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Celebrating Public Parks

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Celebrating Public Parks And Revaluing Their Contribution To Community Health And Wellbeing

  • National Have a Field Day 8th July  to demonstrate public support for parks 
  • Visit your local park this weekend – you’ll feel happier anCelebrating Public Parks And Revaluing Their Contribution To Community Health And Wellbeingd healthier as a result 

Have a Field Day on Saturday 8th July is a celebration of the UK’s parks and green spaces. Charity, Fields in Trust is working with local communities to demonstrate the many ways we value our parks. From carnivals, sports competitions, musical performances and community picnics, thousands of people will be attending hundreds of events in local parks across the country which showcases exactly how much we love our local parks and green spaces.

Fields in Trust, the charity behind Have a Field Day, was founded on July 8th, back in 1925 with a clear aim to ensure that everyone – young or old, able or disabled and wherever they live – should have access to free, local outdoor space for sport, play and recreation. However, financial pressure on local authorities means that our parks and green spaces are increasingly under threat and many could be lost forever to building and redevelopment.

The recent Communities and Local Government Parliamentary Inquiry reported on the public benefit that parks contribute to preventative public health, mental well-being and community cohesion; yet parks could still be lost to building development as they are not a statutory service for local authorities. Funding cuts mean green spaces are less well maintained and they are under threat due to pressure on land for housing and retail developments. Nearly 92% of local authority parks departments have experienced budget cuts in the past three years. This is in the face of three-quarters of park managers reporting increased visitor numbers (State of UK Public Parks 2016).

New research for Fields in Trust indicates that more trips to more parks more often is good for the health and wellbeing of the UK. Visiting every day produces the highest wellbeing scores but our new research suggests the optimum use of green space is at least once a week as this gives us 65% of the health and wellbeing benefits rated across the four Office of National Statistics indicators. The completion of this research will identify a robust economic and monetary value for these health benefits in order to make the case to local councils and governments to maintain our parks.

But health and economic value aside, deep down we all know that parks and green spaces are incredibly valuable and that’s why across the UK communities are coming together at Have a Field Day events to showcase the many ways parks are enjoyed by local communities. For example, Birkenhead Park, the first publicly-funded civic park in the world, is launching a new family programme; several parkrun volunteers are recognising the importance of their local park for running; in Wales thousands will attend a community carnival in Pontypool Park; The winner of the UK’s Best Park Award 2016, Rouken Glen, near Glasgow, is hosting Children’s Nature Activities allowing youngsters to explore water beasties. And a series of neighbourhood picnics have been organised by members of the 38 Degrees campaign group who are also completing a petition asking councils to protect these much-loved community spaces. On Wimbledon’s middle weekend community tennis is being celebrated in Bounds Green, north London, where there is also football training and an Australian Rules football tournament.

Fields in Trust Ambassador, author Bill Bryson said: “Britain has the comeliest, most enchanting, abundant and often venerable parks and green spaces of any country I know. Wherever you are, you are never more than a few minutes from woods, greensward and fresh air.  How splendid is that?  I am delighted to see them celebrated by Fields in Trust.”

Fields in Trust Chief Executive, Helen Griffiths, said “Our parks and playing fields are used by whole communities from pre-schoolers to retired adults.  Research helps us understand how a local park can contribute to its neighbourhood but the real value of a green space is determined by the local community who use it for play, sport and recreation. Each of the thousands of parks playing fields and playgrounds across the UK is valuable to the neighbourhood that it serves. Fields in Trust believe we should re-value our green spaces as resources which contribute to public health, mental wellbeing and community cohesion, not simply view them as a drain on council finances for upkeep. If you Love Your Local Park we encourage you to get together with neighbours on 8th July and celebrate our precious parks and playing fields.”

All planned events are listed on the Fields in Trust website. From picnics to sports matches and  community carnivals look up your local event and join in – or get a group of friends together for a picnic to demonstrate how you #LoveYourLocalPark.

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ICL Combat Wear & Tear at Ely City GC

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ICL Combat Wear & Tear at Ely City GC – Andy Baker, Head Greenkeeper at Ely City Golf Course in Cambridgeshire, believes that his use of ICL products have significantly improved the high wear areas on the course despite facing unfavourable weather conditions and heavy usage.

ICL Combat Wear & Tear at Ely City GC

Andy, who has been at Ely City GC for over twelve years, tends to the 55 year-old, 18-hole parkland course. Designed by the legendary Henry Cotton, the course boasts a large membership and is heavily played on all year round, as Andy explains.

