MJ Abbott keynote speaker at Rickerby Show

The Rickerby Spring Show is one of the largest agricultural shows in the north of England, and General Manager of Rickerby Ltd's horticultural division, Alistair McRobert, kindly invited MJ Abbott to present a talk on the subject that is on many sports turf professionals' minds at the moment: land drainage.

Titled "Let’s Talk Drainage" and presented by Contracts Manager Nathan George and Operations Director Mick Regan, the talk focused on the four main themes of weather patterns, soil science, drainage design and methods of installation.

The presentation ended with a slide show of photographs taken on many MJ Abbott drainage projects over the years and featured the numerous machines and methods used to install different types of drainage on both new construction projects and existing sports facilities.

The talk was followed by a question and answer session, and the number of questions quickly made it clear that many grounds staff and golf course managers have struggled to provide playable surfaces with the record amount of rainfall the UK has experienced in recent years.

The seminar, hosted by Rickerby’s Alistair McRobert, was held at Carlisle United Football Club’s Brunton Park Stadium, a venue which has itself suffered from serious flooding in the past.