Wokingham Tennis Club
http://welcome.to/wokinghamtennisclub
Mike Harper, Hon. Secretary: 0118 978 5500.
Ken Park, Groundsman (expert): 0118 962 7193.
Use the LTA book called "Tennis Courts" for maintenance guidance (which we have a copy of). The club has three shale courts, the first two courts were laid in 1948 and the third in 1968.
Self Renovation
Around the year 1997, the first two courts were draining badly so during the autumn and winter the club renovated them. They did the work themselves with several working parties. When the two courts were renovated all the shale was shovelled off and saved in bags, so the clinker was exposed. They think they ordered about 10 tons of new shale. The medium grade arrived loose and they placed it on a plastic damp course. The fine grade came in bags. They mixed the medium and fine grade new shale together in a barrel in the right quantities (not sure exactly - say 3 bags of medium to 2 bags of fine) a concrete mixer would be useful for this job. To get the right depth they used a 4' square made out of ¾" plastic electrical conduit, shovelled the new shale into the square and levelled it off with a plank. I don't know how they ensured that the clinker surface underneath was level (perhaps still was since being layed in 1948). After laying it they rolled so the final depth would have been about ½".
The court was expected to be ready in the spring but was like playing on a beach. After lots of watering and rolling they eventually got it playable by mid-summer. It took a lot of time to bed-down and to bind, which is a chemical process.
Maintenance
Rolling:
Ken reports that rolling the courts in summer is a waste of time and they only do it in winter. Also see "Tennis Courts" book which explains that rolling in the wrong conditions could cause damage.
Watering:
They have developed a simple hand-sprinkler system which consists of a piece of 22mm copper pipe with the end flattened to a slot shape in a vice and the other end inserted into a ¾" hose pipe. (At our club we use 1" hose pipe - would a 28mm piece of copper pipe fit?) They find this is a quick way to spray the courts by hand and the pipe does not get clogged up with grit as modern sprinklers do. Always use a reinforced hose with cross-cross string in it as polythene hoses go brittle in sunlight.
Adding Extra Shale:
The club has been using the shale saved from the old courts. It requires a sieve with a 2.5mm gauge to sort the medium from the fine grade. They do nearly all the work in the autumn and winter.
Supplier:
Heaseldens. Ken was sceptical about us finding a supplier as Heaseldens has gone out of business. Shale is hard to define but he was suspicious that anything that came from Europe would in fact be clay. He later rang back to say he has found a sample of Redrock Hardcourt Dressing from a company called Amenity Technology which looks like the right stuff.
Extra Notes from Ken:
Shale is a mixture of clay powder and brick granules. French clay is exaclty the same material that Heaseldens used to supply (and the same as is supplied by Terre Davis) but it is ground finer than the Terre Davis "medium". The clinker underneath came from blast furnaces in the steel making industry. The shale supplier the club used was a company called Heaseldens in Bedford. Heaseldens used to supply En-Tout-Cas (company that invented and installed shale courts throughout the country since the beginning of the 20th Century) but were willing to supply direct to WTC. Heaseldens has now gone out of business.
Ken thought we might be interested to know that in other investigations he discovered that Doe Sports would supply all the kit for making an Astroturf tennis court in manageable bits for around £4,000 (whereas they would charge at least £26,000 for full supply and installation).
He also mentioned that the reason porous macadam is more expensive than road tarmac is that it is special. It is made of material that is all the same size to keep it porous. He said it is possible to buy the paint for a porous macadam court from the company Johnston's in Manchester and paint the courts yourself.
Johnstones Paints
Unit 2 Smithfield Enterprise Estate
Manchester Lancashire
M11 2NQ
Tel: 0161 220 8997
http://www.johnstones-paints.co.uk/
Ashford Tennis Club
Len: 01932 22 11 96 - deals with the tennis.
Supplier: Mr Merrick Howse
The shale is imported from Italy and arrives in Hull where the company distributes it. It comes in fine and medium grade plus another grade which may be used as a base layer. Several of our members have played at Ashford and really like it.
Cost: approx. £200/tonne. In 2001 Ashford ordered 1 tonne for £188.90 + £55 delivery.
Len also looked at a sample from I.S.S. The price per tonne was a bit cheaper but he wasn't very impressed with the colour which was darker.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club
Mark, Groundsman
Tel AELTC: 020 8944 1066
I left a message for the groundsman and Mark got back to me. They have five shale courts at AELTC. I asked about his shale supplier. He rang back to say they use Redrock Hardcourt Dressing from Amenity Technology . He wasn't sure of the amounts required but he kindly offered to come and have a look for us if necessary. He also suggested I ring the M.D. of Amenity Technology who is Carl Crowe.
Maintenance:
Mark also volunteered the information that in the winter he waits for a frost then when the court has dried out a bit he works in medium grade dressing and rolls it down. It can then be played on. He uses medium in winter because it drains better. In the spring he sweeps the course stuff off and applies fine dressing. This is for two reasons - 1. Some of the members complain if the court is too slippery (from the medium dressing) 2. The fine grade retains the moisture better. I need to ask quite a few more maintenance questions so will get back to him.
Visits:
We took Mark up on his offer to visit our club and also visited AELTC on Mark's invitation. See photos of some of the Shale Court Equipment from AELTC here.
