{{Short description|Artificial sports and building surface}}
'''Redgra''', sometimes styled as '''RedGra''', '''Red-Gra''', or generically as '''redgra''', is the brand name of an all-weather surfacing material primarily composed of red clay and fine limestone gravel. It is used on baseball diamonds,<ref name="carroll">{{cite web |url=https://www.patrickcarroll.co.uk/a-diamond-on-a-hilltop/ |title=A Diamond on a Hilltop |date=23 September 2011 |access-date=28 April 2023 |first=Patrick |last=Carroll |work=Notes of a Footnote |quote=The areas denuded of grass were then covered with several inches of RedGra. This material, for those unacquainted with it, is a mixture of sand and fine gravel. The nearest thing I could locate to proper clay was pulverized brick dust, which was quoted to me at over £1,000 per tonne. RedGra was good enough, although one needed to be pretty Pete Rose-style gung-ho to slide on it.}}</ref> running tracks<ref name="leek">{{cite news |url=https://www.timesechoandlife.co.uk/improved-facilities-on-track-at-birchall/ |title=Improved facilities on track at Birchall |date=10 November 2022 |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=Leek Morelands Echo}}</ref> and long jump run-ups, and hard-surface association football, netball, cricket, and field hockey pitches in the United Kingdom.
== History == Outdoor field hockey in the United Kingdom during the 1910s and 1920s often relied on heavy clay surfaces that were unplayable after heavy rain or under frost. Teams would fall back to more durable, but harsher, tarmac surfaces.<ref name="och-1"/>
To address this, tennis court contractors Grimshaw Sports developed Redgra in 1959 by adapting the company's existing mix used for tennis courts. The limestone and clay were sourced from the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The material was designed for the United Kingdom's first all-weather outdoor field hockey pitches.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.grimshawconstruction.co.uk/post/decades-of-construction |title=Celebrating Decades of Construction |date=1 April 2021 |access-date=28 April 2023 |publisher=Grimshaw Construction}}</ref> One of the first academic applications was opened on 4 March 1961 at Dean Close School under the recommendation of Olympic field hockey bronze medalist Denys Carnill for the school's field hockey team.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://issuu.com/dean_close_school/docs/flecker_2016 |title=Denys Carnill |magazine=The Flecker |issue=2 |date=Summer 2016 |publication-date=17 August 2016 |access-date=28 April 2023 |publisher=Dean Close School |page=44}}</ref> A Redgra area was opened in October 1961 at the site of Harlow Sportcentre, which was completed in 1964.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sportsleisurelegacy.co.uk/chapter-2-first-flush-of-centres/ |title=Chapter 2: The first wave of centres |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=The Sports Leisure Legacy Project |first1=Gerry |last1=Carver |first2=David |last2=Fisher}}</ref> In 1964, the Crystal Palace National Recreation Centre included a Redgra training area and separate football practice pitch.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://nuts.org.uk/scans/AAAClubNewsletter/1964_Issue13.pdf |magazine=A.A.A. Club Newsletter |issue=13 |date=May 1964 |page=15 |title=Crystal Palace Almost Ready |first=Emlyn |last=Jones |quote=The ''Redgra'' warm-up area for athletics and a practise pitch (100 yds. x 50 yds.) in the same material add yet another vivid splash of colour to the scheme.}}</ref>
Redgra also saw use in other pavement applications, such as garden paths<ref name="monty">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2000/oct/08/gardens |title=Up the garden path |first=Monty |last=Don |author-link=Monty Don |work=The Guardian |date=8 October 2000 |access-date=28 April 2023 |quote= Our final paths, in the Jewel garden, are topped with a material called Redgra. This is a kind of pink sand with an element of clay that binds it solid when laid. You prepare the path with hardcore and a layer of scalpings, then spread a thin layer of this binding surface which you bang in with a whacker plate. It goes on almost as sand, but after 24 hours it is pretty solid. It is much cheaper and easier to lay than paving or brick, but if it doesn't have really sharp drainage it can get almost muddy in very wet weather and has less integral character.}}</ref> and car parks.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/06/20/row-over-wellington-new-college-car-park-plans/ |title=Row over Wellington New College car park plans |date=20 June 2011 |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=Shropshire Star |first=Simon |last=Hardy}}</ref>
== Properties == Redgra can be applied similarly to sand, binds itself when wet and compacted, and solidifies after 24 hours.<ref name="monty"/> As a sports surface, Redgra allowed for year-round use with minimal maintenance in academic and practice settings, and allowed for multi-sport use as tennis courts. Its natural components were inexpensive and simple to install. A Redgra field hockey pitch installed at Cranleigh School and opened on 1 February 1968 cost £4,500 for materials and lasted until 2005. The resulting surface was porous, allowing for easy drainage, and frost-resistant.<ref name="och-1">{{cite web |url=https://www.ochockeyclub.org/2018/01/half-century-weather-hockey/ |title=HALF A CENTURY OF ALL-WEATHER HOCKEY |date=31 January 2018 |access-date=28 April 2023 |publisher=Old Cranleighan Hockey Club}}</ref><ref name="tg-1968">{{cite news |work=The Guardian |date=2 February 1968 |page=20 |first=Pat |last=Ward-Thomas |title=New pitch should produce fine players |access-date=28 April 2023 |url=https://theguardian.newspapers.com/image/259734187}}</ref> Pat Ward-Thomas, a writer for ''The Guardian'', noted that contemporary surfaces often failed to provide smooth, precise, and predictable ball movement but praised the Redgra pitch's performance.<ref name="tg-1968"/>
While competitive teams still often favored playing on well-maintained grass surfaces, Redgra surfaces sometimes substituted when rain or poor maintenance made grass unsuitable.<ref name="tg-1979">{{cite news |work=The Guardian |date=29 December 1979 |page=20 |title=Surrey take the lead |access-date=28 April 2023 |url=https://theguardian.newspapers.com/image/260629878}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=The Guardian |date=19 December 1978 |page=17 |title=Shorn pitch angers West Indies}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.phcchiswick.com/history-of-the-club.html |title=125+ YEARS OF HISTORY |publisher=PHC Chiswick |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref>
