Tag Archive for: Champion

Plumpton Named Champion Groundstaff Team

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Plumpton Named Champion Groundstaff Team: Plumpton Racecourse has been named Champion Groundstaff team of the year, culminating another year of excellence in the field as part of the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, jointly sponsored by Agrovista Amenity, DLF and Duralock.

Plumpton, already a winner in the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards as the jump racecourse of the year, faced off competition from the other two individual category winners (Hamilton Park, flat racecourse and Ayr, dual purpose racecourse) to receive the Champion crown.

Plumpton Named Champion Groundstaff Team

Plumpton Named Champion Groundstaff Team

The award was presented at the Racecourse Association’s (RCA) Showcase Awards ceremony held at Aintree Racecourse on Thursday 23rd November.

The Racecourse Groundstaff Awards judges commented on Plumpton’s proactive and forward-thinking attitude and their exceptional work on the track. The racecourse grounds team has been innovative and has invested time and energy into producing a safe track with equine welfare at the forefront. The team carried out drainage works, they changed all their hurdles to padded hurdles, in turn reducing their faller rate significantly and they have also installed a new surface on their two road crossings which can be manipulated to create a more consistent Going.

Ayr, Hamilton and Plumpton were visited by an independent agronomist, who reviewed their soil test results and fertiliser programmes as well as assessing each racecourse against the Performance Quality Standards (PQS), the results were very close and identified Plumpton as the Groundstaff Champion.

Marcus Waters, Clerk of the Course at Plumpton Racecourse, said: “Winning the Champion Groundstaff Award is an amazing achievement and I am so proud of all the team for all the hard work they out in through the year.

“The backing we have had from the managers and owners of the racecourse is second to none. It is clear that they truly value the importance of the racing surface. Thank you to all the sponsors and horsemen for all their support.”

Holly Cook, Racecourse Services Manager at the RCA, said: “The RCA is proud to manage and support the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, which are run with the support of our sponsors at Agrovista, DLF and Duralock, to whom we are very grateful.

“This highly coveted award recognises the hard work and vital contribution of racecourse groundstaff teams, and our congratulations go to the team at Plumpton Racecourse.”

Dan Hughes, Agrovista Amenity, said “The Groundstaff Champion Award is a reflection of the efforts of hundreds of skilled and dedicated grounds professionals, that make racing happen.

“Agrovista Amenity as a joint sponsor would like to congratulate Plumpton Racecourse as the overall Groundstaff Champion 2024, which is testament to the outstanding understanding and application of turf agronomy and science, and the immense commitment of their team.”

Matt Gresty, DLF Seeds & Science, said: “DLF are proud to co-sponsor the overall Groundstaff Champion, the award to Plumpton Racecourse is a true reflection of the expertise, commitment and dedication to producing a first-class racing surface, in a very challenging environment.”

Jonathon McGovern, Duralock, said “Duralock are absolutely thrilled that Plumpton Racecourse have won this year’s award – it is testament to the hard work and dedication that their whole team have put into maintaining their wonderful racecourse so a big congratulations to all involved.”

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

For more information about MM Sports Seed, visit www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

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Allett announces lawn stripes champion

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Allett announces lawn stripes champion: Now in its 10th year, the Allett Mowers annual Creative Lawn Stripes Competition once again attracted entries from all over the world. The prize is an Allett Liberty 43 mower with all cartridges and two cartridge stands.

The past few years have been tough for everyone, say Allett, but what they have noticed is a growth in lawn-care enthusiasts spending more time in their gardens. The aim of the competition is to encourage homeowners to use their lawns to design the most creative, eye-catching designs that truly show off the craftsmanship and dedication that goes into grass maintenance. The standard of this year’s entries has again been exceptional, and it gets better year on year. This year’s judge was 2021 Champion Dennis West of Provo, Utah, USA following an internal vote done by a specialist Allett panel with the top six entries forwarded to Dennis to choose the winner.

Allett announces lawn stripes champion

Allett announces lawn stripes champion

“It was an honour to be asked to judge this year’s competition,” he says, “the top six presented some very strong entries, all of which show a love for lawn creativity Picking one winner was a tough job, but after analysing the entries I found one that, for me, embodied not only lawn striping creativity, but also a representation of the beauty of the United Kingdom.”

The top six entries came from England, Wales, Australia and Canada and the 2022 Champion is Edward Aitken, Head Gardener at Cornbury House, Oxfordshire. Cornbury Park is a private estate in the town of Charlbury, fifteen miles from Oxford, England. The estate includes 1,700 acres of the most ancient forest in Britain and is host to events such as the award-winning Wilderness Festival and charity fundraisers. Ed has entered the Allett competition three times and been placed in the top six each time. The judges’ comments praised the standard achieved.

