Drainage Works at Upritchard Park

As most of our members have seen already and some visiting teams, it was a busy period during Spring and Lockdown earlier in the year for the Grounds team at Bangor Cricket Club.

The issue of drainage at the far corner of the ground at the bottom of the slope has been getting steadily worse over the years to the point where at times an extensive amount of work was needed to keep games on or they were being called off.

Plans were set afoot for a drainage scheme and with support from main contractor Haffey and the Club being successful in the 2020-21 Ards & North Down Borough Council Sports Development Capital Grants with an award of £5,000. An Award can be up to 50% of eligible capital costs with a maximum award of £5,000 in respect of any one project, it was all systems go to have the work completed by the end of March.

Despite the challenging conditions of the weather and lockdown restrictions, the work was completed on schedule and now all we need is some time to allow the ground to fully recover. This was an essential investment for our club for the future of its membership and our thriving Junior section.

We couldn’t have afforded to undertake this work without the invaluable financial support from our local Council. Thanks to Emma Hingston, Sports and Recreational Development Officer at the Council for her support throughout the project, main contractor Haffey Sports Grounds and to the faithful band of grounds volunteers at the Club headed up by Grounds Convenor Stephen Burns.