Redgra also saw use in playground football, youth clubs, and some women's<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002527/19911120/561/0076 |title=Vital Victory for Crawley |date=20 November 1991 |work=Crawley News |page=76 |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> and lower-tier men's<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000379/19930121/584/0072 |title=Telford 4th XI vs. Litchfield 4th XI |date=21 January 1993 |work=Lichfield Mercury |page=72 |access-date=28 April 2023 |quote=LICHFIELD 4th XI travelled to Telford and despite a difficult game on a redgra pitch managed to find the winning way again.}}</ref> football clubs into the 1990s. The first training pitch for Chelsea Ladies F.C. in 1992, then composed mostly of under-18 players, was a Redgra surface at a community college near Feltham.<ref name="ath-2020">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1803292/2020/05/11/chelsea-women-emma-hayes-stoney-wsl-fa-cup/ |title=Making Chelsea Women: spotting superstars, stellar signings and ruthless Hayes |date=10 May 2020 |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=The Athletic |first=Liam |last=Twomey}}</ref>
=== Drawbacks === Even upon its unveiling, Redgra was considered adequate for training surfaces but questionable as a full-time competitive surface.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000653/19590124/075/0005 |title=Give me turf any time! |date=24 January 1959 |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=Sports Argus |first=Peter |last=McFarland |page=5 |quote=People are now suggesting that League clubs should play on Red-gra all-weather pitches, such as the one we have been using at Lilleshall. But I don't relish the thought. Make no mistake, these pitches in fact are ideal for training, but not, I fancy, for League warfare.}}</ref> Redgra has a reputation for causing abrasions and splinters when sliding on it compared to grass,<ref name="och-1"/><ref name="tel-2014">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/hockey/10749736/Hockey-club-focus-Berkhamsted-parents-catch-playing-bug-as-Olympics-sees-girls-numbers-increase.html |title=Hockey club focus: Berkhamsted parents catch playing bug as Olympics sees girls' numbers increase |date=7 April 2014 |work=The Daily Telegraph |first=Ben |last=Moorhouse |quote=I started on grass pitches and then played the old shale/Redgra pitches until I was 18. I've still got all the scars on my fingers and knees which I carry with pride.}}</ref> and its hardness contributed to injuries when falling on it. When dry, the surface generated considerable amounts of red dust.<ref>{{cite news |title=LADIES ON TOP FORM |date=4 July 1975 |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=Coleshill Chronicle |page=13 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003369/19750704/133/0013 |quote=Two of the Temworth players had falls on the extremely dry and dusty Woodhouse redgra pitch. Sue Chappell, who scored a brilliant goal in an earlier game, fell heavily in her last match and was taken off.}}</ref> The surface could become alternately sticky and slippery in frosty conditions,<ref>{{cite news |title=Bretforton best to beat Dursley |work=Stratford-upon-Avon Herald |date=28 November 1996 |page=30 |access-date=28 April 2023 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004779/19961128/332/0030}}</ref> and if improperly drained could become muddy.<ref name="monty"/>
== Replacement == Since the 1990s, many Redgra installations for field hockey and association football have been supplanted by newer all-weather surfaces, such as artificial turf, that are more similar to natural grass or have impact-cushioning layers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ochockeyclub.org/2018/01/half-century-weather-hockey/19-2/ |title=AN INVITATIONAL XI TAKE ON CRANLEIGH SCORPIANS IN THE OPENING MATCH ON FEBRUARY 1, 1968 |date=31 January 2018 |access-date=28 April 2023 |publisher=Old Cranleighan Hockey Club}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A momentous year for Eastcote hockey |work=Harefield Gazette |date=18 June 1997 |page=66 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002526/19970618/455/0066 |access-date=28 April 2023 |quote=The Redgra pitch was laid some 25 years ago and at the time was the very latest, state-of-the-art, playing surface. Now it has been replaced by the Astro, which is expected to last ten years.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk/health-club-management-news/Leisure-trust-wins-new-local-authority-contract/251923 |title=Leisure trust wins new local authority contract |date=4 April 2011 |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=Health Club Management |first=Tim |last=Nash}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/stoke-trent-school-wants-six-7590287 |title=This Stoke-on-Trent school wants six floodlights for new pitch |date=23 September 2022 |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=Stoke-on-Trent Live |first=Phil |last=Corrigan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/6945127.project-pitches-for-millennium/ |title=Project pitches for Millennium |date=5 December 1998 |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=The Westmoreland Gazette}}</ref> However, it remains in use for public recreation tracks.<ref name="leek"/>
While an artificial surface, Redgra's natural components don't present the same concerns to landfills upon disposal as rubber or other synthetic surfaces.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://sapca.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SAPCA_Code_of_Practice_Construction_Maintenance_Synthetic_Turf_01.pdf |title=3.2.2 Dealing with the Existing Surface |work=The SAPCA Code of Practice for the Construction and Maintenance of Synthetic Turf Sports Pitches |page=49 |publisher=Sports and Play Construction Association |date=January 2009 |isbn=9781907391019}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Pavements Category:Limestone Category:Clay Category:Playing field surfaces Category:Tennis court surfaces