!
The visit from National Grid Oct 22
Thankfully there were no issues with the existing cable which meant the boys connected straight onto it! They then ran a cable up to the box we installed.
We thought that would mean we then have an electric supply at the ground with 2 weeks to spare ready for the changing rooms.
Unfortunately one of the National Grid boys mentioned in passing, that we now need to get in touch with an Electric supplier in order for them to come and install a meter and open an account for us. I probably should've known that would be the case, but didn't!🤦🏻♂️
I've been frantically ringing round different companies for the last week and the lead time for installation varies from 5 weeks to 12 weeks depending on the supplier.
This means that we won't have electric at the ground for the first couple weeks of use, which is gutting, but at least we're a step closer.
Getting ready for delivery:-
This week I met with someone from the company that is supplying and installing the changing rooms. There are some things we need to do in readiness for them.
The main thing is to install a larger stone ramp in readiness for the delivery wagons to be able to drive into the the ground. We also need to backfill any trenches or holes.
Electric trench ready for backfill, the stone and the view from the ramp that needs to be improved
The other big concern they had was access through the front gate due to parked vehicles. I have asked them for a confirmed delivery date so that we can give notice to local residents and hopefully we can keep the area clear for a couple of days not to restrict the deliveries. We will inform everyone on our social media and I will also post some letter to the surrounding properties. Thanks in advance for any help with this!
The pitch and surround:-
The pitch is looking the best it ever has and I'm so pleased to say that it's almost ready to be played on! Thanks so much to Lewis James Playing Surfaces for helping us get there!!
We now need to set out and mark the pitch and also install the goal posts.
The pitch looking amazing 23/10/22. Views from the car park and where parents will be able to stand once brambles are cleared
Supporters and parents will be able to watch the games from the car park, down the ramp and also on the concrete steps by the fire station.
The only problem with the latter is that for as long as I rembember it has been absolutely covered in brambles and overgrowth. We intend on clearing all of this so that spectators will have more space to watch from.
Today myself, Liam (u11 coach) and Andrew (u14 coach) made a slight start at it.
The extent of brambles that need clearing, and the concrete steps buried beneath
We made a start today with some loppers and secateurs and put a slight dent in it. Next week we are hoping more people can make it and we'll get the big tools out and smash it!
There are concrete steps across the whole area which will be ideal for spectators. Back in its heyday this whole area would be full of people, and I'm sure it will be the same again soon enough!🤞🏻
Upcoming works:-
We'll be working on clearing the brambles next weekend and Scooby is going to backfill the trenches and extend the ramp this week.
The changing rooms will finally be delivered and installed then the following week! The next blog will be about our new addition! 🥳
Thanks for reading, KJ 💙⚽️