The new look, redesigned Service Dealer magazine is now bi-monthly and includes a host of new and familiar features.
Jan / Feb 2014 issue contains:
2014 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT HERITAGE AWARDS PROFILE OF DAVID WITHERS LIVES REMEMBERED BTME PREVIEW LAMMA PREVIEW DIARY OF A SEASON + 2014 EVENT PLANNER
COMING MARCH 1st
March / April 2014 issue contains:
PROFIT FROM PARTS DIARY OF A SEASON - LONGHAM MOWERS FACE TO FACE - KUBOTA'S DAVE ROBERTS TRAINING & EDUCATION LAUNCH OF BUSINESS MONITOR INDUSTRY AWARDS INFO BTME & LAMMA REVIEWS PRODUCT NEWS JIM GREEN
ALSO THE RETURN OF
WATCH OUT FOR AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT NEXT FRIDAY!
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES . . Substituting Mr Drought with Mr Flood by Chris Biddle
Today, 28 February 1986, the temperature dropped to -19.1C on the West coast of Scotland. On 28 February 1891, it was a balmy 19.1C in Hampshire, whilst on 28 February 1662, Samuel Pepys wrote about a killer storm (well he would have done had he lived to be a headline writer on the Daily Express). “The worst storm in 350 years (St Maurys Wind in 1362) with many people killed by the fall of things in the streets”.
In the Forest of Dean, more than 3000 trees were destroyed. A serious set-back in those days as the timber was grown for the construction of Britain's Navy - and even a modest 74-gun ship took up to 3800 trees - or 75 acres of woodland.
Weather events have dominated our history, and I would like to think that Pepys might even have wondered about climate change in his days.
This week I attended an excellent lecture at the Royal Academy of Engineering given by David Rooke, Executive Director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management at the Environment Agency, aka 'Mr Flood'.
He spoke on lessons learned in managing winter floods - and the engineering response. There is no doubt that protecting our Isles is a very, very long term process - and was almost certainly being considered in Pepys days.
I couldn’t help reflecting during his talk, that had a similar lecture been scheduled just 12 months ago, it might have been called Coping without Rainfall, and delivered by another EA representative, aka 'Mr Drought'.
Some parts of the country have been affected dreadfully by the wettest winter on record, which has generated loads of press coverage, much of it critical.
However it is also clear that meaures taken over the past decades, particularly since the floods of 1953 when 300 people died, prevented many more serious disruptions to homes and infrastructure.
And you can also see where the bulk of investment will go in the future. The Thames Barrier was built 30 years ago, during which time there has been 168 closures - over 40 of which have been in the last three months!
When asked what would've happened to London had it not been for the Thames Barrier, Mr Rooke said that much of the capital would have been flooded, starting with Canary Wharf which has been built on a flood plain.
The debate on Climate Change goes on, but we will never be totally impervious to extreme weather. It is a tribute to the unsung engineering community that lessons are learned each time and acted upon to minimise risk in the future.
