Amenity Forum’s Glyphosate Statement

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Amenity Forum’s Glyphosate Statement: The Amenity Forum have released a statement discussing the use of glyphosate after the outcome of a US judgement.

Managing weeds in amenity situations is a vital task – it impacts on every UK citizen every day providing safe and healthy environments. It really keeps Britain moving. As we move forward in this continually changing world, the need for decisions to be based upon proper evidence and science has never been so important. Chemicals used for amenity management are more rigorously tested than many household products. Not only are amenity chemicals thoroughly tested and approved but they are continually monitored.

Amenity Forum's Glyphosate Statement

In the case of the active glyphosate, it has only recently undergone a thorough review in Europe and been re-approved for use in amenity situations as a safe chemical. This review, conducted by the Expert committee of scientists in Europe and approved by vote of member states, took into account some concerns expressed about the active possibly having carcinogenic effects. Based on all the science and evidence available, it was concluded that these were unfounded and it was safe to use.

In that context, the Forum is very surprised to hear the outcome of the recent judgement in the USA relating to glyphosate in the product Round Up. We understand that an appeal is to be made by the manufacturer and so it is inappropriate to comment further on this.

The Forum seeks to work with everyone across the important sector of amenity promoting best practice in all aspects of weed management, chemical and non chemical. We support an integrated approach making best use of all tools available to ensure a safe and healthy environment fit for purpose whether it be streets and pavements, parks, railways, sports grounds and indeed all amenity spaces. Glyphosate has proved to be a very important and essential element in such management programmes as an approved, regulated and fully authorised chemical.

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Limagrain Praised At Peterborough

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Limagrain Praised At Peterborough: Rob Bradshaw, currently operating as head groundsman at his beloved Peterborough United FC’s Mick George Training Academy, has spoken of his satisfaction at both the product and the service he receives from Limagrain UK.

Rob has admitted that he is currently ‘living the dream’. As a lifelong Posh fan, not only is he working for the club that he loves but he is also doing a job that he loves. After starting his career working for Huntingdon District Council he accepted the head groundsman position at One Leisure sports centre in St Ives and during his time here he picked up two Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) national awards.

Limagrain Praised At Peterborough

In between his current full-time role at the Mick George Training Academy, Rob is a pitch advisor for the Huntingdonshire FA and also runs a Sport England funded grounds association in the areas of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. So passionate about providing the best surfaces he can, he even admits to sleeping in his car after tending to the pitches through the night.

“Yes, I’ve had nights out in the car park but you have to do it sometimes,” he said. “I take pride in my work and I want what is best – for the players and for the club.”

Rob has been at Peterborough United FC for two years now and after a season of settling in he soon decided it was time to make his mark.

“It got to February time when I really wanted to start planning, make some improvements and finalise where we were going to go with our end of season renovations. Firstly, I needed to choose a good grass seed because I only want to use the best products here. I did my homework on various products and gave a number of companies the opportunity to come in.

“The Limagrain MM60 seed seemed to be the number one choice in my opinion. I know that a lot of other professional clubs use it and I have used various Limagrain products in the past – it has always been a proven package.”

Limagrain’s MM60 grass seed is renowned for producing an excellent playing surface on a number of winter sports pitches. It is a 100% Ryegrass formula which is perfect for renovation and divot repair, has a high disease resistance, fantastic aesthetic qualities and offers extremely fast germination – which is boosted by the inclusion of Headstart GOLD®.

Developed using the latest scientific findings and field experience, Headstart GOLD® is a natural revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid germination and is perfect for enhancing performance on grass seed coatings for sports fields, golf courses, lawns and amenity turf.

“We had good germination within 10-12 days and we had excellent coverage,” said Rob. “It’s important that I have a seed like MM60 which recovers quickly from damage and wear because of the amount of usage we have here. Last year, as well as training, we had 260 games on the two pitches so to have that dense, hard wearing sward which the MM60 provides is ideal.

