A Trip to Grace Road: A Little Slice of Heaven
Mark Smith of Leicestershire CCC groundstaff proudly shows off his nature walk
By Tanya Aldred
Leicestershire CCC were the runaway leaders of Division Two at the end of the spring block of Championship matches. But alongside their entertaining cricket, and fabulous home-made cakes sold by the Friends of Grace Road (including a vegan cinnamon cake, tested in the name of research) is some inspiring climate action.
At the ground, the club have installed solar panels, upcycled stadium seats and used recycled flooring. Supporters can get free bus travel to Grace Road by showing their tickets and the club are exploring an electric bike scheme, EV chargers and how to capture water – a big problem for them due to poor irrigation.
There has also been some wonderful work done by Mark Smith, a member of the Leicestershire CCC groundstaff. He has created a nature walk along the back wall, making insect , butterfly and bird boxes from old scraps of wood, and scattering seeds that he brought from home. All put together on a shoestring and in his spare time.
One of Mark’s beautiful bird boxes - painted with spare stump paint!
Over to Mark.
“The whole of the back border was very unsightly,” he says, “with old bricks, rubble and beer bottles. The first phase was the memorial garden which I started October 2021, complete with a large unknown soldier silhouette and a plaque commemorating the service of LCCC cricket players who served during WW1 and WW2.
“The raised gardens were made using old timbers that were due to go in the skip and I decided to keep the theme going by making the bird boxes, bat box and bird table from old pallets and even some old stumps. This helped with the low budget and was also environmentally preferable, whilst encouraging wildlife at the same time.”
“Alongside all of this we had a large old Barford and Perkins ballast roller that was due to be scrapped. Barford and Perkins were based in Peterborough and started in the 1840s manufacturing agricultural machinery and rollers, so it seemed a shame to just scrap this piece of history. I decided to clean and paint it up and use it as a centrepiece for the memorial garden.”
The following October he moved into stage two, creating the nature walk.
“Along this stretch there are plenty more bird boxes painted brightly (using waste stump paint) bug houses, butterfly boxes, a bat box, hedgehog hides and insect hotels along with shrubs, wild bulbs, and plants (mainly from my own garden). I also added some seating where people can sit and relax in this quiet relaxing area.
“We have had robins nesting for the past two seasons with plenty more birds in the area. We also have plenty of urban foxes visiting, which is quite apt.”
Smith has plans for the rest of the ground too, and hopes to persuade his bosses to invest in a camera fitted with a live stream to show how the cricket club supports wildlife so close to the city centre.
A free bus to the ground, a Rehan Ahmed century, a slice of cake and a few minutes in the nature garden – Grace Road heaven.
Sign The Next Test Pledge
The Next Test are building a global community of cricket lovers, committed to climate action and protecting the planet and the sport we love.
Join us:
