Tag Archive for: Record

How Oundle School’s Grounds Team Met Record Demands

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How Oundle School’s Grounds Team Met Record Demands: With 257 matches and extreme weather to contend with, the team share how planning, machinery choice and adaptability kept standards high.

 It has been a season like no other at Oundle School. The grounds staff not only prepared surfaces for the school’s extensive fixture list, but also supported Northants Cricket Academy, a testament to the quality and reputation of the school’s facilities.

How Oundle School’s Grounds Team Met Record Demands

How Oundle School’s Grounds Team Met Record Demands

The workload placed on the team has been immense:

  • 257 cricket matches hosted,
  • 60 pitches prepared across eight squares,
  • plus ongoing upkeep of 11 rugby and football pitches.

These achievements came against the backdrop of one of the most challenging starts to the year for grounds professionals nationwide. The first half of 2025 was marked by prolonged dry spells, minimal rainfall and increased pressure on irrigation resources. Across the sector, grounds teams have reported increased difficulty in maintaining turf quality under these conditions, with fixture demands often compounding the pressure.

To help meet these challenges, the Oundle team reviewed their equipment and invested in a new battery-powered mower to support both performance and sustainability.

For Sam Wyles, who has been part of the grounds team for over a decade, the season highlighted just how important reliable and versatile machinery was in coping with demand.

“I’ve been here for 10 years and we’ve always had a lot to manage, but with 257 matches this summer, it was on another level. We knew early on we needed a mower that could handle long days, give us flexibility and help us reduce the strain on the team. The ES-510 hasn’t disappointed.”

The decision to switch from petrol-powered equipment to a battery-powered mower was not made lightly. The team carried out research, spoke to colleagues at other schools and tested options. After a successful demonstration from Dennis’ sales manager, Jason Briggs, the school chose the ES-510.

“We did some research and found that the ES-510 had a really good battery life. We’ve had friends and colleagues in other schools that have used the machine and it came highly recommended; it hasn’t disappointed. It’s built to last and robust.”

For the team, the benefits quickly became clear: low noise, zero emissions, reduced HAVs and long-lasting battery power.

“We use a lot of petrol-powered machinery and we’re finding that we need to reduce HAVs wherever we can. So, we’ve moved to battery-powered equipment and this has not disappointed. The ES-510 doesn’t need much of a grip to hold onto it, so there’s less strain on your wrists and the reduced handle arm vibration levels have really been noticeable.”

Noise reduction has been another benefit in a busy school environment.

“Noise levels are an issue for us. The quieter machine has made it a lot easier. We can start a bit earlier without affecting anyone else around us.”

With zero emissions and a full day’s battery life, the mower supported the school’s sustainability ambitions as well as its practical needs.

“We’ve been using this mower to prep our cricket wickets. We used to use petrol equipment, but we found that we can get a full day’s running out of this with the batteries.”

Time was at a premium all season and versatility quickly became one of the mower’s standout strengths.

“The versatility of the ES-510 has made a real difference. We can quickly swap between cassettes, brushing wickets one moment, then switching back to a cylinder the next, which means we need fewer machines to do the same range of jobs. The ability to adjust the cylinder or the cutting height without tools is really easy and saves time. Importantly, we can set the walking speed and the clip rate separately and the machine automatically keeps the clip rate consistent even if the speed changes. That gives us a better, more uniform finish while ensuring everyone on the team can work at the same pace.”

Even with the packed schedule, standards were never allowed to slip. The built-in back-lapping feature in the controls allowed the team to keep the mower and grass in peak condition all through the season.

Grounds Manager Gary Peden reflected on the decision to invest:

“The school is deeply committed to becoming more environmentally friendly and sustainable. After chatting with Richard at Oakham School, who uses this particular model, we went for the Dennis ES-510. It has given us the confidence to maintain the highest standards across every cricket pitch and square while using electric power. Its battery performance, low noise and versatility have allowed the team to work more efficiently; it’s been a huge step forward for us.”

Looking back, Peden says the investment has given the team confidence to maintain the highest standards across every pitch, while also moving towards more sustainable working practices. For schools and clubs facing similar fixture pressures, he believes the lessons learned this season will be invaluable.

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Record deal for Keys brothers in Northern Ireland

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Record deal for Keys brothers in Northern Ireland: The Kingfisher Country Estate in Northern Ireland has signed a five-year deal for a comprehensive 25-machine Toro fleet in what is Keys Brothers’ biggest agreement since becoming a Toro dealer.

