East Grinstead RFC Purchases First Iseki TLE4490 in Europe

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East Grinstead RFC Purchases First Iseki TLE4490 in Europe: East Grinstead Rugby Football Club located in West Sussex has taken delivery of the first Iseki TLE4490 tractor sold in Europe. The tractor was delivered by local Iseki dealer, Yeowart Agricultural Ltd.

East Grinstead RFC Purchases First Iseki TLE4490 in Europe

The new tractor will be used to manage and maintain three full-size pitches covering a total of 14 acres. The pitches at EGRFC are home to a total of 17 teams; three senior teams, one veteran team, six intermediate teams (U13-U18), and seven junior teams (U6-U12).

Chairman of EGRFC Bob Marsh is responsible for the operational management of the club as a business. He commented on the recent investment,

“The TLE4490 provides us with the capability to manage all of our own land. We are now able to mow, verti-drain and aerate our pitches without the need for dedicated machines for each job. The tractor provides us with the flexibility to hire in other equipment or attachments using our own power source.

The Iseki TLE4490 is part of the wider TLE series of compact tractors from Iseki. It features a 46hp water-cooled diesel engine and utilises an 8Fx8R mechanical drive transmission system. Three-point linkage with 1200kg lift capacity and one double-acting hydraulic service are equipped as standard, and the option of turf or agricultural tyres is provided.

“It’s what I like to call “a proper tractor.” It’s powerful, intuitive and easy-to-use, and most of all, it’s a simple tractor that is effective at doing the job that is required of it. The selectable 4WD and independent rear PTO is particularly useful; it provides us with the manoeuvrability that we need, and the power to complete heavy tasks with ease. We are delighted to be the first recipients in Europe of this fantastic machine, but I have no doubt that rugby clubs around the country will be opting for an Iseki tractor when they try one for themselves.”

East Grinstead Rugby Football Club was founded in 1929 by Brian Desmond, and the current clubhouse located at Saint Hill was built in 1997. Since the 1950s, the club has hosted an annual rugby sevens tournament “Sunshine Sevens” which has raised in the region of £250,000 for several children’s charities.

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Leeds line up with Pitchmark

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Leeds line up with Pitchmark: Leeds United Football Club’s groundscare team have been using Pitchmark Ecoline+ line marking paint since 2015 and are currently adding a fourth Eco Club spray line marking machine to their kit. Ecoline+ is one of the most advanced low volume ready-to-use marking paints available.

Leeds line up with Pitchmark

When used in combination with Pitchmark’s Eco markers and special nozzles, the atomising technology allows you to mark a football pitch with as little as 1.5 litres. Kiel Barrett, Leeds United’s’ Head Groundsman, and his team use Ecoline+ in the Elland Road stadium and across all eight First Team training grounds and Academy pitches.

“What we were looking for was supreme quality in our marking paint,” says Kiel, “we want the brightest and it has to be quick drying but also very cost-effective.” With these criteria laid down Kiel had a demonstration by Pitchmark in 2015 and was immediately impressed with the results, putting his order in to one of their dealers, Countrywide Turf and Amenity. He says he is also very pleased with the high level of service and support he gets from Pitchmark and equally praises the consistency of the product.

Ecoline+ is manufactured using the best pigments on the market combined with advanced binders to make the paint extremely bright and durable. At the same time it is a water-based, biodegradable and environmentally-friendly product.

In the busy Leeds United groundscare schedule Kiel wanted the paint to be quick drying so they can be watering as soon as possible after application. They use Eco Club battery-powered spray line markers to achieve the most accurate lines without ghosting and find the machines straightforward to use and easy to maintain.

“On match days the speed at which we work relies heavily on the quality we get with the Pitchmark system,” adds Kiel, “we made the right choice and I would recommend it to anyone.”

Used at top level professional sport the Pitchmark results are seen every week on TV across the best leagues in the world and Ecoline+ was the paint of choice for every stadium at FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014™ and UEFA EURO 2016 France™.