Limagrain Praised At Peterborough

“I’d also like to add that, aside from the success of the products, I have been really impressed by the service, the back-up and the advice I receive from Limagrain UK. When I was deciding on what seed to use Richard Sheppard (amenity seed specialist for Limagrain UK) came in and was very helpful. In my experience you don’t always get that level of professional back-up and I just can’t fault the company in any kind of way.”

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

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Wilson Top Of The Turf League

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Wilson Top Of The Turf League: Eric Wilson from Whitby Town has been named as the best groundsmen in the Northern Premier League, along with Non-League’s national runner-up at the Football Association’s 2018 Groundsmen of the Year Awards.

Pictured last season after being highly commended by the judges of the annual contest to honour Non-League’s top turf stars for his work at the Turnbull Ground, Wilson easily outstripped that this time around to collect the EVO-STIK League’s top honour and take second spot nationally at Steps 3 to 4 of the National League System behind Tonbridge Angels.

Like the groundsmen and women at the number one clubs in the Isthmian League, Southern League and National League, Wilson and the Seasiders are also looking forward to banking cheques for £12,500 to spend on ground maintenance from Budweiser, the new sponsor of the annual accolades.

The EVO-STIK League Premier Division club and Wilson are no strangers to honours after being named in June alongside Trafford and Loughborough Dynamo at the NPL’s end of season awards as one of the inaugural winners of the GreenFields Pitch of the Year accolades.

Matlock Town’s Richard Lomas left the FA’s St George’s Park on Thursday with plenty to shout about too, second place behind Wilson, both in the NPL and nationally. Elfyn Jones at Colwyn Bay will have an extra spring in his step around Llanelian Road as he prepares for the new season after taking third spot in the EVO-STIK League and being highly commended nationally.

Regular finalists Mick Grimmer at Stocksbridge Park Steels and Witton Albion’s Peter Robinson, along with last season’s NPL number one, Belper Town’s Phil Varney, all left the event with high commendations from the the FA’s judging panel of expert professional groundsman from the English Football League and Premier League.

The league’s representatives were honoured after a series of on-site assessments at nominated grounds last season that not only looked at the quality of the pitches but also took into consideration the skills and knowledge of the finalists, their ambitions for the pitch, the resources available, pitch use and the amount of time they were able to work on their surfaces during one of the worst winters and toughest seasons in years.

More than a 100 groundsmen from all levels of the game were rewarded for their work at this season’s ceremony in front of their peers. EVO-STIK League representative Paul Hatt, along with Brent Clayton from the NPL’s sponsors at the Frank Whittle Partnership, were also at the prestigious state-of-the-art venue near Burton to congratulate the 2018 winners.

Guests at the 17th running of the annual awards also got the chance to quiz a panel of professional groundsmen at a Q&A session and enjoy a presentation from Mark Pover, the FA’s head of facilities and investment, before lunch and the awards ceremony.

* Official pitch partners GreenFields agreed a new three year deal with the EVO-STIK League in June after honouring their inaugural Pitch of the Year winners at Blackpool’s Hilton Hotel. Appointed last summer as the NPL’s official pitch partners for the historic 2017-18 50th anniversary campaign, the sports turf specialists are looking forward to working with clubs until at least the end of the 2020-21 season.

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Lawnmower World Record

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Lawnmower World Record: Andy Maxfield’s phenomenal journey from John O’Groats to Land’s End on an unmodified lawn tractor has been officially recognised as a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® achievement. Prison officer Andy’s epic journey is now featured in a new display at the Land’s End Visitor Centre in Cornwall, and also at the British Lawnmower Museum in Southport.

The 874-mile record attempt in July 2017 took Andy 5 days, 8 hours and 36 minutes, making it the fastest time for the journey on a ride-on lawnmower. Andy embarked on the challenge to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s Society after his father was diagnosed with the disease.