“We’re in a good catchment area – there is no other course for about 15 miles, and with more golfers comes more wear. The course sees a couple of hundred rounds each day at the weekends so it is very busy. We get a lot of wear on the tees, wear around the greens and on narrow points across a lot of the ditches.

“The course is a heavy clay site with a lot of ryegrass and we’re 15 to 40 metres above sea level so we get a lot of moisture and it is incredibly wet in the winter. Admittedly it can be a struggle dealing with so much wear under low-grow and wet conditions – therefore it all comes down to having the right products in place.”

Andy relies upon three core products from ICL in which he applies an annual base feed to the tees and approaches of Sierrablen Plus 24-5-8 +2MgO to provide a long-term nutrient release. To ensure the health of the turf remains in optimum condition, every four weeks he then applies a combination of Primo Maxx plant growth regulator and either Sportsmaster WSF High N 35-0-14+0.13Fe or High K 15-0-43+0.13Fe, This combination is used every 5 weeks on the fairways.

This tank-mix delivers the correct amount of nutrients through Sportsmaster WSF while at the same time Primo Maxx reduces top growth and boosts sward density and root mass. The popular combination has proved to be a winning formula for greenkeepers throughout the UK and beyond and Andy is no exception.

“We put the Sierrablen Plus down at the beginning of March at about 30g per square metre. It offers excellent longevity – 9 months comfortably, so it keeps us in a good strong condition going into the winter period.

“From when we first apply it in March, the quality just shows straight away and then of course we keep that topped up with the Sportsmaster WSF and Primo Maxx combo. We started this approach on tees to start with and saw great results from that, so the following year we then took it out to our approaches, fairways and other high wear areas.

“We’ve noticed a big difference and have seen an improvement in sward density, presentation and colour and we are also getting less worm castings as a result. Generally, the overall quality of the course has improved, the signs of wear on those areas has decreased and the members have noticed the results.

“Since using these ICL products, the quality of the greens has improved so much that they are now as good in winter as they are in the summer. If you’re cutting your grass at 3mm you’re putting a lot more stress on it so you need to be putting the correct nutrient into it and this is what we get from the Primo Maxx and the regular feeding.”

Andy has also been involved with some ICL and Syngenta trial work, which he believes has only reinforced his decision to use the products.

“By trialling these products it puts me in a position where I can say whether a certain product is better than another one because it has gone head to head on the same area. My job is to make the course the best it can be and if there are new products coming out then of course I want to be trialling them and comparing them. It proves to me that I am using the finest products and I also share my thoughts with other greenkeepers.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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Moortown Ready To Take Off With Irriplan And Hunter Pilot

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Moortown ready to take off with Irriplan and Hunter Pilot – The storied Moortown Golf Club in Leeds in the north of England has completed the installation of a new irrigation system, replacing a failing 35 year old system.

Moortown Ready To Take Off With Irriplan And Hunter Pilot

Moortown, which was the first British club to host the Ryder Cup, in 1929, chose a Hunter irrigation system installed by Knaresborough-based contractor Full Circle Irrigation. Irrigation engineers Irriplan provided design and project management services.

“Our old irrigation system was very old, and it was failing miserably,” explains Moortown secretary Peter Rishworth. “We were constantly getting leaks in the underground pipework due to age, and regularly seeing other faults too. On top of that, the system was very inefficient in its use and distribution of water, leading to a lot of hand watering to compensate. The old system was basically on or off and we were limited by a lack of automatic control over the individual heads.”

Moortown made contact with Irriplan and had just signed a contract for the design of a new irrigation system, when the old equipment suffered a particularly major breakdown at the start of the 2015 golf season. “Giles Wardle of Irriplan, and also Full Circle, jointly helped us out by patching up the existing system, but we knew replacement was the only way forward,” says Peter. “Full Circle, who we know as they are local, had recommended we work with Irriplan, and Steve Robinson, our course manager, saw the strength of the Hunter system, and in particular the Hunter Pilot control system.”

Installation of the new system began in October 2015, but the majority of the work was completed during the winter of 2016-17. “The project was completed in two and a half months, including new mainline pipes and coverage to tees, approaches, surrounds, greens and our practice facilities,” says Peter. “We switched on the new system during April 2017, and we actually just put the control system live on the internet this week, so Steve and his team can control it via their phones, when they are walking round the golf course. Obviously, it is very early days, but we can see that the level of monitoring and control we have is 100 times better than with the old system. We’re very pleased with the help we have had from Irriplan and Full Circle.”

