Latest News as at 13th June 2016
The Old Member’s Stand has now been completely stripped out, with contractors removing furniture and fittings and, we estimate, at least 10 Kilometers of electrical cabling. The asbestos removal company moved in last week and have been working hard to make the Grandstand safe for demolition. The site currently resembles the scene in ET when they cover the house with plastic sheeting, with lots of men in Gas masks and rubber suits wandering about. We are fairly sure that the cost for the asbestos removal to date has been more than it cost to actually build the entire grandstand back in the 1960’s! Demolition is due to begin next Monday so some more exciting pictures will follow in next weeks update.
Meanwhile, on the track…
We have just started work to install some new land-drains on the track in various locations on the back and home straights. These new land-drains will work with the current extensive drainage system already in place and we hope may help if we are to weather another wet winter like the one we just experienced!
Not forgetting of course, the annual maintenance that our ground staff have to do every year…..
Fence rebuild and renewal takes place every summer on a rolling three year programme, with a number of fences being totally re-built and the remaining fences being renewed every year.
Last week our ground staff team fully stripped the birch out of some of the National Hunt chase fences, so they are literally down to bare bones! or wood as it were.
They will now work on the frames, repairing and replacing where necessary before repainting and padding them before they start to pack them with new birch in the coming weeks.
One full fence rebuild will use over 400 bundles of birch and take a full week for two men to complete. The approximate cost to rebuild one fence is in the region of £8,500.
The remaining fences that are being renewed will be partially stripped of older birch and then re-packed with new. Wetherby’s last fence is in a renewal year and so currently it looks rather different than usual!
The Ground staff will cut the birch and shape it to make it look more like a Wetherby fence should!
Catch up again with us next week to see what we have all been up to.
The Racecourse Executive
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