9 minute read
George Watson’s College
Busy, busy, busy
Scott MacCallum just about manages to keep up with Craig Eccleston, Head of Grounds at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh. Craig is always on the go at the institution where the alumni reads like a who’s who of Scottish sporting endeavour…
There are times when we can all convince ourselves that we’ve had a really hectic day – foot to the floor, non stop, no time to take a breath.
But then we step back and think that we still had time to chat with a colleague about the previous night’s telly; been able to visit the sandwich shop and have a 20 minute stroll at lunchtime, and got home in plenty of time to feed the dog. Heavens, you even had a relaxing glass of wine before retiring to bed.
The point is that usually when we complain about being rushed off our feet, we’re not really.
That is, unless you are Craig Eccleston, Head of Grounds at George Watson’s College, in Edinburgh.
Craig joined Watson’s from Giggleswick School, in North Yorkshire, last February, just before the first lockdown, and since then he’s been getting himself up to speed with the demands of his new role.
George Watson’s College is one of Scotland’s most productive breeding grounds for sporting talent. I give you, for rugby – Scotland Captains Gavin Hastings, Jason White and current internationalist Stuart McInally, as well as Gavin’s brother, Scott; for skiing – Martin Bell; for cricket – Sarah and Kathryn Bryce, sisters and both Scottish internationalists; for athletics – Josh Kerr, fantastic bronze medallist in the 1500 metres at the Tokyo Olympics, and for cycling – the man who rivals Andy Murray for the accolade of Scotland’s finest ever sportsman, Sir Chris Hoy.
It is a day school, with a huge roll of 2,500 pupils, many with a love, and real ability, for sport, meaning that ensuring that the quantity pitches are available, but also in top quality condition, is a genuine task.
“I’ve just done some figures and our main cricket square is going to have around 42 matches from April through to the end of August, and May and June are absolutely stacked. That’s made up of the club which play their T20 matches on the square, the school, plus the under 18s,” said Craig, of the club which plays in the Scottish Premier division, the highest level of domestic cricket in the country.
Watsonians actually run four adult male cricket teams, one female }
HALL OF FAME: Watsonian Josh Kerr bagged bronze in the Tokyo Olympics with a personal best in the 1500 metres
HALL OF FAME: Scotland Captains Gavin Hastings and Jason White
team, plus a host of junior teams.
“We also have a second square for junior fixtures and that’s another 25 games but, as they are little kids, they don’t leave much damage. Then on our other site we have square where the Watsonian thirds play at the same time as the firsts, so that’s another 30 games.
The main rugby pitch is Myerside, one of the historic and revered venues in Scottish rugby. As well as the school matches it has also served as the home ground to Edinburgh Rugby – who are soon to play their first game at their new purposebuilt ground at Murrayfield – as well as Watsonians FP, and now the second tier Super6 franchise which was launched two years ago and whose games are televised.
“When I first came here, we were having three games at Myerside in less than 24 hours – two adult games and a schools match,” revealed Craig.
“What we were able to do, though, through speaking with the club, was to tweak the fixtures so that the Watsonian’s Club team and the Super6 team were not playing at home in the same week,” said Craig, who recalled that the Friday after he started at the School, Scotland played an under 20 Six Nation’s match against England at Myerside.
Combined with the Watsonian’s Hockey club, which runs a number of teams on the synthetic pitch – it’s a TigerTurf, sand dressed, pitch – it means there is so much sport going on at and around the school that they even have to decant to Edinburgh University’s grounds at Peffermill, to ease congestion.
Craig works closely with the
Watsonians Director of Sport as well as the Director of Hockey, Director of Cricket and the Director of Rugby from the school as well as club Director of Cricket and that of the rugby and Super6 clubs as well.
“I believe that I’ve struck up good relations with them, so we can work together to ensure everyone gets what they need.”
Craig took over at George Watson’s from a legendary figure in the sports turf industry, Willie Morton, who had been at the school for over 30 years but who tragically passed away suddenly in August 2019.
