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The Scots Turf Show a success

March 6, 2023/in News, Press Release/by CharmianRobson

The Scots Turf Show a success: The 1st of March 2023 was the date everything changed for Turf Professionals in Scotland. The first Scottish turf event for almost 15 years, opened its doors at Hamilton Park Racecourse, and the visitors began to pour in an hour before official registration had even opened. Connecting the industry […]

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar

March 3, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar: Dennis and SISIS recently hosted their popular cricket pitch maintenance seminar where 200 delegates had the opportunity to enhance their understanding of future hopes, needs and goals. Hosted at St Albans School Woollam Trust, the seminar was designed to help attendees plan and adapt their […]

The Scots Turf Show a success

March 6, 2023/in News, Press Release/by CharmianRobson

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar

March 3, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

The Scots Turf Show a success

March 6, 2023/in News, Press Release/by CharmianRobson

The Scots Turf Show a success: The 1st of March 2023 was the date everything changed for Turf Professionals in Scotland. The first Scottish turf event for almost 15 years, opened its doors at Hamilton Park Racecourse, and the visitors began to pour in an hour before official registration had even opened.

Connecting the industry

The trial show was devised by 17 of the industry’s most influential companies, to give something back to the Scottish turf community and to connect with the Industry, by providing a local turf event, accessible to a vast swathe of groundsmen and greenkeepers from all areas of sport, that had never had the opportunity to attend a local industry event.

The Scots Turf Show a success

David Roxburgh – Head Groundsman – Rangers Football Club

“Something needed to happen here in Scotland, I think it’s been great. The fantastic turnout here hasn’t surprised me because I think Scotland has been desperate for something like this. It needs a big show, and I think this could possibly be the forerunner of something great.”

The number of registered visitors had risen above the target of200with 287 attending on the day.

The itinerary of early morning bacon rolls, and coffee was a welcome diversion while the visitors signed in and was followed by an introduction to the idea behind the show by Alan Thomson of AllGrass and Richard Heywood of Campey Turf Care Systems. The guests were immediately engaged with two 20 minute speakers, Gary Smith senior agronomist from the STRI, quickly followed by Joe Shaw from SIS Pitches, before heading out into the spring sunshine for the outdoor exhibition area.

After a couple of hours of interaction with the exhibitors, the group enjoyed a lunch in the hospitality suite overlooking the magnificent race track at Hamilton Park. Then it was back to the marquee for two more short seminars, one from Kelly Marie Clarke agronomist from Origin and finally an introduction to Hamilton Park itself by Ashley Moon, Managing Director of Hamilton Racecourse who said, “We are delighted to welcome the Scots Turf Show to Hamilton Racecourse and work alongside such excellent partners”.

It is important to the companies behind this event to gauge the response of the visitors going forward, with a view to expanding the event significantly next year.

Barry McCulloch – Course Manager Caldwell Golf Club commented “It’s something that I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time and hoping that it did happen. It’s been good to come along and support the event. The venue they have picked is probably one of the best areas in Scotland because it’s very easily accessible, you can come from all over the country. You just have to look at the numbers that showed up today to see why it’s a great venue. 50% of my workforce has never been to a turf show, so that is another reason we came along today. It’s good for the younger guys to come and see some of the machinery and get a different perspective of things.”

Jim Dawson – Head Groundsman – BT Murrayfield

We would usually have to travel to events down South to see machinery or even have a chat with other groundsmen. So, today has been good for networking. I’ve met a lot of people here, from football to rugby, golf and horse racing.

I think this could take off. We are all very positive about the event, and I’m very happy for them to be talking about expanding it. I like having the option to attend the seminars, then getting to see some of the machinery in action and meeting the reps as well.”

Alan Thomson from AllGrass is absolutely delighted with the response on the day. As one of the main drivers he explains “From a concept back in 2019 over a McDonald’s Coffee to seeing the reality of such a fantastic event. Don’t get me wrong we are not reinventing the wheel here but simply putting it on a different path and a path that can continue to build excitement for the Scottish and beyond markets. ‘Connecting the Industry’ this is something that Richard and I believe we can do and hopefully with the many ideas for the future we can achieve this.”