Pitchmark is a British company based in Bristol +44 (0)1454 776666 www.pitchmark.com

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Limagrain’s MM range is rapid at King’s Bruton

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Limagrain’s MM range is rapid at King’s Bruton: Adrian Davis, head groundsman at King’s Bruton School in Somerset, has reported remarkable germination speed and recovery rates from Limagrain’s leading MM range of grass seed mixtures.

Limagrain’s MM range is rapid at King’s Bruton

In 1519, three eminent people born in Bruton, Richard Fitzjames – Bishop of London, Sir John Fitzjames, later to become Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, and Dr John Edmundes – Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, established a new school in the town. Nearly five hundred years later, and still on the same site, the school is soon set to celebrate its quincentenary.

This unique school, which hosts 347 pupils, may be small in size but is big on education – in which every individual pupil is given an opportunity to flourish.

Sport plays a huge part in the life of all pupils at King’s Bruton. The school’s hockey teams have reached ten National Finals in the last five years with the Under 16 girls winning the English Schools National Indoor Hockey Championships in 2017, while the rugby 1st XV were unbeaten throughout the season.

Overseeing the safety and the quality of the school’s sporting facilities is head groundsman Adrian Davies, who has been in his role for nineteen years. Adrian works in a team of five, with two team members tending to the school’s impressive gardens while three manage the sports fields.

Cricket and rugby are the two sports that dominate the playing time on the school’s sports fields and throughout the year fifty-four home cricket matches are played over the summer while up to seventy rugby games take place throughout the winter period.

“Switching from rugby to cricket and then back from cricket to rugby can be challenging,” admits Adrian. “We start around mid-April for cricket and that runs through until the start of August – at which time gives us a window to start preparing for rugby – that’s normally about four weeks of growth.

“I have always used Limagrain’s MM seed. I have tried others but MM just seems to suit my type of soils here and I think it is the best out there.”

Limagrain’s MM range is rapid at King’s Bruton

Limagrain UK’s MM range of grass seed mixtures is one of the most respected brands in the UK amenity industry and its mixtures are relied upon at many leading sporting venues in the UK and Europe. Adrian relies on MM50 for his cricket squares and MM60 for his rugby pitches. He also uses MM60 on his cricket outfields and MM16 on the school’s ornamental lawns.

“I do an overseeding programme in early April, prior to the cricket season, and obviously your governed by weather but it gives me great results every time – I’m known to have outfields like carpets.

“After overseeding all the outfields, we will be up and ready for September, and then we do another seeding programme in late March. I’ve always got a really established sward by September which takes me through a really busy fourteen week rugby period – where they are played on four or five times a week.

As Adrian says, the MM mixtures have the added bonus of being treated with Headstart® GOLD. This user friendly, non-toxic treatment can help your grass get off to a great start and is perfect for enhancing performance on grass seed coatings for sports fields, golf courses, lawns and amenity turf.

Adrian also believes that the service he receives from Limagrain simply adds to the overall package.

“I like the fact that the company are not pushy whatsoever in trying to sell me products and I have built up a great relationship with them. They are always around when I need them and I get excellent back-up. This is of course fantastic but ultimately I buy Limagrain seed because it is a good product and it works for me.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.limagrain.co.uk

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Driving The Distance For Dementia

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Driving the distance for dementia: HMP Kirkham prison officer Andy Maxfield from Inskip in Lancashire is finalising plans to set a brand new Guinness World Record by driving from John O’Groats to Land’s End on a John Deere lawn tractor, while raising money for Alzheimer’s Society.

Driving The Distance For Dementia

The ‘Driving the Distance for Dementia’ Challenge is now due to set off from John O’Groats at 8am on Tuesday 25th July 2017; the signposted distance to Land’s End is 874 miles. The planned route goes past the Maxfield family home, where Andy spends much of his spare time cutting the grass in public open spaces around the village.

Since changes were made to the original plans in order to meet Guinness’ stipulations for the record, which has not been attempted before with an unmodified lawn tractor, Andy is still hoping to complete the distance in less than five days on his own. He has recently been promoting the challenge at shows and events in the north of England, starting with a visit to his beloved Blackburn Rovers FC – see the club’s video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2hyoHbP5j8&feature=youtu.be – and including this month’s Great Yorkshire Show.

