PENQUITE GREEN

As mentioned in last week’s College news, the Penquite Green is being resurfaced to provide better drainage which will prevent waterlogging and allow year-round use.

This has involved a variety of different machines such as excavators, graders, dump trucks, and bobcats to dig, push, and smooth the soil across the oval. But how were things such as this done years ago, before heavy machines were widely available? In the College Archives, there are a couple of photos from 1917, which show an industrious group of boys who decided they needed soil to create a new cricket pitch and then got to work building it themselves. The Weekly Courier newspaper picked up the story:

“In order to procure material for a new wicket, which is about 150ft above the bed of the North Esk River from which soil is procurable, the boys of the Scotch College, Ravenscraig, have by means of fencing wire, rope and pulleys, rigged the ‘flying fox’ shown and bring up the soil in their spare time”.  Weekly Courier, 20 September, 1917.

It is fascinating to see the initiative and ‘can do’ attitude of these students who saw a need and worked out how to create a solution and put it into action. It is also great to see that this ethos lives on in many of the learning and service projects that our current day students are involved in, although with a bit more of a focus on safety and supervision!

Mark Hassell
Dean of Students