For Mike Powles and his team of six volunteer grounds staff at Walsham Le Willows Sports Club, the aim of their maintenance is simple: to keep the surfaces in the best possible condition all year round. That task is now much easier thanks to the purchase of a Deep Tine Aerator (DTA) and Combislit from GKB Machines – allowing the club to maintain consistently high-quality pitches, without reliance on external contractors.
Located in the heart of Suffolk the club is a hive of activity, with 24 football teams and eight cricket teams just a few of those making the most of the multi-sport facilities. While the team of volunteers can keep on top of the regular grass cutting and general site maintenance, historically, they relied on contractors to aerate the pitches twice a year. However, as Mike explains, this approach came with challenges. “Contractor availability rarely aligned with our schedule or the ideal ground conditions which meant that costs quickly mounted, but the results weren’t always as we’d hope.”
Looking for a more flexible and cost-effective solution, Mike attended SALTEX, where he said the GKB Deep Tine Aerator (DTA) stood out straight away. “It looked solid and strong. You could tell it was built to last.” Despite torrential rain on demo day, the results were evident – leading to the purchase of a 1.6m model via Ernest Doe close to two years ago.
“We now have full control over where and when we aerate. If conditions are good, we get it on the back of the tractor and away we go” he says. “It’s lovely and straight forward to operate which is important for us as a volunteer team and has meant we’ve been able to get the DTA out more often which is paying dividend in terms of surface quality.”
Impressed by the performance of the DTA, the club returned to Ernest Doe earlier in 2025 to add a GKB Combislit to their fleet. “We attended a GMA event where the pitch advisor suggested we look at a slitter and, because the DTA has worked so well, we only looked at GKB.”
Together, the DTA and Combislit now give Walsham Le Willows year-round options for aeration, whether the upper surface needs opening or for when deeper penetration is required. Mike adds, “We’ve always been impressed with the service from Ernest Does, particularly Adrian Kersey who has been our point of contact for the last eight years. His support, together with that of GKB’s Tom Shinkins has got us up and running and, going into winter, the pitches have never looked better!”
Source Elena Cossar, PANPR
