We made a start on the cleaning the turnstiles today and completed the Cut Throat Lane and Newmarket Road ones.
The Newmarket Road area will be painted if we get time and have not run out off paint. Today all the turnstiles were checked and repaired if faults found. The engineers check that the right number of people entering the ground is recorded. To do that they turn the stile and check the computer reading at the same time. They traveled down from Nottingham and were at the ground by eight this morning. They had been at Sheffield United checking over 80 turnstiles yesterday and were travelling to another club this afternoon. They also deal with many clubs in the League. While the doors where opened we decided to clean inside the areas WT Ellison along with WH Bailey Ltd made the majority of those installed at football and other areas of public access during the late 19th to the late 20th Centuries. Victorian sport had become a business as soon as there were players became proffessional or areas required to be maintained. Features which made Ellison's unique and ahead of its competitors. A foot pedal meaning the operator could control the movement of bodies through the stile. Thus Ellison's advertised the product as 'rush preventive', more accurate and safer. A tamper-resistant counter was built into the housing, enabling gate receipts to be tallied against admissions. This measure meant that fraud by gatemen was greatly reduced. Elliston's ceased to trade in 1963. One of the reasons was due to the companies product being so durable and well made. There rarely went wrong or broke
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The photos below show some of the work being completed today -
Alan carried on with the painting of the panels on the North Habbin. He was giving them a second coat. There is one more needing to be done completed and final one will need two coats tomorrow The grass is coming through more than ever. As it is growing it pushes up the fibre layer in places. There were three barrow loads collected today You may remember that the roller broke several weeks ago. Today, it was repaired by Mick who replaced the wood sections. He had to saw the bolts off to enable the completion of the replair WBPS were on site to check/service the generators and ensure any parts needing to be replaced were done Mick replaid the gravel in the areas where the materials were left for relaying the pitch. We have sectioned off the bottom area of the car park while contractors are site. It is the second cover of shingle. It disappears when it rains and on the tyres of vehicles as well compacting when being driven over all the time Looking at the weather all day predicting heavy rain we started the day off by getting the sand bags ready. The rain had not arrived by three thirty and if it does not do so the pitch will urgently need watering.
Below are three photographs which on closer inspection have left me with further questions. Are you able to provide the answers?
On the aerial photograph of the ground there is a green area behind the Habbin Stand - is that the old training pitch? If so, when was it no longer used? Can anyone remember it or have any stories about the area? Did the players really train there? In what year was the police box fitted on top of the old changing rooms? On the second photograph of Wes Maughan there are supporters sitting on a wall at the edge of the ground. If the photo was at the Abbey when was the wall removed? Does anyone remember sitting on the wall to watch matches? The third photograph is of a room apparently used as the player bar. Can you remember it? Before that use, I have been told it was a food kiosk. Can you remember there being one incorporated in the Main Stand? Did you ever use it
Look at the gallery of photos below to see the Abbey Stadium as you have never seen before. You will probably be unlikely to see the ground and local area in the same way again
The camera of our our photographer Alan Burge was used to take the views. The photos were kindly taken by the engineers who have been carrying out some survey work on the floodlights Hopefully, they will allow Alan to come back down to earth tomorrow. Terry Baker's funeral will be taking place on the Wednesday 30th May at 11.15 in the West Chapel Cambridge Crematorium
The Bank Holiday was over and so it seemed was the good weather. Overcast today and a rumble of thunder this afternoon was heard.
Plenty has been going on still - Painter Pete has been re-paintng the yellow safety lines and today did the ones by the NRE toilets and the Main Stand ones. The painting will continue throughout the break throughout the stands etc Mick is continuing to scrap the flakey paint off the NRE barriers to have them ready for painting which he will start tomorrow. More grass has appeared over the weekend on the pitch. Nelson has been keeping the birds off the pitch from his new position on the Centre Circle. With all the seed will come an issue later to manae the weed on the track. Terry has started work on the Abbey Arms emergency door where the paint has peeled badly. I think we will finish this on Thursday or Friday by painting it Black. I would like to do the front of the Abbey Arms however there is no grey paint anywhere. Trying to think of an alternative solution Les finished work on the first barrier and will start painting the Habbin entrances tomorrow before returning to paint the other two. Alan completed two more panels on the the Habbin Stand and will get to the half way line by the end of tomorrow if everything goes well. Main job today was to paint one of the offices. Andy Beattie helped us to complete the work. It is really helpful having a centre half, it means no ladders are required to reach the high ceilings. Most of the resource went into doing this room as it had to be finished in one day. Mick Radford stay longer than normal to help complete the work. This afternoon Les and Mick did the glossing. While we did the emulsion. Wendy was on hand getting the room ready as we worked from one end to the other. Clearing up any paint that was dropped. Morale of the story is find a centre half to do high level painting
Have you missed something during the past week on the CFU website see below for what has been on the blog page http://www.cambridgefansunited.org/blog
Click on the story below and to see what has been happening or for information During the week we were cleaning up, ensuring matches took place and started painting again in earnest The April version of the Amber News can be downloaded by clicking here You can follow CFU daily via facebook click here or www.facebook.com/CambridgeUnitedFootballClub/ Previous Stories 26 May-------------Was this the greatest ever Cambridge United side? 26 May-------------CUFC Lottery Results W/E 25/5/18 26 May-------------Painting the Panels 25 May-------------Watching the Grass grow - Update from the Abbey - The Apprentice Groundsman 25 May-------------Match Day Programmes - what do you think? 24 May-------------Bishop's place in history 24 May-------------What is Cambridge Fans United all about? 24 May-------------Green Green Grass of home starts to appear - The Apprentice Groundsman 23 May-------------Photographs from the Abbey 23/5/2018 and what has been done today 22 May-------------Sunny Day and plenty of work happening. The Apprentice Groundsman 22 May-------------CUFC Lottery Results W/E 18/05/2018 22 May-------------We are following the World Cup in LONDON 22 May-------------Project - Amber Habbin 19 May-------------The roller breaks down 19 May-------------Ongoing Work at the Abbey Stadium in addition to the Pitch work - The Apprentice Groundsman 18 May-------------It was all about the goals at Wembley 18 May-------------Back in the LEAGUE AGAIN 17 May-------------Laying the Seed Today 16 May-------------United by memories again 16 May-------------CFU sponsored Findley Iron and Lee Watkins earn new deals at the Abbey 15 May-------------Pitch Work Continues Monday and Tuesday 15 May-------------100yearsofcoconuts - A United Legend hangs up his Gloves 15 May-------------Terry Baker 1934 -2018 15 May-------------Stripping the Pitch - Part 2 15 May-------------Stripping the Pitch - Part 1 11 May-------------CUFC Lottery Results W/E 04/05/2018 & 11/05/2018 11 May-------------Pitch Renovation starts as machinery and materials arrive Wes Maughan played for Cambridge United during the mid sixties - here is the story of his football career starting at Southampton where as a youth team player he scored twice at Old Trafford.
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