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Ventrac Help Maintain Tottenham’s Training Centre

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Ventrac Help Maintain Tottenham’s Training Centre – Last season’s FA Premier League runners-up Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have taken delivery of a Ventrac 4500 compact tractor and three out-front attachments to help maintain the landscaped areas at their world-class Training Centre in Enfield, North London.

Ventrac Help Maintain Tottenham's Training Centre

Commenting on the new equipment, Darren Baldwin, Head of Playing Surfaces and Estates at the club said,

“I was in discussion with a major machinery manufacturer about a mower to cut my steep landscaped areas around the Training Centre. By chance, Rupert Price of Price Turfcare, who I have known for many years, had a demonstration nearby postponed at short notice. He gave me a call and asked if he could pop in for a chat and a coffee and perhaps show me his machine.

“This chance meeting evolved into one of the best decisions I’ve made this year. I looked at the machine, and to be absolutely honest, I doubted its ability to perform here. We took it to the western end of the complex, which we are developing as a community area and where we have a large perimeter bank, which we have not touched since we moved here from our old Training Centre in Chigwell.

“Rupert had the Tough Cut deck on the tractor unit at the time and I was blown away by its performance. It knocked down and mulched vegetation that was probably two metres high and on some very severe slopes. I was amazed that a 24 hp machine could clear unmaintained areas with apparent ease. However, that’s only part of the reason for purchasing the Ventrac. I was sold on its versatility; changing the numerous attachments is so easy. He changed to the Finishing deck in a couple of minutes and we went out and tried that. Again, it performed extremely well. Completing my initial purchase is the Trencher attachment, which can reach a depth of 1.2 metres and will be invaluable when we are doing renovation work in the future.”

Paul Jones, Darren’s right-hand man at the Training Centre added,

“The possibilities with this machine are endless. We are constantly evolving and there are many upcoming projects which the Ventrac range of attachments can help us with. In the US, it is used extensively to prepare baseball fields and we use similar techniques during renovation. I’m sure it won’t be long before we add to the list of attachments. Highlighting what Darren has already said, the speed of changing between implements is impressive, the access to the blades under the decks is easy with some clever engineering and the versatility is second to none.”

It’s a challenging time again for Darren and his team at the Training Centre with a massive pitch renovation programme in place, the construction of the new 45-room Lodge and the landscaping of a helicopter landing area.

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Complete Weed Control Embraces Innovative Jacobsen SprayTek

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Complete Weed Control Embraces Innovative Jacobsen SprayTek  – The south and central Wales branch of Complete Weed Control, the specialist contract service franchise, has purchased a Jacobsen SprayTek XP sprayer to help with the eradication of weeds in the region. 

Complete Weed Control Embraces Innovative Jacobsen SprayTek

Chris Philips, Sarah Philips and Alan Abel are directors of Complete Weed Control – South and Central Wales. Commenting on the decision to purchase the Jacobsen SprayTek XP, Chris said,

“When the opportunity arose to purchase a new sprayer, we booked in numerous demos to see what was available on the market. The Jacobsen SprayTek was the first machine we had on demo, and we used it as a benchmark to compare the others to. As it happens, no other sprayer matched up to it. The technology and innovation is miles ahead of anything we have seen, and it’s important to us that we are investing in cutting-edge products that will be current for the next 10 years.”

The Jacobsen SprayTek XP features a 1,136l spray capacity and a reliable manual electric system for pressure-based spraying, computer control for flow-based system, and advance GPS mapping system for reduced chemical cost. The robust triangular truss boom is available in a variety of widths with breakaway protection, and are cross-folding for narrow transport width.

“Complete Weed Control is committed to utilising new technology and minimising the use of pesticides.” Chris continued. “The SprayTek XP fits our company ethos due to the GPS which allows us to accurately map out a golf course or piece of land to spray so that we do not waste expensive product by reapplying pesticides to the same area, or spraying where we don’t need to. This has made a huge difference economically to our business, and our customers as well.

“We have had a relationship with our local dealer, Keith Morgan Mowers, for 25-30 years now, and we have always received good service. Jon Morgan looks after us particularly well, and the after-sales support that we have received provides us with confidence to purchase other machinery that we might require in the future.”

Complete Weed Control was established in 1982 in South Wales as a franchise. The company are specialist contract service providers within the amenity market which includes golf courses, local authorities, industrial areas, utilities, sports arenas and cricket grounds.

For more information, visit: www.jacobsen.com/europe

To find out more about Complete Weed Control, visit: www.completeweedcontrol.co.uk

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