Nest Update 13th May

Another two weeks of inactivity as this "drought" continues to bring more rain and The Nest continues to soak it in and soften further. Nearly a month has passed since D Day3 and although our gardens bloom and bloated water-butts groan under the pressure, It's not what we need at The Nest. At least we were able to remove the goal posts last Sunday for the closed season pitch repairs but it's not where we hoped to be at by now. April was officially declared the wettest on record by the Met Office and May is forcast to be the coldest so it's not very encouraging. Another 15mm deluge fell on Wednesday night and pitch puddles were visible again at The Nest. So for now we continue to hope for prolonged sunshine and wind to give the crane a chance to enter the site to offload the first three buildings..... and the frustation goes on.

Nest Update 29th April

Wettest Drought In Memory Causes Delay

It seems that since a drought was officially declared on April 5th it has done nothing but rain. The last obstacle to the new buildings was removed two weeks ago now and we had hoped to have the crane on site to carry out the first installations within a few days of that. The buildings are ready to lift and have all been painted in line with the planning consent and all that is needed now is some firm ground to work on. We know from past experience that even an Ambulance can get bedded in down to it's axles at The Nest when its wet and the potential damage caused to the pitches/site to recover stuck vehicles makes it not worth the risk. Tons of lorry/crane/buildings would surely sink at the moment and the recovery would be messy and no doubt expensive too. With The Nest at saturation point with standing puddles it will be a waiting game now. We really could do with a monsoon if this is what a drought looks like. At least the electricity meter is refitted now so power can be distributed when we need it.

So a frustrating couple of weeks really but our first hiccup since we started so not too bad and hardly one we can control either.

Nest Update 15th April

 Demolition Day 3  (Two men V one shed and lots of spiders)

Andy and Mark tackled the mini goal shed today and "surgically dismantled it" with great care and patience, (smashed it to pieces with big hammers) and removed it. The site is now powered back up to the grid and the electricity meter is due to be fitted tomorrow in the new sub-station to feed into the new distribution board. The site is now ready for the arrival of the first three buildings which will be discussed with the supplier and hopefully take place very soon. Once sited the buildings will be powered up and connected to the new drainage system. Once that is done the surrounding groundwork can be tackled and things like entrance/exit pads laid outside doors and possibly a patio area beside the new cafeteria. When the three units arrive it is hoped that the blue changing block can be lifted and re-positioned further along to allow space for two more changing rooms to be installed between the cafeteria and the blue changing room. Once that happens the groundworks can begin for the next two buildings. The rubbish heap has nearly stopped growing now so a skip will be ordered soon to clear away the last of the rubbish.

Nest Update 31st March

Demolition Day 2 (The Return Of The Sledge Hammers)

The old gents toilet block was smashed, ripped and pulled apart today and cleared from the site. Another early start removing steel cladding from the sides before the roof could be dropped inside and the sides ripped off. The floor was then flipped over and cut apart from the underside. Water supply piping was re-routed slightly and lagged. The chosen technical equipment of the day was sledge hammers, crow bars, disc cutters and chainsaws though at some stages when the internal drainage was removed gas masks were called for too.  A lorry-load of timber and the scrap metal were taken away by kind volunteers so no costs were incurred for disposal. The power cable to the old tea hut was dug out and removed from site for re-use at a later date.  The site of the old toilet block will now be lowered slightly and made good with slabs which will greatly improve the view for our Club and indeed the Tennis Club too.

Thanks to the willing volunteers who turned up today to help with this task. It's another major step forward in the re-development of the site and another box ticked off on the "jobs to do" sheet. 

Nest Update 24th March

Groundworks now underway. Concrete pads being laid to support new Cafeteria, toilets & storage unit. Drainage also being laid to service toilets and cafeteria kitchen. Construction is of brick housing to contain electricity supply and meter is now complete. Service trench for cabling and drainage is now dug out also. Destruction and removal of old gents toilets is now being planned.

You Can't Make An Omlette Without Breaking Eggs!

Today We Broke Some Eggs!

