Day 18 - Friday 25 May - The final stages of preparation

The orange vehicle loads the gritty sand for the drains whilst the dumper truck ls loaded with the final layer of sand to cover the pitch area.

Cutting the final drainage trenches at the eastern end of the pitch area.

The overnight rain exaggerates the difference between the two types of sand. A small amount of soil can also be seen.

The final layer of sand being dumped.

View towards the north east corner of the ground.

Only a small amount of the gritty sand remains in the main car park.

The bulldozer temporarily parked ready to spread the sand across the whole area of the pitch.

The overnight rain exaggerates the slit trenches.

From a distance it all looks very smooth.

Following heavy overnight rain the surface of the working areas have become quite muddy.    The rain has also made the sand more difficult to work.   Nonetheless progress is still being made.

The final trenches are being cut just in front of the eastern stand.  Meanwhile the final loads of sand are dumped onto the centre of the pitch area before being spread across the surface.

In excess of 3,500 tons of sand and gravel will have been used to ensure good drainage for the new pitch.