PROGRESS REPORT ON NEW WEST END GROUND
(Courtesy of the Hampshire Yearbook 1999)

In April 1998, Berkeley Homes (Hampshire) Ltd bought the seven and a half acres of the existing County Ground at Northlands Road for over £5 million. The site is due to be developed with high quality residential housing in accordance with the outline planning permission.

The funds are being received by the club in stage payments over the period until October 2000 when the club will move from Northlands Road.

At West End, the roads, car parks and services have been completed to serve the two grounds and golf course. Work started in November 1998 on the Nursery Ground Pavilion and the Golf Clubhouse. The two-storey pavilion is designed with oak panels on a steel frame to produce a rustic look in sympathy with its natural environment. The single-storey golf clubhouse will face the pavilion across a small quadrangle. A putting green is being constructed adjacent to the buildings, with pathways to the first and ninth tees of the nine-hole "pay as you play" course which is due to open this summer. The 2,800-yard course offers a variety of both flat and more challenging holes, with one par 5, six par 4s and two par 3s, one of which has an interesting carry over a valley.

Members were given a first opportunity to visit the new ground on September 26, 1998, and even in the rain it was possible to get an idea of the spectacular view from what will be the top of the main pavilion, behind the bowler's arm. Members could also test the drainage system for themselves as they walked out across the ground from the tunnel which links the main oval with the nursery ground. A second visit was achieved on April 10, 1999, in far better weather conditions.

Meanwhile, architects Michael Hopkins & Partners have drawn up the design of the Main Pavilion with its covered courtyard which will incorporate a Cricket Academy. These plans were submitted to Eastleigh Borough Council planners and gained approval on March 8, 1999. Unfortunately, savings of £1.75 million have had to be made at this stage following the Lottery Sports Fund's decision not to give an additional allowance for inflation and contingencies for the whole project, which it had indicated would be given when the original £7.176 million award was made. As a result, the Indoor Bowls facility has been deferred until a later phase in the project.

A boulevard of trees will encircle the roadway around the top of the berm which surrounds the new ground and some 140 London Plane trees (Platanus Hispanica) are being specially grown at Hilliers Nurseries for planting this year. Members and supporters are being offered the opportunity to sponsor one of these trees. Each tree will have its own plaque with the sponsor's name or dedication and will therefore make a unique gift, perhaps to commemorate a relative or friend, or as a corporate promotion for the next millennium. Members will also be able to "buy" seats and other items.

Details are available from Jane Kerr in the Appeal Office, tel 01703 221000. A further appeal will be launched early this summer, offering membership packages, debentures and corporate hospitality facilities.

The search for a main sponsor for the whole development continues.

The timetable is for the second eleven to play on both grounds during 2000, with first-class cricket starting on the main oval in April 2001. Meanwhile, the golf course opens this summer.

The building contract for the main pavilion and cricket academy will take approximately 18 months and will therefore begin soon to meet the moving date from Northlands Road of October 31, 2000.

Groundsmen from all over the country visited the site at West End when Hampshire hosted the ECB's Groundsmen's Conference in February 1999, which was attended by 71 groundsmen and 14 members of the ECB's Pitches Advisory Group.

They were able to see progress on the two squares (20 first-class pitches on the Main Oval and 14 on the Nursery Ground) which both include an experimental pitch. The two trial pitches have been produced by the ECB Pitches Research Group in conjunction with the Sports Turf Research Institute.

The Main Square pitch has Ongar loam with sand incorporated, while the Nursery Square pitch has a high clay content loam with sand incorporated.

During the conference the 1998 Groundsman of the Year Award was presented to Nigel Gray, Hampshire's Head Groundsman. It is the second time in four years that he has won the award of the Bernard Flack Trophy and a £1,600 prize.