Map 22

The Gates to the Farrer Field

It is not currently clear when the gates on the Farrer Field were first made and hung. As Keith Simpson (OMA) wrote in 2024 “these gates have, as long as I can remember (at least since 1972), graced the entrance to the Farrer Field and have stood proudly at the entrance to our beautiful playing fields.”  

The picture below is from 2019 (taken from Google Streetview – so unfortunately a low resolution image). However, what is clear is that the gates were already starting to rust quite heavily.  Sadly, funding in education rarely stretches to the maintenance and repair of decorative iron gates – the gates were perhaps symbolic of the state of funding and how stretched schools’ finances had become.

 

The image below shows specific areas of the gate that had clearly seen better days.

At the start of October 2023, when work began on the Firminger Field; the school’s new Astroturf on the Peto Field, the iron gates and their pillars were taken down in order to facilitate the large plant machinery that needed to gain access to the site. The gates were stored behind the pavilion.

 

Renovating the Farrer Field Gates 

In December 2023, the first conversations took place between the OMA and the school; in particular Andy Roberts, the Estates Manager who would go on to manage the project on behalf of the school.  At the OMA Committee meeting on January 15 2024, the newest co-opted OMA Committee member, Cinzia Cocca (2008-2015), offered to ask her father if he would help with renovation and at the end of January, Director Marco Carlotti of Stevens & Carlotti Ltd, agreed to fix the gates for free – an incredibly generous offer.

 

At the beginning of February the gates were sent to Stevens and Carlotti and Luigi Cocca, father of OM Cinzia Cocca, started an amazing job renovating and rebuilding the gates.

Once the existing paintwork was stripped away, the state of the ironwork became clear, as can be seen in the picture below. Luigi spent many hours of his own time bringing the gates back to their former glory.

 

The extensive repairs can be seen in silver; before the gates were repainted.

 

At the same time, a group of sixth formers led by Eleanor Morgan (2017-2024), repainted the school’s crest onto the badges on the gate. In May those newly painted badges and gates were reunited at Manwood’s on Founder’s Day. Luigi Cocca (below) cut the ribbon on the “as good as new” gates.

In the meantime, the pillars on which the gates had hung were rebuilt and the decorative balls were repaired and replaced.

 

The gates returned to their rightful place at the entrance to the Farrer field on their new pillars on 26 September 2024.

 

While the demise of the gates might have been symbolic of the state of school funding, their repair is also a sign of what can be achieved when people with the right skills and ambition, come together. On this occasion, the relationship between the OMA, the school and OMs delivered an amazing result.

In Keith Simpson’s words from 2024 “On behalf of the School and OMA we would like to thank OMs Marco and Sandro Carlotti, and Luigi Cocca, of Stevens and Carlotti; the team of sixth formers who repainted the shields; and, Andy Roberts, the school’s Estates Manager and his team, for all their running around and managing this project.”

Sources and acknowledgements: The article was written by Keith Simpson, after the gates had been refurbished in 2024. Photos have been taken from the OM Facebook page.