‘The combination of radiating, straight, and angled stripes in this expansive design brings to mind the sectional features of an aerial image of the English countryside with rolling hills divided by rock walls. The strong stripes that seamlessly blend from curved forms to straight demonstrate an expertise that ensured the final design met very particular standards of perfection’ Ed describes the process that led up to the winning design. “Our lawn is a very old lawn which we have been renovating to get it up to standard. It was cut with a ride-on originally, which didn’t pick up the grass clippings, so it was a bit of a mess. Now we cut with a Hayter 56 at various heights of cut. I changed the height depending on what part of the lawn I was cutting. The circle area has to be cut higher compared to the area closest to the house just because of the thickness of the lawn and how much thatch is left in the lawn. Each different pattern is cut at a different height, which helped to show off the pattern a bit more. The inspiration for the design comes from the centre circle part of the lawn where the chequerboard is, which is actually a helicopter landing area. The idea was that it looked amazing when the family and their guests were coming in in the helicopters, which I thought was quite effective. Once I’d cut the circles, it was a case of breaking the lawn up into a couple of different sections and making sure it looked nice as you’re looking out. The family I work for have an outdoor eating area just outside the house so it looks good when they’re looking over the garden. I’d say it’s taken about a year to get it looking good. I cut it once a week with certain areas cut twice a week, so the central checkerboard area is cut twice a week in a different direction. I’m delighted to win as I’ve entered three times now. I was third the first time, second the last time. I thought I’d stand a chance this year with the circles making it an interesting lawn, so I’m very pleased to have won. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the prize. I’ll probably use it in my own garden at home as I’ve got quite a large lawn. Maybe I will start doing some patterns!” Competition judge Dennis West’s final comment was to offer congratulations to all the finalists, saying, to make it this far is quite an accomplishment. “Most of the winners in recent years entered more than once before winning the prize, so keep entering and you may be next!”

2nd Place

Paul Wigman Nottingham

Head Gardener Clumber Lodge

3rd Place

Emile Hernandez gardener

Somerville College Oxford

4th Place

Simon Rice, South Australia

5th Place 

Dan Milne Canada

6th place

Tom Frampton, Wales

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Trime UK Champion The Green X-Splash

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Trime UK Champion The Green X-Splash: Trime UK, the Cambridgeshire based supplier of sustainable equipment for the horticultural, agricultural, construction and rental markets have had their X-Splash wash bay honoured by the prestigious environmental campaigners, the Green Organisation. They competed against more than 800 other nominations in the Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice.

Trime’s Ray Caulfield (CEO) and Paul Hay (MD) were requested by representatives of the Green Organisation to attend a glittering presentation ceremony held at the Houses of Parliament on 12th November to receive their Champions Award, which is the top accolade.

Paul Hay confirmed, “Our aim was to produce a cleaning method that conserves water usage through a recycling process and a collection procedure that gathers in all harmful contaminates so they are not discharged into the sewage system.”

“The X-Splash has rapidly become a popular product and to have its environmental qualities formally recognised is indeed an honour. We hope that this award will give confidence to current users and prospective purchasers that the X-Splash is an environmentally accredited product,” added Paul.

The judges commented:  “Localised ground and watercourse pollution from construction operations is a frequent occurrence. Trime set out to reduce this by developing an enclosed wash-bay for construction plant and equipment that contains filters and reuses its water, consuming less and protecting the environment.”

The Trime X-Splash wash bay is an ecological, flexible cleaning system for most types of plant and machinery. It prevents soil pollution and contamination of drains, from oil, grease, and similar chemical contaminants.

The Trime X-Splash is also listed on the Water Technology List (WTL) which promotes products that encourage sustainable water use. The WTL rewards businesses for investing in listed products through the ECA scheme. The ECA allows a business to offset the cost of purchasing eligible plant and machinery against its taxable profits.

The awards are organised by The Green Organisation, an international, independent, non-political, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world. The Green Apple Awards are supported by the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and The Chartered Institution for Wastes Management, REHIS alongside other independent bodies.

Trime UK Champion The Green X-Splash

The Green Apple Awards began in 1994 and have become established as the country’s major recognition for environmental endeavour among companies, councils, communities and countries.

Trime has significant experience in supplying sustainable equipment to the horticultural, agricultural, construction and rental markets. The Trime manufacturing plant is based in Cassinetta di Lugagnano, near Milan and the Trime UK is situated in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

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