Upgrading our floodlights to LEDs and installing them on courts 7 and 8 has long been a priority for our club development. We have had planning permission to do the work for quite some time now, but with that about to expire, it was definitely time to take the plunge.
The first stage of the project was the messiest, involving holes and trenches and new posts on courts 7 and 8. There was even a digger, which caused much excitement, and our lovely Luminance Pro installers did a great job of keeping the disruption to an absolute minimum and cleaning up afterwards. They even pressure washed the path to the club, which hasn't looked as good in years!
For the other six courts, we were able to re-use the existing posts, and just switch out the fittings at the top. Getting the old ones down was a big job and predictably co-incided with incredibly windy weather. Some folk were worried for the guys up their scaffolding tower and asked if they were frightened, but they told us 'No, we are professionals', which they very clearly were.
The old lighting units were large and heavy and were very interesting to see up close, with their huge halogen bulbs. Plenty of fossilised insects too and the odd ball impaled on the bird spikes. It's good to know that all our old units will be recycled.
The new units are far more streamlined, with arrays of teeny LED lights in each unit.
Each of the new units needed to be wired in and also have some bird protection spikes installed, as we know how insistent our pigeon neighbours can be.
And then Uri took up residence, with his head in the cupboard of the clubhouse, to sort out the internal electrical wiring and switches. He very gracefully put up with our members using the kitchen around him and generally making lots of noise when I'm sure he was trying to concentrate. But he did like ladies midweek match days, because they came with cake!
Fittingly, the first glimpse of the new lights working came against a leaden and wintery sky and it was immediately clear what a great asset they were going to be.
There are a few minor details being ironed out - we definitely need to trim the overhanging greenery again. Chris and Phil managed to make some headway, but it is clear that we are going to have to tackle it with some better access than a ladder.
And we had to convince some people that the scary 230V warning stickers were purely precautionary...
We owe a debt of gratitude to Tennis Oxfordshire, who have given us an interest-free loan for a portion of the cost of the floodlights and also Abingdon Town Council for their grant in support of the project. It is fantastic that all eight courts will now be floodlit - it really improves availability of courts in the evenings and we estimate that the cost of running the lighting on all 8 courts will be roughly half of what it was for the 6 previously halogen-floodlit ones.
So the last remaining task is to get down and play after dark so you can test them out! We are having a "Big switch-on" on Thursday 22nd at 7pm. Please do join us for a glass of bubbly and a game or two under the new lights.
