This year I will be celebrating 57 years working in this industry.

I started my career on the 14th August 1972 as a parks apprentice with Birmingham City Council based in Kings Heath Park, which was home for the Horticultural College. I, along with a couple of other school friends, began a five-year apprenticeship with the council culminating in being awarded several City & Guilds Certificates between 1973 and 1976.

Kings Heath Park / College 

I consider myself lucky to have had this opportunity to work in such a diverse industry and over all these years, have seen many significant milestones achieved in all facets of the sector. 

And above all, I have met thousands of colleagues who have contributed to many of these significant milestones and achievements. 

Lighting rigs 

Those of us who have been fortunate to have worked through this time period will have witnessed some radical advancements in machinery, products, technological innovations and work practices. Above all we have witnessed excellent standards being achieved in turf grass management, along with new landscaping and amenity land management practices. 

The scope and scale of the machinery now on offer is totally staggering, along with the technical support we get from computers, apps and other new technologies. In recent years we have seen a dramatic rise in the use of automation to aid efficiencies. This has filtered down to working grounds practitioners.

To help celebrate many of these vast achievements, I will be writing a series of articles throughout the year that reflect on some of the milestones, machinery and product innovations  - and most importantly, celebrate the people who have made these opportunities possible. 

Cannon Hill Park 

The inspiration for this series came about as I spent time looking through many of the photographs, some 10,000 plus, that I have taken over the years via my editorial roles. These began at Pitchcare in 2002 and have been followed by working for other trade titles such as Landscape & Amenity Product Update, Turf Matters and latterly TurfPro and Service Dealer.

Sifting through thousands of photographs, I came across many of places I have visited, people I have met and the many factories, places of work and shows I have attended.

It will be quite something to revisit and bring back some memories to celebrate the achievements that have being created throughout the last 50 plus years.

However, I think it makes sense to give you a taste of how my career unfolded and how I came to become editor of TurfPro, enabling me to help promote this diverse industry.

After getting my City & Guilds qualifications, I spent the next few years working for the council at various key parks around the city - notably their premier facility, Cannon Hill Park covering 250 acres. This consisted of formal, conservation, woodland and sports areas.

When I worked there between 1977-1981, we had over 50 staff, we had glass houses and propagated all our own spring and summer bedding plants. We also provided and grew decorative plants and flowers for display in the council buildings, winning silver and gold medals for our planting displays at Chelsea Flower Shows.  Whilst working for the council I did spells working at other council facilities and Coxmoor’s Golf club as an assistant greenkeeper. 

In 1983 I left the council and moved to Portsmouth to take up the post of head groundsman at Portsmouth FC. Here I had the opportunity to work alongside Alan Ball who was youth team manager at the club and went on to become manager of the club.

Me and Alan Ball at Fratton Park 

Alan use to invite me along to play five-a-side in the club’s gym under the stand. We used to play against the apprentices. During that time I got to know many of the players including Kevin Ball, Alan Biley, Mark Hatley, Neil Webb and David Thomas who I still keep in contact with today.  In 1984 I moved to become assistant HG at Waterlooville Golf Club. 

However, in 1985 I Joined the PSA MOD looking after several military sites that included HMS Dryad, HMS Mercury, Roussillon Barracks Chichester, Tangmere Aerodrome and Thorney Island where I was employed as GMO responsible for everything green and growing. I managed several contractors who were tasked with maintaining these land assets, one being Torin Contractors who at the time had a very young supervisor, David Roberts, working for them. 

This was the very same David Roberts who eventually ended up working at Charterhouse School and Liverpool FC as head groundsman. David has recently left Liverpool and set up a training academy in Portugal. 

After several fantastic years working for the MOD and having started a young family, in 1990 my wife Dawn and I decided to move back to the Midlands to be near family and friends. I took up the post of parks manager with Telford & Wrekin Council overseeing sports pitches, play areas and public open spaces.

In 2001 I left the council as frustrated parks manager and choose to re-educate myself, ending up on a degree of master of science course ( Sports Surface technology ) at Cranfield University. Once qualified I was head hunted by David Saltman of Pitchcare who wanted me to become the editor of the magazine. So in 2003 I joined them, working alongside Dave, John Richards, and Alastair Battrick with the aim to offer a new membership vehicle for grounds professionals at the time there were only a couple of magazines supporting the industry. However, David saw the potential of the world wide web, realising the potential to offer an online  platform / shop for practicing grounds people. In the twelve years I was editor, the company grew considerably from the initial four full time staff to a company boasting well over 100 staff members. In 2020 Pitchcare, part of the Maxwell Amenity group, was sold to Agrovista.

TurfPro owner Duncan Murray-Clarke, me and Keith Kent

Since leaving Pitchcare in 2015, I have gone self-employed and am currently kept busy running my own gardening business, volunteering as a Green Flag Judge, RFU Pitch advisor and now working for TurfPro as editor and Service Dealer magazine as one of their writer contributors.

My role of editor over the last 22 years has been amazing, allowing me to keep up with the latest technologies, see and try-out the latest machinery - and again, most importantly, meet the people who make this industry tick.

 
So, I am looking forward to sharing some of my memories regarding the fascinating journeys and fortunes of many of the practicing turf professionals I have met along this formidable time span.