Ortus Energy Greenest Ground 2023 winner: Corbridge scoop prize for environmental commitments

Corbridge were our judges' unanimous choice as the 2023 winner of The Cricketer's Greenest Ground competition, and will receive £500 courtesy of sponsors Ortus Energy

When Corbridge CC chair John Maude picks up the phone, he's been collecting apples in his garden. Later, he'll take them to the club, ready for an apple pressing weekend – where volunteers will make cider and juice to raise money for the local youth club and care home. 

It feels a serendipitous moment to break the news that Corbridge are our judges' unanimous choice as the 2023 winner of The Cricketer's Greenest Ground competition, and will receive £500 courtesy of sponsors Ortus Energy.  

From an impressive set of entries, Corbridge stood out because of the breadth of their efforts, from installing solar panels and then timer switches so that electrical appliances charge from the panels, to replacing fridges with energy efficient models, installing a rainwater harvesting system, improving recycling and determinedly leaving areas of the ground messy for nature. 

"It's exciting to see so much great work in this space," said sports ecologist Maddy Orr – one of our judges alongside naturalist Mark Cocker, Russell Seymour, the chair of Basis, and writer Roger Morgan-Grenville. "Some clubs are further into the journey compared to others, but the momentum is growing.

^{Corbridge are the 2023 winners of the Ortus Energy Greenest Ground award [supplied]}

"Corbridge stood apart for the thoughtfulness of their plan, which considers both biodiversity and emissions in the way they manage their grounds and facilities, and aligns with best practice detailed in the Sports for Climate Action Framework and the Sports for Nature Framework." 

Corbridge sits on the banks of the Tyne, 19 miles west of Newcastle. Maude has been the chairman of the club for eight years, a member since 1978, and has seen the climate changing in front of him. 

"Exactly what the scientists said was going to happen, is happening. We're having many more violent storms than we used to, and long dry spells nearly every year – this year it was from May 11 to the end of June – which in the north east is extraordinary." 

The club's first step into trying to be more sustainable came in 2013, when someone suggested that they put solar panels on the roof of their new changing room extension.  

"Then in 2015 we were flooded when Storm Desmond hit," remembers Maude. "We are the other side of the floodbank to the river but the Tyne rose dramatically and came over the bank, which was a bit of a shock to everybody. The water was four feet deep across the ground. I wouldn't say that it was a blinding moment, but we began to think about the environment, floods and climate change more than we had." 

The pavilion was rebuilt – this time raised off the ground - thanks to funding and flood resilience advice from the ECB and local charities. In fact, Maude is full of praise for the ECB, "they were fantastic" and their county grants fund – where clubs can apply for help in tackling climate change, including flood and drought resilience.  

The club went on to install a large underground water tank, and an electric pump that lets them draw water out of the Tyne and use untreated water for watering the square, as well as investing in more recycling bins. 

Importantly, the energy generated from the solar panels, and which powers the showers and the bar's fridges, helps the club save money. "Cricket is very helpful in that respect," says Maude, "because it happens during sunlight hours." 

A more left-field move is the club's investment in a scythe - so members can cut grass using only human power – but Corbridge is also leaving unmanicured areas around the edge of the ground, resulting in some beautiful wild flowers. It isn't to everyone's taste, and results in a few lost balls, but that seems a small price to pay after the 2023 State of Nature report confirmed that UK wildlife is continuing to decline, with more than one in six of species assessed at risk of extinction,  The one bit of good news is that it is possible to reverse biodiversity loss, and the chair of Natural England Tony Juniper called for "every sector of society" to play a role. 

There are plans for the future: going electric with the square machinery, and installing solar panels as part of the new nets project. They'd also like to use their grass cuttings more effectively for compost and reduce dependency on chemical fertilisers – though this is something Maude would like advice on: "sometimes you can do the wrong thing by mistake."  

As the news on the climate crisis gets ever worse, Corbridge's efforts are a shining light.