Willie, an international and county cricketer as well a talented groundsman, mentored countless groundsmen in Scotland, many of whom went on to become Head Groundsmen in their own right.
Following such a beloved figure within the industry was never going to be easy, but Craig has looked to build upon the fantastic work that Willie carried out, while, at the same time bringing into play his own philosophies and working practices that proved }
Craig Eccleston, left, and the team at George Watson’s College } successful at Giggleswick.
“Willie was and is still well respected and I have read articles about him and his cricket and work here at George Watsons,” said
Craig, whose genuine admiration for Willie is readily apparent.
His own turf management philosophy can be boiled down to four main pillars.
“A good nutrition programme; getting some high quality seed in the ground; getting top dressing into the soil profile as well as a good aeration programme,” he explained.
The school has show itself to be supportive when it comes to investing in the machinery required to meet the standards required.
“The school has a lot of vision, as was explained to me at my interview, and I’m looking forward to being involved in the plans which are earmarked for the future,” he said.
He does have plans of his own, all designed to improve standards at the school.
“What I found when I got here was that there were plenty of mowers etc, but that they were a bit short on renovation machinery so I’m hoping that I can get my own Graden, a verti-drain and a sand dresser, while we have just purchased a Gambetti boom sprayer. It’s all aimed at taking the pressure off having to get contractors in to do the work.”
His aim is to renovate every pitch every year, whereas previously it had only been one or two a year.
Having endured lockdown just at the start of his Watson’s career he was furloughed for three weeks during the first lockdown – Craig was delighted when he was back to full staff in September and they could really get his teeth into the job.
That team comprises a trio or Chrises – Chris Young, Chris Simmons and Chris Cavens while the odd one out among the full time stay is Ewen Russell. Presumably there is pressure on for him to change his name to Chris Russell. Ross Martin, an ex-pupil who plays cricket and rugby for Watsonians, works two days a week.
“I’ve now got Chris Young and Ewen doing their Level 2 Sports Turf, and I am keen to develop all the staff and maximise their talents.”
“The first thing we did as a full staff was a big renovation on all three cricket squares. We did five or six passes with the mounted Graden, we overseeded, top dressed then vertidrained with 8mil tines,” explained Craig, who added that the lockdown may have actually done the pitches and wickets some good at the school, providing some rest at a time when they would normally have experience significant wear and tear.
He also tweaked the wicket prep.
“We roll less than we used to do. It’s not so much as not rolling too much but rolling at the right time. We now roll first thing in the morning as this means that we are using the dew to help with wicket preparation
Another innovation that he has introduced surrounds the unusual school athletics’ track., which makes a summer appearance alongside the Myerside second pitch – there is a three week gap between athletics and the start of rugby training.
“The track is 284 metres while we also have a discus cage. I understand from the lads that Willie was out with string lines to mark it out and that it took three days. I said we’d get a robot in and use the available technology. We went to Rigby Taylor and hired a robot in. It took about an hour and a half,” said Craig, who admitted that due to the unusual length of the track they had to put the start and relay lines in by hand.
With his family just having joined him in Edinburgh, Craig, who does possess some Scottish blood as his gran was a native of Darvil, had the time to visit some of the other neighbouring schools and meet his fellow turf professionals, while he has also grabbed the opportunity to play some more golf.
“I love it here although because of Covid I’ve not had a chance to explore too much. The weather is not too dissimilar to Yorkshire, although I’d say that it was a bit drier than Yorkshire.
“We visited here a couple of times before and been to the Festival and the Tattoo. I was also on a rugby tour to Edinburgh back in 2018 while I enjoy getting up into the Pentland Hills.”
Always supposing, of course, that he can fit the delights of Edinburgh and the surrounding area into his busy, busy workload!
HALL OF FAME: Sporting legend Sir Chris Hoy once breathed the inspirational air at George Watson’s College
