Hallam Grange Bowling Club has its roots in a tennis and sports club dating back a hundred years.
Located to the west of the vibrant city of Sheffield, today’s club draws enthusiasts of all ages and levels with first-class facilities and until recently the bowling green was no exception.
Well maintained and meticulously taken care of by a small number of members and led by volunteer green keeper, Martin Westley, the green had begun to suffer after last winter and the exceptionally wet build-up into spring.
Image: Before
It was known the green was originally constructed on an area used for spoils from house building many years ago and the only drainage was in the gutters around the edge.
“Usually, we have a smooth, even, and top-quality surface,” says Martin, “but last winter was so very wet and we started to get pooling across the green.
“We have done regular vertidraining down to about twelve inches, but each time there’s heavy rain we have standing water. We were certain the combination of the original foundation of the green and sixty plus years of play had led to compaction at depth and lack of drainage.”
Martin did some research to see what was available to solve the problem. He came across Terrain Aeration and spoke to other clubs whose greens had been treated as long as 15 years ago and were still draining freely.
The Terrain Aeration Terralift system works on the principle of a probe drilling down to a metre depth and releasing compressed air at a maximum of 20Bar (280psi). This fractures and fissures the soil to allow drainage.
Image: After
On the tail end of the blast, dried, milled seaweed is injected. Over time, the seaweed expands and contracts in the soil, similar to ‘breathing’ underground, to help keep the fractures open.
The probe is removed, and the process repeated using two-metre centre spacings on a staggered grid pattern. This grid ensures that each probe shot links with the previous ones.
Terrain Aeration says the long-term solution leaves little surface disruption and allows immediate play after treatment. That was certainly the case for Hallam Grange.
Martin says, “Terrain Aeration arrived at ten in the morning and worked through to about three in the afternoon, and you couldn’t really tell where they had been. We played a league match at six-thirty the same day.”
