Our friend and journalistic colleague, Mike Beardall, died in Brighton Hospital on Sunday 14 December. He was 62.

Mike's photographic record of our Service Dealer Awards held at Windsor in September graced the cover and contents of our most recent Service Dealer magazine – and his contributions to both Service Dealer and Turf Pro go back many years..

Mike began his career as a journalist on the Banbury Guardian in Oxfordshire, before moving to the Coventry Evening Telegraph, where he met his wife Sheila. The couple married in 1974, and had two children Ben and Kate. Although they separated in 1992, Mike and Sheila remained close friends, and she went on to become press advisor to John Major in Downing Street.  In a double blow to the family, Sheila died on 17 October this year after a brain haemorrhage.

Their journalist talents then took Sheila and Mike south, with Mike taking up the post of group chief sub-editor and the production editor for Surrey & South London Newspapers.

The 1980s saw him working for the Daily Mail Group, later becoming chief sub-editor on Weekend magazine. In 1982 he worked on the launch of the Mail on Sunday, followed by sub-editing of the Sunday Express, Daily Express and Daily Star and then back to local newspapers as deputy group editor at Surrey & West London Newspapers.

He established his own business, Oakfield Media, in 1995, and won the contract to produce and edit The Groundsman magazine for the Institute of Groundsmanship. In recent years he has provided PR services to a number of turfcare companies including Speedcut Contractors, Rigby Taylor, BLEC and DJ Turfcare, as well freelance photography and writing for trade and consumer magazines and newspapers.

“Mike was the most courteous and conscientious journalist you could ever meet,” writes Chris Biddle. “Always well-dressed and well-prepared at every event he attended, his easy-going manner belied consummate professionalism. He covered GLEE for Service Dealer this year when I was unable to attend, and was still feeding me pictures and copy at 4.00pm from a long-deserted press room on the last day.

“He brought the disciplines of the newspaper world to the rather more relaxed and less frantic trade publishing environment. And he put us amateur ‘snappers’ to shame, always lining up the right shot with care, and bringing out the inevitable chair to stand on to ensure he got the angle just right.

“Mike Beardall gave journalists and journalism a good name, where others have let down the profession in the public’s eye.”

"He will sadly missed by everyone in the turfcare industry to whom he offered help, support and advice"

Mike’s funeral will be held on 23 December 2014 at St Mary’s Church, Warkworth, Overthorpe, Banbury, Oxon OX17 2AH at 1.00pm and afterwards at The Three Conies Inn, Thorpe Mandeville, Nr Banbury.