Lawnmower World Record

Andy’s initial goal was to raise a modest £1000 for Alzheimer’s Society through the lawnmower challenge in July last year, followed by a charity ball in December. “So far we’ve collected over £9000 and now I’m trying to reach our new target of £10,000 by the end of 2018,” said Andy. “We’re keeping the JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/andrew-maxfield open until then. Donations can also be made by texting MAXF80 £3 to 70070.

“I’m very proud my record attempt was successful but I couldn’t have done it without the encouragement of my family and support team, and having a great lawn tractor certainly helped.”

To supply proof for the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS attempt, the lawnmower was fitted with a tracking system routinely used by much larger agricultural machinery for guidance and monitoring.  John Deere’s Operations Centre was able to track Andy’s entire journey via JDLink software. The resulting data was the proof needed to verify Andy’s route and travelling time as a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS success.

Sadly, Andy’s father, the inspiration behind the John O’Groats to Land’s End challenge, lost his own battle with dementia in January 2018, unaware that his son’s magnificent achievement was indeed a record.

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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Merchant Taylors’ Extend Dennis Fleet

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Merchant Taylors’ Extend Dennis Fleet: Richard Ayling, grounds manager at Merchant Taylors’ School has purchased a G860 and a G30D cylinder mower to add to the existing Dennis fleet of two G860’s which the school already had.

Merchant Taylors’, one of the ‘Great Nine’ schools of England, has provided an outstanding education to boys since 1561. As well as boasting exceptional academic results year on year, sport is central to life at Merchant Taylors’.

Merchant Taylors’ Extend Dennis Fleet

There are over 80 acres of magnificent playing fields with an additional 200 acres of estates providing outstanding opportunities for a wide range of sports including rugby, football, hockey and cricket. The school is a regional centre for England hockey and also hosts a number of elite sporting teams such as Middlesex County Cricket Club, Saracens and Wasps rugby academies and has previously catered for the Australian and South African national cricket teams.

The presence of such sporting teams surely is testament to the quality of pitches produced and maintained by Richard and his team of ten. With exceptionally high standards to adhere to and a multitude of sports surfaces to maintain, it is vital that the team has the most reliable and best performing grounds maintenance equipment in their armoury.

Therefore, as a long term user of Dennis equipment, Richard was delighted when he had the opportunity to bring in a range of brand new Dennis machines as part of a complete fleet renewal.

The new Dennis G860 cylinder mower is lightweight at just 166kg; easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls for – throttle, parking brake, roller drive and cutting cylinder drive. The mower also features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion.

The Dennis G860 also features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks which gives Richard the ability to use the G860 across more than one sports pitch.

“We use the G860’s across all of our winter pitches and they also do our squares in the summer. With cricket squares you need to get across them fairly quickly and these mowers allow us to do just that. As one person cuts the square another person follows behind with the Sorrel Roller and opens the top up slightly to allow a little bit of air movement. It works really well. It has cut our algae and other bits on the surface down and allows a bit more drainage through the surface.

Merchant Taylors’ Extend Dennis Fleet

“The option of having all of the different cassettes is great. We use the Verti-Cutter, the Brush, the 8-Bladed Cylinder and the Sorrel Roller – so we are building an armoury of attachments too.”

With over 30 acres of lawns and other grass areas to maintain, Richard completed his Dennis line-up with the purchase of a Dennis G30D cylinder mower. Designed and built following the same concept as the Dennis G860, the G30D incorporates a large-diameter eight bladed cutting cylinder to cater for a wide range of uses to leave a precise cut.

“At the moment we have two big lawns at the school and another large grass area. We use the G30D for this work but it is also a good back-up mower for the sports pitches.

“Previously we were using a 26” mower for the lawns and it had a fairly small grass box so we were forever emptying it. Since changing to the G30D we are saving a significant amount of time and we are getting an incredible finish and presentation – something that is extremely important here at the school.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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