Set on 220 acres of parkland just 20 minutes from Belfast, the only David Feherty and David Jones designed golf course in Ireland offers 18 holes over 7,000 yards of Championship USGA specification greens, tees and challenging fairways and is looked after by Head Greenkeeper Michael Loughran and his team of 12 staff.

Record deal for Keys brothers in Northern Ireland

Record deal for Keys brothers in Northern Ireland

“We’ve had lease deals with Toro before but usually for six or seven key pieces of machinery; this is the first time we’ve gone all-in on a full fleet,” says Michael.

So why now? “A couple of reasons,” Michael explains. “The Estate has recently been given the go ahead on a significant upgrade to the resort and it was important the course kept up with site improvements. There will be major developments on bunkers, a lot of tree work, and consistently maintaining the quality of the course is a big job as it’s fully playable all year round.”

The second reason comes down to the introduction of Keys Brothers as the country’s Toro dealer. “This was our first time working with Keys Brothers since the change in dealership and the support has been outstanding. It was evident early in the process that nothing would beat it especially as I fired over questions and issues and got solutions every time. This indication of the level of service and support we’d get was reassuring and sealed the deal especially as we were going with a full maintenance package too.”

Also contributing to the decision was having access to Toro distributor Reesink Turfcare’s National Accounts Manager David Timms: “David came to the venue a couple of times and his input was really valuable; we felt we had direct access to and the full support of Reesink and Toro.”

The deal includes pedestrian and riding mowers for all areas, five Workman utility vehicles, the ProPass topdresser, two ProForce blowers, the new TransPro for transporting the club’s existing ProCore 648 aerator, plus the installation of Toro’s myTurf Pro to optimise operation of the fleet. But are there any standout machines for Michael and the team?

“On the advice of Keys Brothers, we switched out the Reelmaster 5610-D for the Reelmaster 3575-D for the fairways. It was a simple tweak but suits the site much better. The topography of the site doesn’t have great elevation and we didn’t need all that power; in fact, what we needed is a lighter footprint and a mower that uses less fuel. The 3575 delivers us both of those things.”

The club chose four Greensmaster 1021 pedestrian mowers praised by Michael for being easy to demonstrate and use which is especially helpful when increasing staffing on projects: “It takes just half a green to master these machines” he says.

Andy Keys, Company Director at Keys Brothers, says: “While we believe this to be one of the biggest golf deals in Northern Ireland in 2024, the issues and requirements for Michael and the team were like many: they knew there were machinery tweaks they could make to address specific issues and be more efficient. This is applicable whether you’re buying one machine or a fleet.

“To bring the customer on board with maintenance too is testament to the team we’ve built which has doubled in size since last year such is the level of business we’re doing.”

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New World Record at the TIMBERSPORTS® Championship

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New World Record at the TIMBERSPORTS® Championship: The original extreme sport lived up to its reputation at the 2025 British TIMBERSPORTS® Championship this weekend. Returning to the Royal Three Counties Show in Malvern, Worcestershire, the competition was back with a bang as Rachel Ferrington from Hay-on-Wye produced an awesome display on the Stock Saw to secure a new Women’s World Record.

But the edge-of-your-seat action extended throughout the whole weekend with the first competition, the Pro Qualifier, taking place on Friday 13 June. Featuring 14 competitors, including four from Ireland, it was designed to sort the best from the rest with the top 6 qualifying for the British Pro Championship on Saturday.

New World Record at the TIMBERSPORTS® Championship

New World Record at the TIMBERSPORTS® Championship

The high stakes certainly delivered an exciting competition with 32 new personal best times, a new Irish National Record for Daragh Clogher and a new British National Record for Gerald Lloyd, both in the Stock Saw. This discipline, where competitors have to saw two discs or ‘cookies’ from a log using a STIHL MS 661 chainsaw, produced personal best times for 28 athletes across the weekend, including Ferrington’s World Record.

Ultimately though, consistent times across all the disciplines is what is needed to reach the top of the podium and all three spots in the Qualifier were taken by the Irish athletes, Gav Thompson, Daragh Clogher and Seamus Ryan. The remaining three to qualify for the Pro Championship were Osian Williams, Martin Price and John Lewis.

