The skilled and painstaking work that goes into creating Brunton Park’s renowned pitch has been captured in a new video.

Carlisle United’s award-winning groundsman David Mitchell describes the process of renovating the Blues’ playing surface over the summer.

United have produced an official 20-minute documentary charting the work done from the end of last season to the approach of the new campaign.

It sees Mitchell, who has won a number of accolades over the years, shed fascinating light on the process of creating United's impeccable pitch.

It also offers a rare glimpse of the undersoil heating pipes which were installed beneath the pitch back in 2006 but have never been used.

The video was the idea of Mitchell and media officer Amy Nixon, who put the video diary together.

They came up with the idea after Mitchell had watched a gardening programme which had gone into detail about different methods of looking after domestic gardens.

He said: “It came about from a simple idea and, if you pardon the pun, it grew from there.

“Amy has done all the hard work, and made it make sense, and we’re both really pleased with the end product.”

Hundreds of fans have watched the film and given positive feedback to the club.

Amy Nixon added: “It’s a project we really enjoyed and it was fascinating to work with Dave and his team as they went through the process of renovating the pitch over the last few months.

“It’s good to see that fans are enjoying watching the video and the insight Dave has given us.”

The video diary begins after the end of the 2020/21 season as Mitchell describes the process of removing “10mm of leftover organic rubbish” from the pitch.

One clip shows the groundsman dig out an area of the pitch showing the upper and lower root zones.

This also gives fans a glimpse at the “elusive” undersoil heating pipes which are attached to a metal frame beneath the pitch.

News and Star: Mitchell shows the undersoil heating pipes beneath the surface at Brunton Park (screengrab from club YouTube video)Mitchell shows the undersoil heating pipes beneath the surface at Brunton Park (screengrab from club YouTube video)

Mitchell goes on to explain how the top four inches in the upper root zone are renovated, including the introduction of micronutrients and lime to change the acidity level.

Some 87 tonnes of fibre sand, delivered from Nottinghamshire, is mixed into the 7,900 square metre surface, along with 1.2m tonnes of lime.

The video also shows the sowing of new grass seed, which germinated after just five days, followed by the regular cutting and application of fertiliser.

It was calculated that Mitchell and his colleagues covered 6.89 miles across the pitch and similar distance up and down the surface during their cutting duties.

The video concludes with Mitchell marking white lines and installing corner flags in the newly pristine surface.

“We’re really pleased overall with the way things have gone,” he said of the two-month process.

United’s media officer Andy Hall added: “Dave and Amy worked together on the project, staring when the last ball had been kicked, and produced what we feel is an excellent diary and well worth a watch.”

Mitchell has been named groundsman of the year on a number of occasions since starting at Brunton Park back in 2005. The Blues were highly commended in the League Two awards last season.