So, The Scots Turf Show appears to have been an overwhelming success and looks like it may be here to stay.

Save the date – 6^th March 2024

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar

March 3, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar: Dennis and SISIS recently hosted their popular cricket pitch maintenance seminar where 200 delegates had the opportunity to enhance their understanding of future hopes, needs and goals.

Hosted at St Albans School Woollam Trust, the seminar was designed to help attendees plan and adapt their maintenance programmes in an ever-changing environment. It brought together an audience consisting of cricket groundspersons representing grass roots, contractors, schools, local clubs, and international test venues.

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar

Following an introduction by Howardson Group Area Sales Manager Robert Jack, Met Office Presenter Aidan McGivern produced a theoretical weather forecast for 2050 and revealed what conditions we could expect to see in the UK if global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. By showing what the weather could look like by 2050 at certain times of year, Aidan helped delegates relate to how different their experiences might be under a changing climate.

In the next section of the seminar Tony Hanson (Environmental Solutions International), Andrew House (Environment Agency), and George Warren (Anglian Water) utilised their wealth of experience to offer invaluable advice on how to reduce the impact of water restrictions on sports surfaces.

Turf Consultant Alex Vickers then delivered a presentation on the topic of rootzones in a changing climate. As ever, Alex entertained the audience while explaining this important subject in a relatable way.

Christian Spring, Principal Scientist at the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute), was up next to explore the potential pests and diseases groundspersons can expect to encounter in the future.

The halfway point provided delegates with a complimentary lunch and a chance to speak to seminar sponsors – Cricketworld.com, Stuart Canvas, SIS Pitches, DLF and MM Seeds, RT Machinery, Boughton Loam, Grounds Training, Mansfield Sand, Origin Amenity Solutions, Turf Tank, White Horse Contractors and Turf Matters.

As the audience settled back down, Dr Iain James, Head of Facilities Services for the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board), took to the stage to discuss what sustainability means for grass roots clubs. Karl McDermott, Head Groundsperson at Lords, and Vic Demain, Head Groundsperson at Durham CCC, then proceeded to investigate the difference in cricket pitch preparations between the north and south.

The day concluded with a Q&A session in which attendees could ask the expert speakers for advice about their own projects or any issues that they may have.

Commenting on the seminar, Nick Lockhart, Cricket Professional/Head of Grounds at Felsted School said: “It was informative, thought-provoking, and of great interest. It has given me a lot of things to think about for the future, in terms of climate change, irrigation and pest control. There is no doubt that this seminar will have helped a lot of people today.”

As well as soaking up the education, Andy Moody from Moody Grounds Maintenance felt it was a great networking opportunity. “Over the years I have been to a few of these Dennis and SISIS events and I always encourage the people that work for me to come along as well. Sometimes we can be very lonesome people in the grounds maintenance industry, so days like this are a great opportunity to meet other likeminded people.”

There was one presentation, which struck a chord with Christian Brain, Head of Grounds at Cheltenham College: “The speakers were brilliant and there were some really good topics which gave us a look into the future to find out what is coming our way. Looking at water issues going forward was particularly beneficial for me. The site we’re on doesn’t have a great deal of irrigation, so that is a real concern. Therefore, looking at what we can potentially do going forward to try and solve those issues, was a real highlight for me.”

Turf Consultant Keith Kent said: “I’ve come to the seminar today because I have always found the Dennis and SISIS events to be so good. I’m working at Loughborough University at the moment and I’m carrying out some cricket pitch maintenance, which is something I have never done before after spending my entire career in football and rugby. There have been some entertaining and stimulating speeches today and it has been well worth the journey.”

A vide of the day can be viewed – https://youtu.be/QggZT7aXl-o

Further information about the range of maintenance products available can be found by visiting www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter @DennisMowers and SISIS @SISISMachinery. You can like the Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK and www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest Dennis and SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers and www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

The Scots Turf Show a success

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar

The Scots Turf Show a success

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

The Scots Turf Show a success

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar

A glimpse into the future at Dennis and SISIS Seminar: Dennis and SISIS recently hosted their popular cricket pitch maintenance seminar where 200 delegates had the opportunity to enhance their understanding of future hopes, needs and goals.

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