Glen Penlington was looking to retain his Pro title for the fourth year in a row on Saturday, but he was anything but complacent about it; “You never know what could happen on that stage. Even the best athletes can make mistakes and I’ve had plenty of issues with my Hot Saw before,” said Penlington.

There were plenty of other competitors looking to take over the top spot, including the 2024 Team GB athletes, Rob Chatley, George Spencer, Graham Turner and Tom Redmond. Spencer produced personal best times in all of the first three disciplines, the Underhand Chop, the Stock Saw and the Standing Block Chop, but his competition was derailed when he received a disqualification in the Springboard after his axe head became loose. He managed to keep his cool and deliver a new National Record in the Hot Saw though, which meant he secured third place overall.

Going into the final Hot Saw heat of the whole competition, Chatley and Penlington were neck and neck on 60 points each, meaning that whoever won the heat would take the title. Athletes are given 60 seconds to warm up their saws before the start of the heat and Penlington looked increasingly worried as his saw failed to start at all during the warm-up period.

When judge Andy Hall issued the starting call of “Athletes ready”, Penlington had no choice but to get into position and pray. But as the whistle sounded his saw started on the first pull and he delivered a blistering time of just 8.73 seconds. Joy turned to panic again though when the judges called a video review in order to check that he had cut three complete cookies giving Penlington an anxious wait. But minutes later, Hall announced that both of the cuts were good giving Penlington the title, much to the delight of his nervous family, including sister Zoe Penlington and girlfriend Georgia Lewis, who were competing in the Women’s Championship on Sunday.

And the Women’s competition continued to deliver the drama, when Rachel Ferrington, who only took up the sport in 2023, achieved a new Stock Saw Women’s World Record in the first heat of the competition, cutting two cookies from the log in 8.82 seconds. That dominance continued throughout the event, recording impressive times, including a new National Record in the Single Buck.

“I actually can’t believe it,” said Ferrington afterwards, “I’m still in shock! I’m never confident that I can win, but I guess I can start to believe in myself more now!”

Georgia Lewis and Cat Eccles rounded out the podium in second and third places. Eccles, from Ayr in Scotland, was particularly pleased after recovering from a serious injury in 2023 to return to the sport and credits her performance to the training she had been doing with her son Logan McCubbin, who was competing in the Rookie competition too.

The Rookie Championship was another fiercely-fought battle, and without the 2024 Rookie champion Jack Morris to defend his title, there were plenty of athletes looking to step up. Rowan Luxton and Zac Powell had been training hard ready for the competition but with six competitors making their TIMBERSPORTS® debut, it was hard to predict who would finish where in the results.

Once the competition started though, Luxton, from Llandrindod Wells in Powys, revealed his strength finishing with the fastest times in all five of the disciplines. Guest athlete Nicola Trecarichi from Italy pushed hard but could only achieve second place in the standings, followed by Jake Bufton in third place.

For full results from the weekend’s competitions, visit the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® database.

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SIS Pitches celebrates record year

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SIS Pitches celebrates record year: The UK’s leading sports manufacturer, SIS Pitches has announced it has secured a patent for its new machine, rounding off an exceptional year.

A patent has been granted for the vacuum mechanism ‘Revolution’ machines, made by SIS Pitches to produce premium hybrid pitches for an array of sports. The machine is the first of its kind, allowing the manufacturer to stitch pitches at variable depths, offering more flexibility to clubs and sports facilities.

SIS Pitches celebrates record year

SIS Pitches celebrates record year

The patent is the latest addition on a long list of achievements for SIS Pitches in 2024 – the company’s most successful year to date. In addition to investing £500,000 in its Maryport factory for new tufting machines and solar panels, and growing its overall employee headcount by 20% since January, the company has opened four new offices globally. These are located in Poland, India, Saudi Arabia and Georgia, in order to meet rising demand locally.

Earlier this year, one of SIS Pitches’ major pitch maintenance projects in the Middle East, the Kingdom Arena, in Riyadh, built in partnership with Sela, won two Guinness World Records for the largest covered football stadium and the highest capacity for an indoor covered stadium. The stadium itself was the first ever indoor grass pitch grown entirely without natural sunlight.

In India, the SIS Pitches team installed the country’s first hybrid cricket pitch – a SIS Grass Hybrid product tried and tested across the English game – marking the beginning of a series of projects in the country. The manufacturer, working with Greater Ten locally, used its own ‘Universal’ machine to stitch hybrid cricket pitches in locations including the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamshala.