 Demolition Day At The Nest

The long awaited improvements to The Nest got off to a destructive but necessary start today (Sat 3^rd March) with the removal of the old wooden changing rooms and some demolition of old buildings and hard-standings.

Work started at 8am and a steady stream of volunteers descended on The Nest during the morning to help with the demolition derby armed with sledge hammers, crow bars, shovels, picks and rakes. Some were tasked with the back-breaking job of breaking up, lifting and loading concrete, slabs, and scrap metal, some with tearing down some old dilapidated buildings, and some with levelling spoil heaps.

The old wooden changing rooms are to be reborn as the new cricket pavilion at Ashby Cricket Club about twelve miles north of The Nest. Ashby CC sent a large crew of well prepared volunteers to tackle the job and they dismantled and loaded the whole building in about five hours without fuss and more importantly without injury. The removal of the trees at the site of the new entrance path for the tennis club was deferred on safety grounds until later in the week due to the shear amount of people on site today.  Water supplies were capped and altered where required to serve the Club in the interim until the new facilities are sited and connected to the services.

Once the trees are felled and removed the next phase of ground-works can begin with the laying of concrete bases and pads for the new units and the excavation of cabling and drainage trenches and the construction of a brick sub-station to house the electricity feed to the site.  Also the current (blue) changing block will be moved further down the site so the ground can be prepared for the new changing rooms to be brought to site.

SBWFC would like to thank all those who came to help out today, particularly Mark Frost, Lee Wells and Dan Littlechild and his motley crew from Ashby CC. We made huge steps today and we couldn’t have done it as fast without you guys.

To Ashby CC, we hope you are very happy in your new building. We look forward to the topping-out ceremony when you rebuild to sink a beer or two and nibble a few cucumber sandwiches. Thanks finally to Dan who joined all the dots and made the connections between Ashby CC and SBWFC. We were all winners today.   

IT'S SNOW USE WE STILL CAN'T PLAY ON THAT

Another week of sub zero temperatures by day and night together with a suprize snowfall again in the early hours of Sunday (12th) ensured The Nest stayed out of action for a second weekend with a generous covering of snow still on the pitches. With temperatures down to -6 overnight it would be a doubtfull situation even if the snow had cleared.  Fingers crossed for next weekend and some warmer weather.

WINTER FINALLY ARRIVES AT NEST

Over the last 7 days winter has finally tightened its' grip on the fixture schedule at The Nest. With early kick-offs postponed last weekend due to frozen pitches things got much worse this weekend with the arrival of at least 3 inches of snow on Saturday night (5th). Away fixtures were cancelled too as the icy blast caught up with the Waveney Valley with powdery drifting snow being topped with heavier flakes in the early hours of Sunday morning. So it was footy boots back in the cupboard and welly boots on as droves of Wasps players swapped footballs for snowballs and headed for the hills with their sledges.  Some went for the warmer option and found their footy fix on the PS3 and XBox. It's a fixture secretary's nightmare and Ellis Barnes will no doubt be scratching his head trying to re-schedule matches at a time of year when ground conditions are at their most un-predicatble and no pitch is guarenteed at playable.  But compared to last years's constant rain and then ice and then snow we have been quite lucky at The Nest so far this season. 

Frozen Solid 29th Jan 8.30am

Snowed Off 5th February 1.pm

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WHAT'S THE PLAN STAN ?

 If you would like to view the plans for the proposed improvements down at The Nest you will find them here. (Acrobat Reader Required)

The stop net for the main pitch is due to be fitted imminently and the buildings sourced very soon. Once that is done a start can be scheduled for the necessary groundworks and installation of services to facilitate the new changing rooms, toilets, cafeteria & storage facility. Quotes are already being sort for the supply and fitting of new security fencing and entrance gates. Together with the ongoing three-year programme of pitch maintanance and improvements, which has already begun, The Nest will be much improved over the coming months for the benefit of all.

St Benets Wasps FC would like to thank Gordon Hogg (Architect) 01502 713633  gordon.e.hogg@talktalk.net

Gordon drew up and submitted the plans on behalf of the Club.