The current route (see attached map) takes him through north-east Scotland to Inverness, then mostly through central Scotland to Lockerbie. From here the route follows north-west England via Carlisle and Preston, and onwards along the English/Welsh border via Shrewsbury and Gloucester to Bristol. The final stretch runs down through Taunton and Bodmin to Land’s End.

Andy Maxfield will now be using a 24hp X750 lawn tractor and accompanied by support vehicles provided by John Deere. The X750 has power steering, cruise control and a top road speed of around 10mph, and it will be specially equipped with John Deere’s JDLink remote monitoring system to help provide evidence of the completed journey to Guinness World Records. Andy will also be supported on the journey by his wife Karen and their daughters Kathryn and Kaitlyn.

Andy’s 77 year old father James and James’ mother Theresa were both diagnosed with dementia, which prompted Andy to start seriously fundraising for the charity in January this year. “Initially I had the idea of a fundraising ball to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society, which will be held in Preston in December,” he says.

“After that, because friends and neighbours often take the mickey out of me for being into lawnmowers – I’ve got eight altogether for cutting the grass around the village – I just thought it would be appropriate to try for the world record for driving a lawn tractor the length of Britain. I asked John Deere, although I don’t have one of their mowers at home, as I know they make quality products and I wanted something to get me from A to B without breaking down!”

John Deere Limited turf division manager Chris Meacock adds: “Our UK and Ireland employees select a specific charity each year to support with a variety of fundraising activities. By coincidence we had chosen Alzheimer’s Society when we were approached by Andy Maxfield to help with the Guinness World Record attempt, so it was very good timing on his part!

“We are delighted to back this very worthy cause and are looking forward to the challenge. In addition to providing the X750 for ‘Driving the Distance for Dementia’, we have offered Andy a new X350R lawn tractor worth over £5000 as a special raffle prize for the family’s charity ball.” The ball will take place at Preston Masonic Hall on Saturday December 9th.

Sue Swire, regional community fundraising officer for Alzheimer’s Society in Lancashire, says: “It’s wonderful that Andy is taking on such a great challenge to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society to unite against dementia, and we are really grateful. Funds raised from the challenge will help us move a step closer to a world without dementia – dementia devastates lives, but dementia won’t win.”

Andy Maxfield’s charity ball has a JustGiving website page for donations at www.justgiving.com/andrew-maxfield, with the total already standing at over £2200 in early July; donations can also be made by texting MAXF80 £3 to 70070. More information on the ball and the challenge are available at www.facebook.com/ForgetMeNotPreston, and by following Andy on Twitter @AndyMax69.

Alzheimer’s Society is available for anyone affected by dementia and there are lots of ways the charity can help – for details call the National Dementia Helpline on 0300 222 1122 or visit www.alzheimers.org.uk.

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Stuart Higley Wins Oxfordshire FA County Groundsman Of The Year 

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Woodcote Stoke Row Football Club’s long-serving groundsman Stuart Higley has been names as the Oxfordshire FA’s Groundsman of the Year.

Stuart Higley Wins Oxfordshire FA County Groundsman Of The Year 

Higley, who lives in Croft Way, has been with Woodcote since he started as a player in 1970 and his unstinting voluntary efforts have seen the pitch improve year on year to become in the words of the awards brochure, ‘one of the best pitches to play on in the county’.

He can often be seen tending his beloved pitch and the close-season work he carries out single-handed ensures the pitch is in tip-top condition for the next season.

Higley was presented with a plaque and certificate by guest-of-honour, Tony Cottee, the former West Ham and England striker.

Speaking after the ceremony, Higley paid tribute to his small band of helpers who turn up every week in the season to assist him.

He was nominated for the award by club chairman, Pete McAlister, who was fulsome in his praise for the transformation of the pitch in the last 15 years.

Higley only realised he had been nominated when he received a call from Andy Gray, head groundsman at Southampton FC, asking if he could come and look at the pitch.

He met Gray on the pitch and a recommendation from the Saints’ groundsman saw Higley scoop the award. In winning the gong, Higley was in competition with groundsmen at some semi-professional grounds who have access to a lot of motorised equipment, while his work is done by hand.

To read the original article from Reading Chronicle, click here

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