Other major projects won by SIS Pitches this year include names football fans around the world will recognise immediately, including Manchester City Football Club, MLS’ Chicago Fire, as well as Iceland National Stadium and Uganda Athletics and Football. The company also made significant forays into other sports internationally, securing projects with Baseball United to build the first professional baseball ballpark in the Middle East and South Asia, as well as Aramco Stadium in Saudi Arabia.

The manufacturer also toasted two news milestones, joining the Green Sports Alliance, cementing its commitment to promote sustainability, and ESTC, the trade association for the Synthetic Turf Industry in the EMEA region.

To top things off, one of SIS Pitches’ installations took centre stage at this year’s Paris Olympics. The Stade de France, which features a hybrid SIS Grass pitch, was the chosen venue for a handful of disciplines, including rugby sevens and athletics.

SIS Pitches owner and founder George Mullan said: “I’m incredibly grateful for our team’s hard work and commitment this year – none of this would have been possible without them.

“2024 was a year of many ‘firsts’ for us, and one we’ll remember for a very long time. We’ve grown immensely, as a group – opening new offices abroad, working with some of the biggest names in sports and continuing to lead from the front when it comes to innovating.

“We’ve not forgotten our roots, however. The investment in our Maryport factory is a symbol of our commitment to British quality and expertise, and will enable us to meet the growing demand when it comes to high-quality sports surfaces, both nationally and internationally.”

SIS Pitches has also shared some of its plans for 2025. The manufacturer is readying to launch its innovative dry hockey solution widely in the second quarter. The surface, developed by the organisation’s experts, features a unique technology to replicate the properties of a water-based system without using a water ball, which can hinder the flow of play.

A US office is also in the works, and it was announced that current SIS Grass Managing Director, Ivo Lamot would become the company’s new Chief Executive, with owner and founder George Mullan stepping to Executive Chairman. Other major appointments also include Luke Edwards, set to become Chief Innovation Officer, while Rob Hope will continue on as Chief Operating Officer. SIS Pitches also underwent a rebrand earlier in the year and is set to launch its new website next year, focused on its philosophy of ‘Powering more play’.

George added: “Our business has evolved in the last few years, and with our new goals to expand to new markets, our structure had to follow too.

“Our ambition is to make 2025 an even bigger year, so I’m excited to have Ivo lead on the delivery of our shared vision, along with Rob and Luke.”

For more information about SIS Pitches, go to sispitches.com

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JCB Christmas toy appeal breaks record

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JCB Christmas toy appeal breaks record: JCB’s third annual Christmas Toy Appeal has delivered a record haul of gifts for distribution to children in Staffordshire and Wrexham.

Kind-hearted employees have donated more than 1,700 presents across all of JCB’s UK plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Wrexham – making it the biggest ever total since the first JCB Christmas Toy Appeal in 2022. The Hubb Foundation now has the mammoth task of wrapping the bulk of the gifts before the charity distributes them to families in Stoke-on-Trent with the help of the NSPCC. In Wrexham, toys donated by employees at JCB Transmissions will be handed to the Salvation Army for local distribution.

JCB Christmas toy appeal breaks record

JCB Christmas toy appeal breaks record

Today Lady Bamford thanked everyone for their contribution to the appeal. She said: “I’d like to say a very big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to donate a gift to the JCB Christmas Toy Appeal. It really will make such a huge difference to every single child who has a present to open this Christmas.”

As the final gifts were delivered to the World HQ yesterday, Lord Bamford was joined by Rupert Chilman, aged five and his sister Alice, two, to officially hand over the presents to the Hubb Foundation and the NSPCC.

NSPCC Strategic Services Manager Rachael Holdcroft said:  “The reality for many children and families is that Christmas isn’t actually a magical time. The donation of these gifts by the JCB  workforce brings a little bit of light into what is otherwise quite a dark time for them and it will make the world of difference.”

Adam Yates, Chief Operating Officer at the Stoke-on-Trent based Hubb Foundation said: “The sheer volume of gifts donated to the JCB Christmas Toy Appeal is an amazing achievement by JCB employees. I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated a gift this year.”

The GMB union in Staffordshire donated £1,000 to enable the purchase of toys for the Appeal and in Wrexham the GMB donated a further £650 so gifts could be bought.

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